Epaphroditus’ sickness must have been grave, for he almost died. The serious nature of the sickness is emphasized again in verse 30, he … nearly died. To indicate the seriousness of Epaphroditus’ illness, it may be advisable to translate the first part of this verse as “indeed he was very sick,” or “it is certainly true that he was very sick.” He … almost died may be expressed as “he was about to die,” “he was just close to dying,” or “we thought he would die.”

God had pity on him may be expressed in some languages as “God was very good to him,” or “God showed great kindness to him.”

God’s mercy not only saved the life of Epaphroditus; it also affected Paul personally. It spared me an even greater sorrow, literally, “lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow” (Revised Standard Version). An even greater sorrow probably means the sorrow that would have resulted from the death of Epaphroditus in addition to the sorrow caused by his grave illness.

The verb spared in this type of context suggests both negation and causation, for example, “God caused me not to have even greater sorrow,” or “God caused me not to sorrow even more.” In some languages sorrow may itself be translated as a causative, for example, “a cause for weeping.” Therefore, in some instances one may say “God caused me not to experience a cause for weeping.”

Quoted with permission from Luo, I-Jin. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Philippians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1977. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .