Keep on imitating me is literally “become fellow-imitators of me.” The noun “fellow-imitators” appears only here in the New Testament, but a similar expression is found in 1 Cor 4.16. Paul is not saying “join with me in imitating Christ,” as some persons have thought. This injunction can also be rendered “follow my example, all of you,” bringing out the “fellow” idea in the Greek (Moffatt “copy me, one and all of you”). One may render this injunction as “do just as I do,” or “do whatever you see me doing.”

Pay attention to those who follow the right example is literally “mark those who so walk.” The verb rendered pay attention is the same used in 2.4, where it is translated look out for. Basically the verb means “to look attentively,” that is, to fix one’s attention on something with keen interest. It is certainly more than mere “watch.” New American Bible gives this verb a strong sense, “take as your guide”; so also Jerusalem Bible, “take as your models.” In rendering the phrase pay attention to, it is important to suggest a positive aspect, that is, carefully watching in order to imitate or emulate. This means, essentially, watching carefully in order to be able to imitate the actions of those who give the right example.

The verb follow translates a Greek participle which means literally “walking.” This reflects a Hebrew word which also means “to walk,” used frequently in the ethical sense of “walking before God.” Paul in particular often uses this word in the moral sense of the walk of life.

The right example that we have set for you represents a restructuring of what is literally “you have us as an example.” Notice the shifts from me to we, probably now including Timothy and Epaphroditus. The word rendered right example means generally “image” or “mark,” and in the moral sense “model” (La Sainte Bible: Nouvelle version Segond révisée New English Bible) or “pattern” (Goodspeed Knox Barclay etc.). The right example that we have set for you may be rendered as “we have shown you the right way in which you should act,” or “we have made it clear to you by what we have done what you should do.”

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 .