The apostle continues with an ironical statement, literally “with reference to zeal, persecuting the church.” This is the second in a series of three “with reference to” statements. In order to provide freshness in style and to bring out the ironical force the better, the statement is best phrased I was so zealous that I persecuted the church (cf. New American Bible Barclay). To a Jew “zeal” for God was the greatest quality in religious life. Paul’s zeal reached to the extent that he tried to wipe out those whom he considered the opponents of Judaism (Acts 8.3; 22.4; 26.9-11). The term church here embraces not primarily various local Christian congregations, but the universal body of Christ.

In some languages it may be necessary to specify the goal of Paul’s zeal, or that which prompted the zeal. Therefore one may translate I was so zealous as “I was so anxious to serve God,” or “I was very desirous to do what I thought God wanted me to do.”

I persecuted the church may be rendered as “I caused the people in the church to suffer.” or “I made it very difficult for the people who belonged to the church.” In this type of context church may be rendered as “those who believed in Jesus,” or “those who gathered together to worship Jesus.”

Paul goes on to list one final personal achievement, that is, legal uprightness. He says, literally, “with reference to righteousness which is in the Law, having become faultless.” Here “which is the Law” is best taken in the sense of “which consists of strict observance of the commandments prescribed by the Law.” Thus Good News Translation rephrases the clause explicitly as as far as a person can be righteous by obeying the commands of the Law. It may be very difficult in some languages to express the degree indicated by the phrase as far as. The closest natural equivalent may be a conditional expression, for example, “if you are thinking about how a man can be righteous by obeying the commands of the Law.” The commands of the Law may be expressed in some languages as “what the Law commands,” or “what a man is commanded to do in the Law.”

The Greek noun rendered “righteousness” by most translators is a key term in Pauline thought. It is a difficult word with various shades of meaning. Depending on contexts, it can mean “religious duties,” “the requirements of God,” “that which is right,” “righteousness,” “uprightness,” “justice,” “right relationship with God,” etc. In the present instance, the Jerusalem Bible rendering “perfection” appears to lean too strongly on the moral aspect (so also “goodness” in Barclay). “Legal rectitude” (New English Bible) is a good rendering, but it is too difficult for the average reader. Most translations retain the conventional rendering here. One can be more specific in rendering “so far as a man can stand in a right relationship with God by obeying the commands of the Law….”

The adjective rendered without fault is the same word translated innocent in 2.15. The word is often used to characterize someone who is faultless in the sight of other people. Paul is claiming that, as a devout Pharisee, there was no demand of the Law which he did not fulfill. He met all the standards of righteousness prescribed by the Law. I was without fault may be rendered as “there was nothing which I had not done,” or “I had done everything,” referring to his obeying all the commands of the Law. I was without fault may also be expressed as “no one could say I had failed in anything,” or “it could not be said that I was in any way guilty.”

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 .