SIL Translator’s Notes on Philippians 2002

SIL Translator’s Notes on Philippians 1:26

1:26

so that: The phrase so that can be understood in two ways:

(1) in order that: 1:26 is the purpose of 1:25;

(2) with the result that: 1:26 is the result of 1:25.

The first interpretation is the most likely to be correct, and it is recommended that you follow it (1).

through my coming to you again: When Paul went to see them again, his visit would cause them to boast more about Christ. Compare with 1:27b.

your exultation in Christ Jesus: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as exultation here means “cause for glorying” or “reason for boasting or being proud.” In this context this is a good kind of boasting or being proud. Therefore, another way to translate your exultation in Christ Jesus is: “you will be proud/boast about Jesus Christ.”

In some languages it may be necessary to use a direct or indirect quote here. For example:

you will say, “Christ Jesus is very good”
-or-
you will say that Christ Jesus is very good

will resound: The phrase will resound means “will increase, will be more abundant.”

on account of me: The Greek phrase en emoi that the Berean Standard Bible translates as on account of me literally means “in me.” There are two ways to understand it here.

(1) It means “because of me”; that is, the Philippians would boast about Jesus Christ because of Paul or on account of Paul. (Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Revised English Bible, NET Bible, God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, New Jerusalem Bible)

(2) It means “about me”; that is, the Philippians would boast about Paul or be proud of Paul. (Good News Translation, New American Standard Bible)

The first interpretation is recommended (1).

The phrase on account of me repeats in part the meaning of the phrase “through my being with you again.” If it is unnatural in your language to include both phrases, you may need to combine the two phrases into one. See 1:26 in the Display.

© 2002 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
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SIL Translator’s Notes on Philippians 3:7

Paragraph 3:7–11

Paul was continuing to write against the Judaizers. In the last paragraph he listed all the things that he used to be proud of (3:5–6). In this paragraph (3:7–9) he said that he now considered all these things to be useless. Nothing mattered to him besides knowing Jesus Christ better.

3:7a

whatever was gain to me: Paul was referring mainly to the things he had mentioned in 3:5–6. These were things that he could be proud of as a person and as a Jew. But in his relation to Jesus Christ, these things did not make him proud. They did not help him to know Jesus Christ better.

gain: This term was used in business transactions to refer to financial gain. But Paul was using the term as a metaphor to mean “advantage” in general. In some languages it may be necessary to drop the metaphor and translate this meaning. Some ways to do this are:

the things for which I thought ⌊God⌋ accepted me
-or-
everything I ⌊mistakenly⌋ thought I could trust in ⌊so that God would save me⌋

3:7b

I count as loss for the sake of Christ: After he came to know Jesus Christ, Paul thought about the things he was formerly proud of in a new way. He realized that they were worthless in comparison to knowing Christ. And he chose to count them as without value so that he could belong to Christ.

I count: The Greek verb form here could be translated as:

I have come to realize
-or-
I have come to regard [them]

loss: Like “gain” in 3:7a, loss was a term used in business transactions. It referred to financial loss. Paul was using the term as a metaphor to refer to the uselessness of his worldly advantages. There are two possible ways to translate this Greek word:

(1) something that does not help, that is worthless or without value. In the context of 3:7b, you could translate this as:

these things did not help me ⌊to know Christ⌋ (God’s Word, New Living Translation (2004), Contemporary English Version, New Century Version, Revised English Bible)

(2) something that harms, hinders or prevents something from happening (NET Bible). This would mean that the things Paul used to be proud of actually hindered him from knowing Christ. In the context of 3:7b, you could translate this as:

these things hindered me from knowing Christ

The immediate context (in particular 3:8) strongly supports interpretation (1). It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).

for the sake of: The Greek preposition that the Berean Standard Bible translates as for the sake of occurs three times in 3:7 and 3:8. It could also be translated as:

because of
-or-
on account of

General Comment on 3:7

Two versions give additional ideas for translation:

But Christ has shown me that what I once thought was valuable is worthless. (Contemporary English Version)

But because of Christ, I have come to consider all these advantages I had as disadvantages. (Jerusalem Bible)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Philippians 4:18

4:18

This verse connects to the previous one with a Greek particle, de, that often indicates a slight contrast or change of the direction of the thought. Many English versions omit any explicit connection here, but if you have a way in your language to show such a connection you may use it here.

4:18a

I have all I need and more: Paul continued his business metaphor by saying, in effect,

Here…is my receipt for everything (Good News Translation)

He meant that he had received their gift and it supplied all he needed.

and more: The Philippians’ gift was more than enough for what Paul needed.

4:18b

I have received your gifts from Epaphroditus: Epaphroditus was the one who brought the Philippians’ gift to Paul. See the note on 2:25c.

your gifts: The Greek literally means “the things you sent.” Apparently different people from Philippi sent things to help Paul, and this explains why the term gifts is in the plural.

General Comment on 4:18b

The three events in this part of the verse actually happened in this order:

(a) the Philippians sent Paul gifts;

(b) Epaphroditus handed them to Paul;

In some languages it will be necessary to reorder this verse so that the events are in the right order. For example:

You sent me gifts, and Epaphroditus has given them to me. So now I have all that I need.

4:18c

They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God: Paul again thought of the gifts from the Philippians in a collective sense, as a single large gift. He was saying that the help they sent was pleasing to God in the same way that the sort of sacrifice God required was pleasing to him.

a fragrant offering: This is literally “an odor of a sweet smell.” It refers to an offering to God that smells good. The Jewish people brought offerings to God as a way of worshiping him. When the priest burned these sacrifices, whether animals or grain and incense, God said that the smell was pleasing to him (See, for example, Leviticus 1:9, 2:1–2). Paul used these Jewish sacrifices as a metaphor for the gift the Philippians had sent. It may be necessary in some languages to translate this as a simile: “Your gift is like a sweet-smelling sacrifice….”

an acceptable sacrifice: Some sacrifices people made to God had something wrong with them or the people who offered them had the wrong attitude, and God did not accept those sacrifices. But God did accept the things the Philippians sent to Paul because they sent them lovingly.

well-pleasing to God: God approved of what the Philippians had done and the gifts they had sent to Paul. Their attitude and their gift were right.

Another way to translate 4:18c would be:

Your gifts to me are like the sweet-smelling offerings and sacrifices the priests offer to God. He accepts those offerings and they make him happy.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Philippians 1:5

1:5a

because of your partnership in the gospel: This phrase has been understood in two ways:

(1) It gives the reason why Paul prayed with joy. (Berean Standard Bible)

(2) It gives the reason why Paul thanked God (in 1:3). Many commentaries follow this interpretation. (Revised Standard Version)

It is recommended that you follow the first interpretation (1).

Commentators agree that the phrase your partnership in the gospel refers to the Philippians helping Paul to proclaim the gospel through giving money, praying, encouraging others and by proclaiming it themselves. See “fellowship”, sense A2 in Key Biblical Terms.

gospel: The Greek word translated as gospel means “good news.” See “gospel” in Key Biblical Terms. Look for a common phrase in your language that means “good news.” Other ways to translate it are:

God’s good news
-or-
the good message

1:5b

from the first day until now: This means “from the first time ⌊you heard the gospel and believed it⌋ until now.” There is a similar reference in 4:15b (literally, “in the beginning of the gospel”). The two phrases both mean that as soon as they had accepted the gospel, the Philippians immediately began to cooperate with Paul in spreading the gospel to others. It will probably be helpful for you to make explicit in your translation the implied information that the first day means the time the Philippians first believed the gospel. For example:

from the first day you believed (New Century Version)

until now: This means “you are still doing it.” It does not mean they stopped helping Paul at the time when he wrote the letter. They were continuing to help him at that time.

General Comment on 1:5

In some languages it may be better to reverse 1:5a and 1:5b, and put the time phrase earlier in the verse. For example:

⌊ I pray with joy⌋because ever since you first ⌊accepted the gospel⌋ and until now, you have been partners with me in spreading the gospel.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Philippians 2:7

2:7–8

There are six verbs in 2:7–8 (underlined below). These verbs can relate to each other in several ways. This is how they would appear in a literal translation of the Greek:

(a) He emptied himself,

(b) taking the form of a slave,

(d) being found in form as a man,

(e) he humbled himself,

(f) becoming obedient unto death.

(a) and (e) are the main verbs and the others depend on these two. The second meaning line in the Display arranges this passage in two sentences: A-B-C (2:7) and D-E-F (2:8), with the second sentence following chronologically after the first. First Christ humbled himself by becoming like a slave (that is, he became a man), and then he humbled himself further by dying.

Some translations have divided this into three sentences, A-B, C-D and E-F. Look at the Good News Translation for one example of this.

2:7a

emptied Himself: The Berean Standard Bible translates the Greek literally as emptied Himself. It means he humbled himself. Christ was still truly God in his character, attributes and nature. But he willingly gave up the power and privileges that were rightfully his and completely humbled himself in order to become human.

2:7b

taking the form of a servant: As Christ before his incarnation was truly God, now he became truly man as well. He took the form of a servant, that is, he became the same as a servant. This includes the implied meaning “he came to earth.” For example:

He ⌊came to earth and⌋ became the same as a servant/slave.

form: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as form is morphē, the same Greek word that Paul used in 2:6a when referring to Christ having the same nature as God. See the note there. When Jesus became a man, he submitted himself to other people and experienced pain, hunger and thirst. If in your translation you can use the same word to speak about Jesus being in the form of God and Jesus taking the form of a servant, you should do so. However, if it is not possible to use the same word, try to still keep the parallelism in some way.

servant: See note on “servants” in 1:1a. Look for the word or phrase in your language that implies the lowest social position or the position of a servant. Jesus, who had had all the rights and privileges of God himself, now voluntarily becomes someone with no rights at all.

2:7c

The Display shows how the clause in 2:7b relates to the previous clause in 2:7a. It shows how Jesus took the form of a slave.

being made: This means “becoming” or “being born.”

in human likeness: A literal translation is “in the likeness of human beings.” Some English versions translate as “man” the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as human. But the Greek word used here does not mean “male.” It refers to a human being of either sex.

Your translation should not imply that Christ was like humans but not really human. So you may need to translate the phrase “being made in human likeness” as, for example, “he became a human being.”

SIL Translator’s Notes on Philippians 3:18

3:18

Commentators disagree about whom Paul was referring to in 3:18–19. The main suggestions are:

(a) the Judaizers Paul mentioned earlier in the chapter who were trying to make the Gentile Christians become like Jews.

(b) Christians who believed they did not need to obey any moral laws.

All the Greek text (especially 3:19) implies is that they were people opposed to moral laws. You should not try and identify these people further in your translation.

Once again Paul talked about the enemies of Christ with strong feeling and emotion. Try to make this meaning clear in your translation.

3:18a

For: This means that the evil lives of Christ’s enemies are one of the reasons the believers should try to imitate Paul’s godly life.

as I have often told you before: Paul had often warned the believers about the enemies he was about to describe.

and now say again even with tears: Paul was very sorrowful, even to the point of crying, when he had to tell the believers again about these enemies of Christ.

with tears: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as with tears literally means “crying, weeping, wailing.”

3:18b

Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ: Many people behaved in a way that showed that they opposed the good news, especially the main teaching about why Christ died on the cross. In many languages it does not make sense to say that someone is an “enemy of the cross.” The Display for 3:18b shows some ways to translate this.

Many: It may be necessary to include some implicit information here to clarify who these Many were. For example:

Many ⌊say they are Christians, but they⌋ act like they hate the message about Christ dying on the cross.

Paul does not say explicitly whether these people were Christians or not, even though they claimed to be.

live: As in 3:17b, the word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as live refers here to acting or behaving in a certain way.

the cross of Christ: This means “the cross on which Jesus died.” Here this is used figuratively to refer to the significance or purpose of Christ’s death.

General Comment on 3:18

In some languages it may be helpful to reorder this verse so that the main thing Paul is saying comes at the beginning. For example:

For there are many enemies of the cross of Christ. I have told you about them before, and now I am crying as I tell you again.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Philippians 1:16

1:16

The latter: This refers to the same group of people Paul was talking about in 1:15b, that is, those who preached about Christ because of their goodwill toward Paul.

in: This is a different Greek word from that translated by the Berean Standard Bible as “out of” in 1:15a–b. However, it has a similar meaning (“out of, from”) and gives the cause of the actions.

love: The main meaning of love here is that these believers loved Paul, and if you need to supply an object you should supply “me.” This does not mean that they did not also love Christ and the gospel.

I am appointed: There are two ways to understand the Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as I am appointed :

(1) God placed Paul where he was—in prison. He wanted him to be a witness there. (New International Version, Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, God’s Word, New Living Translation (2004), Contemporary English Version, NET Bible)

(2) God appointed Paul to the ministry of preaching and defending the gospel, wherever he went. (Berean Standard Bible, Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Standard Bible)

The first interpretation seems to fit the context best, so it is recommended that you follow it (1).

defense: For ideas on translating defense see the note on 1:7b–c about “defending the gospel.”

SIL Translator’s Notes on Philippians 2:27

2:27a

nearly unto death: Epaphroditus had been so sick that he nearly died.

2:27b

God had mercy on him: God was sorry for Epaphroditus. So he healed him.

Other ways to translate this phrase are:

God pitied him.
-or-
God was kind to him.
-or-
God had compassion on him.

It may be necessary to supply this implicit information that God made Epaphroditus well again.

2:27c

not only on him but also on me: God not only had mercy on Epaphroditus, but he also had mercy on Paul, because (2:27d) Paul would have been greatly saddened if Epaphroditus had died.

In some languages it may not be necessary to include the phrase not only on him. So the translation of 2:27b–c could just say:

God had mercy on him and also on me.

2:27d

to spare me sorrow upon sorrow: This gives the purpose for which God showed mercy to Epaphroditus and Paul. Paul was saying, “[God had mercy on him and on me] so that I would not be even more sorrowful than I am now.” Another way to say this would be: “[God had mercy on him and on me] so that I would not suffer more than I am already suffering.” Some commentators think that the first sorrow refers to Paul being sad because Epaphroditus was sick. Others think Paul was sad because he was in prison. Commentators agree that the second sorrow would have been Paul’s added sorrow if Epaphroditus had died.

sorrow: This refers to something that causes someone to be sad.

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Source: SIL Translator’s Notes on Philippians 2002