3:10

This verse begins with the phrase “I want to know Christ.” Paul followed this with three phrases that show three ways that he could know Christ: by the power of Christ’s resurrection, by the fellowship of sharing Christ’s sufferings, and by becoming like Christ in his death.

3:10a

I want to know Christ: This does not mean to know about Christ. It means to know and experience Christ personally. Paul already knew Christ, but he wanted to know him better.

3:10b

and the power of His resurrection: The power of Christ’s resurrection was already influencing Paul’s life, but he wanted to experience it more. This is one of the ways that a person can know Christ better.

There are several ways to understand the phrase the power of His resurrection :

(1) It refers to the power Christ received after God raised him from the dead. This could be translated:

I want to have the power ⌊that⌋ Christ ⌊had⌋ when he rose again.

(2) It refers to the God’s power that raised Christ from the dead. This could be translated:

I want to experience the same power ⌊that God used when he caused⌋ Christ to live again ⌊after he had died⌋. (New Century Version, Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation (2004))

Most English versions do not specify how they understand his phrase, but both interpretations have strong support from commentators. It is recommended that you follow the first interpretation (1). Paul probably meant that knowing Christ included Paul experiencing the power that is now Christ’s.

Paul wanted this power so that he could behave in the way that pleased God and so that he could effectively teach others God’s message.

resurrection: In some languages the word resurrection can mean to come back to life as a different person or as a different living thing. This is not the meaning of resurrection in the Bible. If this is a problem in your language, you need to translate in a way that makes it clear that resurrection means a person becoming alive again as the same person.

General Comment on 3:10a–b

One way to connect 3:10a–b is:

I want to know Christ ⌊better in this way: I want to know⌋ the power of his resurrection.

3:10c

and the fellowship of His sufferings: This is the second way in which a person can know Christ better.

There are two main ways to interpret this phrase:

(1) Paul was already suffering for Christ and he wanted more of the fellowship with Christ that comes from following him. He did not want to suffer, but he wanted to know Christ more and more even though that meant suffering.

(2) Paul wanted to share by faith (mentally) the sufferings that Christ had.

The first interpretation has stronger support. It is recommended that you follow it (1). Paul did not want to suffer. But he knew that everyone who follows Christ faithfully should expect to suffer because those who refuse to follow Christ oppose them (2 Timothy 3:12). And he wanted the fellowship with Christ that would accompany this suffering.

fellowship: In this context this means “sharing in something with someone.” See note on “partnership” in 1:5a, and “fellowship”, sense A2 in Key Biblical Terms. This sense is brought out by the Berean Standard Bible when it supplies the words “sharing in.”

3:10d

being conformed to Him in His death: This is a difficult phrase to understand and most English versions translate it more or less literally. There are two ways to interpret this phrase:

(1) It is meant literally. Paul wanted to become like Christ by suffering as Christ did even to the point of death.

(2) It is meant figuratively. Paul wanted to die to sin.

Both interpretations have strong support, but it is more likely that Paul was referring here to physical death, just as he had been referring to physical sufferings in 3:10c. So it is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). Paul said that he wanted to become like Christ in every aspect of his life. He even wanted to die like Christ died. This means that he was willing to have people persecute him and kill him for his faith just like people killed Christ.

© 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.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

Section 4:21–23

Paul and those with him sent greetings to all the Philippian believers

With these verses, Paul ended his letter to the Philippian believers. As he did in many of his letters, he sent his greetings and the greetings of the believers who were with him. He ended the letter with a brief prayer or blessing (4:23).

Paragraph 4:21–23

4:21a

Greet all the saints in Christ Jesus: Paul told those who would read or hear his letter to give his greetings to the rest of the believers in Philippi.

Greet: This is a command addressed to more than one person. Probably Paul was addressing the church leaders, who would have read the letter first.

all the saints: See notes on 1:1b for the meaning of saints. Paul wanted to greet every believer in Philippi. In some languages it may be necessary to supply the word “other” to indicate that those who would pass on Paul’s greetings were also Christians.

in Christ Jesus: There are three main ways that this phrase can be understood here:

(1) It explains the word “saints.” The “saints” are those who are united with or are in Christ Jesus. For example:

Greetings to each one of God’s people who belong to Christ Jesus. (Good News Translation) (God’s Word, New Living Translation (2004), Good News Translation)

(2) It relates to the verb “greet.” This would mean, “Greet in Christ Jesus’ name all God’s people.” For example:

Give my greetings, in the fellowship of Christ Jesus. (Revised English Bible)

(3) It means “because of Christ Jesus.” For example:

Give my greetings to all who are God’s people because of Christ Jesus. (Contemporary English Version)

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

4:21b

The brothers who are with me send you greetings: This probably refers to the believers who worked closely with Paul. They also sent their greetings to the believers in Philippi. It does not mean that these believers were with Paul in the Roman prison. But they would have been in the city of Rome. These co-workers were probably all men, and it is not necessary to translate brothers as “brothers and sisters” here.

© 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.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

1:8

In the Greek this verse begins with a connecting word meaning “for.” The Berean Standard Bible does not translate this word, but if it is natural in your language, you may use such a connecting word here.

God is my witness: Paul used this phrase when there was no human witness, and especially when he was referring to his thoughts, feelings and attitudes. He meant that God was his witness and could verify that he was telling the truth. He said this five times in his letters when he was talking about how he felt, or when he was showing that he was dedicated to his Lord (also in Romans 1:9; 2 Corinthians 1:23; 1 Thessalonians 2:5, 2:10). You could translate the phrase God is my witness as “God will tell you” or simply as “God knows.” In some translations this phrase is at the end of the verse. See 1:8 in the Display.

I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus: Just as Jesus cared for the Philippians, so Paul cared for them. He cared so deeply for them that he strongly desired to be with them again.

I long for all of you: This refers mainly to Paul’s desire to see the Philippians again. He wanted to visit them again in order to help them grow in their faith, but this reason is probably not the focus here.

the affection of Christ Jesus: The Greek word splanchna, which the Berean Standard Bible translates as affection, literally means “insides of the body,” that is, heart, liver, lungs, kidneys. Greek people considered that these parts of the body were the source of emotions and feeling. They used splanchna to refer to their emotions, much as English-speaking people use the word “heart.”

The entire Greek phrase used here refers to the deep, sincere love that Jesus Christ had for other people. Christ gave Paul the ability to love others in the same way. Therefore, by saying, “I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus,” Paul was saying, “I long for all of you with the love that Jesus Christ has given me.” Another possible translations is:

I long for you because Christ Jesus has caused me to love you.

© 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.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

2:10a

that: There are two ways to interpret the Greek word hina here:

(1) It indicates purpose. God gave Christ the highest authority in order that every knee should bow to him. 2:10–11 shows the purpose for 2:9. (Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, NET Bible, God’s Word)

(2) It indicates result. God gave Christ the highest authority with the result that every knee will bow. (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version)

Interpretation (1) has much stronger commentary support, and it is recommended that you follow it.

at the name of Jesus every knee should bow: The name Jesus refers to the person Jesus, who is Christ, the Lord of lords and the King of kings. God desires that everyone should acknowledge that Jesus is Lord of all.

at the name of Jesus: There are at least three ways to interpret this expression. These interpretations depend on two things:

(a) what the Greek word en means (translated as at in the Berean Standard Bible);

(b) whether Paul was referring to the literal name Jesus here, or to the person that the name represents, or to both.

The three main interpretations are:

(1) The phrase means “in honor of Jesus.” People should bow to honor the person Jesus. Jesus himself is the one to whom they show respect.

(2) The phrase means “at the name of Jesus.” When people hear the name Jesus they should bow, because they will know whom it represents.

(3) The phrase means “in the name of Jesus.” People should bow and worship in Jesus’ name on the basis of all that his name implies: he is the person God has exalted above all others.

Most English versions are ambiguous. It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). The phrase the name of Jesus is probably a figure of speech referring to Jesus himself.

every knee should bow: This is a Hebrew way of saying that everyone should kneel down. It implies that they bow to show that they are submitting to someone or worshiping someone.

every knee: This refers to all people and all beings capable of bowing to someone. God’s desire is that all people willingly bow and submit to Jesus. But willing or not, one day everyone will submit to Jesus. The knee that bows represents the person who submits himself, his whole person, to a greater authority.

should bow: The verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as should bow is a form of the Greek word which shows purpose. In this context God is the one whose purpose it is that all should bow. So it is certain that it will happen.

In the Old Testament culture, the act of kneeling implied that a person especially needed something or was showing a very humble and respectful attitude. However, in some cultures people do not kneel to show respect. So in some languages it is necessary to say “humble themselves” instead of the literal bow or kneel. In other languages it is necessary to include both the action and the attitude. For example:

kneel down to show respect

Here are two ways to translate this entire clause:

God did this so that everybody will show respect to Jesus.
-or-
God did this so that every person will humble himself before Jesus.

2:10b

in heaven: The literal Greek here means “of ⌊those⌋ in heaven.” The Greek does not say what kind of beings or creatures. The phrase most likely refers to angels and possibly to people who have died and gone to heaven.

on earth: The phrase on earth means “of ⌊those⌋ ] on earth.” This refers mainly to people on earth. But some commentators include also animals and other living things, and evil spirits who have authority in the world.

under the earth: This phrase means “of ⌊those⌋ under the earth.” There are many different suggestions about what this refers to. The most widely supported view is that it refers to people who have died. It may include evil spirits.

This third phrase under the earth is probably the hardest of the three phrases in 2:10b to translate. In some cultures a literal translation is meaningless. Possible translations are:

those in the deep places of the earth
-or-
those who are dead
-or-
spirits of dead people

General Comment on 2:10b

The three groups of beings listed in 2:10b clearly are intended to cover all beings everywhere that God has created. The point is to make it clear that all creatures everywhere will submit to Jesus Christ, not to describe the three different groups in detail. One possible way of making this clear would be:

All created beings, whether in heaven, on the earth or beneath the earth.

General Comment on 2:10

It will not be grammatically possible in all languages to end a sentence with a list, as in 2:10b. So it may be necessary to move 2:10b to the middle or the beginning of 2:10a. For example:

…so that at the name of Jesus everybody—in heaven and on earth and under the earth—will kneel
-or-
…so that all beings in the heavens, on earth and in the underworld, should bend the knee at the name of Jesus. (Jerusalem Bible)

General Comment on 2:10

Remember that this is a kind of poetry in Greek and is rich in word pictures (knee, tongue, earth, heaven). Try to keep as many of these word pictures as you can, but be sure the meaning remains the same.

© 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.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

3:21a

the power that enables Him: This means the ability to be strong and to do great things. The power that Christ has makes it possible for him to take control of everything.

subject all things to Himself: This refers to taking control of all things.

In some languages it will not be possible to talk about controlling or ruling things. If this is true in your language, you could translate this “take control of all people/beings.”

Some other possible translations are:

make everything be under his authority
-or-
cause everything to happen as he commands

all things: That is, all that God has created. This could be translated as “heaven and earth” or “all the world.”

3:21b

transform: This means to change something from what it was into something different.

our lowly bodies: The phrase our lowly bodies refers to the bodies we now have, bodies get sick and die.

to be like His glorious body: When Christ changes these earthly bodies, they will become like his heavenly body—the sort of body Christ had after God raised him from the dead. God not only caused Christ’s body to live again but he made it a different sort of body (see 1 Corinthians 15:35–58), one that was no longer able to die.

His glorious body: This refers to the body Christ had after God raised him from the dead. Through this new body, God showed his power and his glory.

General Comment on 3:21

In some languages it may be helpful to reorder this verse so that 3:21b comes before 3:21a. One way to do this is:

He will change our weak, human bodies to be like his glorious body. He will do this by his power that makes him able to bring all things under his control.

© 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.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

1:19b

through your prayers: This refers to the fact that the Philippians had been praying for Paul. So you could also translate this as:

because you are asking God to help me

the Spirit of Jesus Christ: Commentators agree that the Spirit of Jesus Christ refers to the Holy Spirit. Similar expressions occur in Acts 16:9; Romans 8:9 and 1 Peter 1:11. Your translation should be clear enough that those who read your translation do not think that the Spirit of Jesus Christ is different from the Holy Spirit. They are two names for the same Spirit. You could translate the Spirit of Jesus Christ as “the Spirit who comes from Jesus Christ” or as “the Spirit sent by Jesus Christ.”

1:19c

my distress will turn out for my deliverance: These words are a quotation from Job 13:16 in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament.

my distress: The Greek word touto, which the Berean Standard Bible translates as my distress, literally means “this.” Paul probably had the whole situation in mind. “This” refers to what was happening to Paul at the time he was writing the letter, that is, the fact that he was in prison and waiting for a court trial, and also to the fact that people were preaching about Christ.

will turn out for: This is an idiom meaning “will lead to” or “will result in.”

my deliverance: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates deliverance is sōtēria, the word often translated “salvation.” So there are two ways to interpret sōtēria here:

(1) It means “salvation.” Paul was saying that the result of what was happening would be that God would save him. Paul would persevere in the faith and would be saved from sin, evil, Satan’s attacks and final spiritual death. Whether he lived or died, the enemies of the gospel would not destroy him. Many commentaries follow this option. (King James Version, New Jerusalem Bible)

(2) It means deliverance. Paul was confident that the authorities would release him from prison. So he would be delivered or set free from his imprisonment and would not be put to death (at least at that time). (Good News Translation, Revised Standard Version, New International Version, God’s Word, NET Bible, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version)

Interpretation (1) seems to fit better here because of the context of 1:20. Paul was determined to honor Christ, whether it was by the way he lived or the way he died. Paul evidently considered death a genuine possibility, and interpretation (2) does not appear to allow for this. Therefore, it is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). Paul believed that the result of what was happening to him (being in prison and facing a court trial) would be that God would bring him safely through both life and death to complete salvation in the presence of Jesus.

General Comment on 1:19b–c

In some languages it may be better to reorder 1:19 by putting 1:19c before 1:19b. You could translate it as:

a I know that c this will result in God saving me b because of your prayers and the help of the Spirit who comes from Jesus Christ.

© 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.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.