gospel

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In choosing a word for the Greek that is typically translated as “gospel” in English, a number of languages construct a phrase meaning “good news,” “joyful report” or “happiness-bringing words.” In some instances such a phrase may be slightly expanded in order to convey the proper meaning, e.g. “new good word” (Tzotzil), or it may involve some special local usage:

  • “good story” (Navajo (Dinė))
  • “joyful telling” (Tausug)
  • “joyful message” (Toraja-Sa’dan) (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • cohuen ñoñets or “message of God” (Shilluk) (source: Nida 1964, p. 237)
  • “good news” (Yanesha’) (source: Martha Duff in Holzhausen 1991, p. 11)
  • “voice of good spirit” (San Blas Kuna) (source: Claudio and Marvel Iglesias in The Bible Translator 1951, p. 85ff. )
  • suviśēṣattinṟe (0സുവിശേഷം) or “good narrative” (Malayalam)
  • susmachar (ସୁସମାଚାର) or “good matter” (Odia)
  • suvārteya (ಸುವಾರ್ತೆಯ) or “good word” (Kannada) (source for this and two above: Y.D. Tiwari in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 132ff. )
  • the German das Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022) translates as “all-transformative good news” (alles verändernde gute Botschaft), also “good news,” and the German translation by Fridolin Stier (1989) as “message of salvation” (Heilsbotschaft)
Vitaly Voinov tells this story about the translation into Rutul (click or tap here to see the rest of this insight):

“In Rutul, it was only during the most recent consultant checking session that I realized that the Rutul word for Gospel – Incir (from Arabic إنجيل — Injil) — sounds and looks exactly like the word that means ‘fig’ in Rutul. This is a case of homonymy, in which two completely non-related words from differing historical sources have come to sound exactly alike. Most Rutul speakers know that incir means ‘fig’ because they grow this fruit in their yard or buy it at the market every week. However, because the religious sphere of discourse was heavily disparaged during the Soviet era, most people simply never encountered Incir with the meaning of ‘Gospel.’ This meaning of the word, which Rutuls of the pre-Soviet era knew from the Koran, simply fell into disuse and never had much reason for returning into contemporary Rutul since there is no Christian church established among the people. So if the translator continues to use the term Incir as the rendering for ‘Gospel,’ he runs the risk that most readers will, at best, read the word with a smile because they know that it also means ‘fig,’ and, at worst, will completely misunderstand the word. The seemingly ‘easy’ solution in this case is for the translator to use a Rutul neologism meaning ‘Joyful Message’ or ‘Good News,’ [see above] instead of Incir; but in fact it is not all that easy to make this change if the translator himself insists on using the historical word because at least some Rutuls still understand it as meaning ‘Gospel.’ This is a situation in which the translation team has to gradually grow into the understanding that a fully intelligible translation of Scripture is preferable to one that maintains old words at the cost of alienating much of the readership.”

For “good news,” see also Isaiah 52:7.

complete verse (Philippians 1:13)

Following are a number of back-translations of Philippians 1:13:

  • Uma: “The soldiers who guard the king’s house and all the people here know that I am imprisoned here because I am a servant of Kristus.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Because-of my being imprisoned all the guards in the palace of the sultan and also all the others here know already that the reason that I am imprisoned is because of my following Isa Almasi.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “For all of the soldiers who are guards here in the palace of the king, and everybody here, they know that I am in prison only because I am a servant of Christ.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because all the soldiers who guard the palace (palasyo) and the other people here have come-to-know that there is no other reason that I have been imprisoned if not only my having-served Cristo.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “For all the soldiers and still others here have comprehended that what caused my being imprisoned was my serving Cristo.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “And now, all the soldiers who are here in the palace and all the others here know that I am in prison because I believe in Christ.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Philippians 1:13

As a result indicates that what follows in verses 13-14 is the consequence of the progress of the gospel (cf. Bruce “the upshot of it all has been this”). Even though the phrase has been discarded by many translators, it is best to have it for a better connection. As a result may also be rendered as “because of this” or “because of what happened.”

Good News Translation restructures the sentence by making the phrase the whole palace guard and all the others the subject, instead of “my imprisonment” (New English Bible New American Bible; Jerusalem Bible “my chains”) or the impersonal “it” (Goodspeed Revised Standard Version). The word rendered palace guard, literally “praetorium” (a Latin word borrowed into Greek), refers either to a particular residence or to a particular group of men. If the former is meant, it would be a reference to the imperial palace in Rome (King James Version “palace”) or to the ruler’s residence (cf. Mark 15.16; Acts 23.35). In such a case, it could be translated as “the house where the emperor lives.”

The context, however, indicates that the “praetorium” refers to a body of men, thus the palace guard (so also Phillips; Goodspeed “Imperial Guard”). One can also use a more generic term such as “headquarters guard” (New English Bible “all at headquarters”) and leave the place of Paul’s imprisonment an open question. The whole palace guard may be expressed as “all of the soldiers who are guarding the palace,” or “… the house where the emperor lives.”

There is no need to restrict the meaning of all the others here to “the rest of the soldiers”; it may be understood as “the public at large” (New English Bible), “everyone else here,” “all the other people here,” or simply “everyone here.”

Because I am a servant of Christ (literally, “in Christ”) explains the cause of the apostle’s imprisonment (New English Bible New American Bible “in Christ’s cause”; Goodspeed “for the sake of Christ”). Good News Translation employs “servant,” the only title Paul claims in this letter (v. 1), to focus upon the apostle’s relation to Christ. As in verse 1, a servant of Christ may be made a verbal expression, for example, “because I serve Christ,” “because I work on behalf of Christ,” or “because all I do is to help Christ.”

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Philippians 1:13

1:13

As a result: Paul gave a specific example of how the gospel had advanced as a result of what had happened to him (1:12).

the whole palace guard: The palace guard was a group of soldiers who guarded the official houses of governors and other important Roman officials. The term was especially used for those who guarded the palace of the Roman emperor in Rome itself. This suggests that Paul was probably writing from Rome.

everyone else: It is not clear to whom this refers. Paul may have been thinking about other prisoners or other servants in the place where he was imprisoned. Perhaps he was referring to other important people in the palace or even to all the people that he had met in that city. You should not try to make this more explicit.

chains: This is a figurative term referring to Paul’s imprisonment (see note on 1:7b–c).

for Christ: You could translate this phrase several ways. For example:

because I follow Christ
-or-
because I am a servant of Christ
-or-
because I preach about Christ

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