selfish ambition

The term rendered “selfish ambition” in many English versions is translated as “they want to make themselves come out on top” in Kahua. (Source: David Clark)

In Tzeltal it is translated “raise themselves before God.” (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)

complete verse (Philippians 1:17)

Following are a number of back-translations of Philippians 1:17:

  • Uma: “But those envious people earlier, preach the News of Kristus with evil intentions, because they just want to make-big their own names. They think/say that their deeds will add to my troubles/sadness in prison.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But the others, the ones who are jealous of me, the reason that they proclaim is not that they are wholeheartedly (behind it) but they proclaim in order to be honored by people. And they want that because of their doing this they will add to my troubles here in prison.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “However, as for others — their purpose for spreading the News is not good. It’s their desire to do better than I do, and they suppose mistakenly that by means of this, they can add to my troubles here in the prison.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But those-ones who are jealous-of-me, their way of preaching concerning Cristo is not from-the-heart, because they want to make-themselves -important (lit. raise themselves) they being the ones to lead many people, and they think that if they do that, they will make-worse my hardship in this jail.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But as for those others, they are really teaching about Cristo with their mind/inner-being not concentrated on him, for there is a motive in their mind/inner-being which isn’t good. They are causing their perception/understanding to outdo/be-superior, for what really is in their mind/inner-being is to add to my hardship while I’m in prison.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “The others however, speak of Christ because they love me. They know that I am here so that I will defend the good news to the judges here.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Christ, Messiah

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The Greek Christos (Χρηστός) is typically transliterated when it appears together with Iésous (Ἰησοῦς) (Jesus). In English the transliteration is the Anglicized “Christ,” whereas in many other languages it is based on the Greek or Latin as “Kristus,” “Cristo,” or similar.

When used as a descriptive term in the New Testament — as it’s typically done in the gospels (with the possible exceptions of for instance John 1:17 and 17:3) — Christos is seen as the Greek translation of the Hebrew mashiaḥ (המשיח‎) (“anointed”). Accordingly, a transliteration of mashiaḥ is used, either as “Messiah” or based on the Greek or Latin as a form of “Messias.”

This transliteration is also used in the two instances where the Greek term Μεσσίας (Messias) is used in John 1:41 and 4:25.

In some languages and some translations, the term “Messiah” is supplemented with an explanation. Such as in the German Gute Nachricht with “the Messiah, the promised savior” (Wir haben den Messias gefunden, den versprochenen Retter) or in Muna with “Messiah, the Saving King” (Mesias, Omputo Fosalamatino) (source: René van den Berg).

In predominantly Muslim areas or for Bible translations for a Muslim target group, Christos is usually transliterated from the Arabic al-Masih (ٱلْمَسِيحِ) — “Messiah.” In most cases, this practice corresponds with languages that also use a form of the Arabic Isa (عيسى) for Jesus (see Jesus). There are some exceptions, though, including modern translations in Arabic which use Yasua (يَسُوعَ) (coming from the Aramaic Yēšūa’) alongside a transliteration of al-Masih, Hausa which uses Yesu but Almahisu, and some Fula languages (Adamawa Fulfulde, Nigerian Fulfulde, and Central-Eastern Niger Fulfulde) which also use a form of Iésous (Yeesu) but Almasiihu (or Almasiifu) for Christos.

In Indonesian, while most Bible translations had already used Yesus Kristus rather than Isa al Masih, three public holidays used to be described using the term Isa Al Masih. From 2024 on, the government is using Yesus Kristus in those holiday names instead (see this article in Christianity Today ).

Other solutions that are used by a number of languages include these:

  • Dobel: “The important one that God had appointed to come” (source: Jock Hughes)
  • Noongar: Keny Mammarap or “The One Man” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Mairasi: “King of not dying for life all mashed out infinitely” (for “mashed out,” see salvation; source: Lloyd Peckham)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “One chosen by God to rule mankind” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Bacama: Ma Pwa a Ngɨltən: “The one God has chosen” (source: David Frank in this blog post )
  • Binumarien: Anutuna: originally a term that was used for a man that was blessed by elders for a task by the laying on of hands (source: Desmond Oatridges, Holzhausen 1991, p. 49f.)
  • Noongar: Keny Boolanga-Yira Waangki-Koorliny: “One God is Sending” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uab Meto: Neno Anan: “Son of heaven” P. Middelkoop explains: “The idea of heavenly power bestowed on a Timorese king is rendered in the title Neno Anan. It is based on the historical fact that chiefs in general came from overseas and they who come thence are believed to have come down from heaven, from the land beyond the sea, that means the sphere of God and the ghosts of the dead. The symbolical act of anointing has been made subservient to the revelation of an eternal truth and when the term Neno Anan is used as a translation thereof, it also is made subservient to a new revelation of God in Jesus Christ. The very fact that Jesus came from heaven makes this translation hit the mark.” (Source: P. Middelkoop in The Bible Translator 1953, p. 183ff. )

In Finnish Sign Language both “Christ” and “Messiah” are translated with a sign signifying “king.” (Source: Tarja Sandholm)


“Christ / Messiah” in Finnish Sign Language (source )

Law (2013, p. 97) writes about how the Ancient Greek Septuagint‘s translation of the Hebrew mashiah was used by the New Testament writers as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments (click or tap here to read more):

“Another important word in the New Testament that comes from the Septuagint is christos, ‘Christ.’ Christ is not part of the name of the man from Nazareth, as if ‘the Christs’ were written above the door of his family home. Rather, ‘Christ’ is an explicitly messianic title used by the writers of the New Testament who have learned this word from the Septuagint’s translation of the Hebrew mashiach, ‘anointed,’ which itself is often rendered in English as ‘Messiah.’ To be sure, one detects a messianic intent on the part of the Septuagint translator in some places. Amos 4:13 may have been one of these. In the Hebrew Bible, God ‘reveals his thoughts to mortals,’ but the Septuagint has ‘announcing his anointed to humans.’ A fine distinction must be made, however, between theology that was intended by the Septuagint translators and that developed by later Christian writers. In Amos 4:13 it is merely possible we have a messianic reading, but it is unquestionably the case that the New Testament writers exploit the Septuagint’s use of christos, in Amos and elsewhere, to messianic ends.”

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Christ .

Translation commentary on Philippians 1:17

Good News Translation restructures this sentence to present the thoughts in a more logical order and to make the contrast with the previous verse more apparent. The others refers to the preachers mentioned in verse 15a (Revised Standard Version; Bruce “the former”). This phrase must be rendered in a way that will show clearly that it refers to those who preached Christ out of jealousy and quarrelsomeness. It may be possible in some languages to use such an expression as “the former,” but frequently one must repeat part of the identifying elements in verse 15, for example, “the others, who are jealous, do not proclaim Christ sincerely.”

Not … sincerely is literally “not purely,” in the sense of “from mixed motives” (New English Bible). The translator must make certain that the negative not qualifies the sincerity with which the preaching is done. A literal rendering of the others do not proclaim Christ sincerely may suggest that they do not proclaim Christ at all. Those persons did, in fact, proclaim Christ, but they did not do so with pure motives. One must often translate the first part of verse 17 as “the others proclaim Christ, but they do not do so sincerely.” Not … sincerely may be rendered in some instances as “with bad motives,” “but what they want to accomplish is not right,” or “but their purposes are personal.” This meaning is brought out more clearly in the phrase which follows; from a spirit of selfish ambition is an amplification of not … sincerely.

From a spirit of selfish ambition is literally “out of partisanship.” The word “partisanship” originally meant “working for pay.” Since a man who works solely for pay works from a low motive, the term later acquired a bad sense—describing a person who serves in an official position for his own selfish purposes and to that end creates a “partisan spirit” (Phillips; Moffatt “for their own ends”). From a spirit of selfish ambition may be rendered as “because they simply want things for themselves,” “because they themselves want to get ahead,” or “because they want to surpass.”

Good News Translation changes a participle with a force of purpose into a finite verb, they think (Moffatt “intending”; Phillips “hoping”; New English Bible “meaning”; Goodspeed “imagining”). The word translated think occurs only here in the Pauline letters. It connotes the sense of thinking with a purpose which is based on wrong judgment or conceit (cf. the context of James 1.7).

They will make more trouble for me translates an infinitive construction meaning literally “to raise up affliction.” Good News Translation supplies for me, making explicit the goal of their malicious action (New English Bible “meaning to stir up fresh trouble for me”). They will make more trouble for me is clearly causative, and the closest natural equivalent, in many instances, is “they will cause me to suffer more,” or “they will cause me to have more difficulties.”

Since while I am in prison refers to Paul’s condition at the time, it may be useful to add an adverbial expression such as “here,” for example, “while I am here in prison.”

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 1:17

1:17a

The former, however: This refers back to the group of people Paul was talking about in 1:15a, that is, those who preached about Christ because they envied him and were his rivals. See comments on chiasmus at the beginning of this paragraph.

out of: This is the same Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translated as “in” in 1:16 and indicates the cause of these people’s preaching.

selfish ambition: The Greek word translated by the Berean Standard Bible as selfish ambition is also found in Romans 2:8; Galatians 5:20 and 2 Corinthians 12:20. Here Paul meant that these people wanted to be important. They wanted people to respect them and obey them rather than Paul, so they tried to get more people to follow them than Paul had.

not sincerely: These people preached for the wrong reason, selfishly, for their own advancement rather than for the good of others and the glory of God.

It some languages it may be clearer to reverse the ideas of not sincerely and “selfish ambition.” For example:

They do not proclaim the message about Christ sincerely, but they preach about him with selfish ambition.

1:17b

supposing that they can add to the distress of my chains: The Greek literally says “thinking to raise up affliction.” This means that these jealous believers intended to cause trouble for Paul. However, it is implied that what they thought was wrong. Paul continued to rejoice because the gospel was preached.

they can add to the distress of my chains: This refers not to physical suffering but to inward suffering. These rival preachers probably thought that their success would make Paul jealous of them.

of my chains: As in 1:7, this means “in prison.”

General Comment on 1:15–17

These verses form a chiasmus, as explained in the introductory note to this paragraph. If your language does not naturally use chiasmus, you should use what is a natural order in you language. For example:

15a Some preach about Christ out of envy. 17a They do so because they have selfish ambition…. 15b Others ⌊preach about Christ⌋ out of goodwill. 16 They preach because they love me….

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