sporting analogies

In the Kahua translation sporting analogies are avoided because they imply that winning involves putting other people down.

forget

The Hebrew, Latin, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated as “forget” in English is translated in Noongar as dwangka-anbangbat, lit. “ear-lose.” (Source: Portions of the Holy Bible in the Nyunga language of Australia, 2018).

See also remember and forget (Japanese honorifics).

brother (fellow believer)

The Greek that is translated in English as “brother” or “brother and sister” (in the sense of fellow believers), is translated with a specifically coined word in Kachin: “There are two terms for brother in Kachin. One is used to refer to a Christian brother. This term combines ‘older and younger brother.’ The other term is used specifically for addressing siblings. When one uses this term, one must specify if the older or younger person is involved. A parallel system exists for ‘sister’ as well. In [these verses], the term for ‘a Christian brother’ is used.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae)

In Matumbi is is translated as alongo aumini or “relative-believer.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)

In Martu Wangka it is translated as “relative” (this is also the term that is used for “follower.”) (Source: Carl Gross)

In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is often translated as Mitchristen or “fellow Christians.”

See also brothers.

complete verse (Philippians 3:13)

Following are a number of back-translations of Philippians 3:13:

  • Uma: “Relatives all, I admit that I am not yet holy with no sin. But [there is] one thing I do: I forget all that I have turned my back on, and I exert-effort to strive/aim-for that which I face. I am like a person who is racing: I do not look-back-at what is behind me, I keep running striving/aiming-for what I am heading-toward. I exert-effort to follow the will of God, so that I will get the victory reward that he will give me in heaven–for that is why he called me to be connected with Kristus Yesus.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “It is true, my brothers, I have not yet reached this my goal/what I am aiming for, but I no longer think of what has happened to me/what I have experienced. That is only what I think of now, to really strive so that all that God wishes/wills for me in the future will be mine.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “I know, brothers, that these things have not yet been fulfilled in me; but I remove from my mind the things that I have already accomplished and am doing my utmost so that I may get all that God wants me to get in the future.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Siblings, it’s admittedly true that I have not yet attained this, but what I am doing now, I am not thinking-about what I did previously but rather I concentrate my thoughts on the not-yet fulfilled plan of God for me.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “My siblings in believing, I’m not saying that I’ve reached the point where my obeying is now mature/complete. But what I do now is that I am not always turning-to-look-backward at the things done by me in the past, but rather it’s toward the future that my look is, and it’s toward where I am going that I exert myself.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Listen brothers, I don’t want to say that now I am walking in all that is good. But there is just one word that I must do now. That which has passed, I have left. In the coming days, I am going to endeavor to do what I must do.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Philippians 3:13

In this verse Paul repeats and expands what he has said in the preceding verse. He says literally “Brothers, I do not count myself to have grasped.” “I myself” is emphatic in Greek, with the force of “I on my part” or, as Good News Translation renders it, of course … I really. The phrase of course may be rendered in some instances as “you may be sure,” while my brothers, or “my fellow believers,” must in some languages be placed at the beginning of the verse

The verb rendered think often occurs in a commercial context, meaning essentially “to calculate.” It is a favorite Pauline term and is often used in the sense of carefully weighing the point under consideration; thus it can mean “reckon” (New English Bible) or “consider” (Revised Standard Version Phillips). The compound verb discussed under verse 12, where it is used twice, is here used for the third time. The perfect infinitive form, which appears here without an object, is translated as I have already won it. The object it, supplied translationally, obviously refers to the prize (Bible en français courant “have won the prize”).

Paul proceeds with an elliptical but forceful statement, literally “but one thing.” Several attempts have been made to bring out the exact force of this expression. Some supply the idea of thinking (Moffatt “my one thought is”); others of speaking (New English Bible “all I can say is this”; cf. Jerusalem Bible). However, the context seems to indicate that one thing refers to what follows, which is a matter of doing. Accordingly, the force and sense of this expression is perhaps best rendered as “but one thing I do” (American Standard Version), or, more forcefully, the one thing I do, however (Good News Translation).

Paul uses the pictorial images of a race to describe the single-mindedness of his purpose. Is to forget what is behind me is in Greek a present participial phrase. The present participle signifies that his forgetting is a continuous action: “keep forgetting.” What is behind me could be a reference to his life in Judaism, but more probably it includes his achievements as a Christian. The runner has lost when he turns back to see what is behind him. To translate to forget what is behind me in a strictly literal fashion is to risk the introduction of a wrong connotation, since this might imply that Paul wished to forget even the mistakes he had made. In this context it may be preferable to translate to forget as “to pay no attention to” or “to refuse to be concerned about.” In reality Paul was not trying to forget; he simply refused to be concerned about what was behind him.

Do my best to reach what is ahead translates another participial phrase, literally “stretching forward to the things that are before.” The participle is a double prepositional compound which pictures the runner with his eyes fixed on the goal, his hand stretching out to it, and his body bent toward it. It is a graphic description of the runner’s intense desire and utmost effort to reach the goal (Barclay “to strain every nerve to reach”). It may be difficult to speak of what is ahead without being more specific, for example, “the goal which is ahead,” or “the end of the race which is ahead.” Thus the figurative expression of running introduced in verse 14 is anticipated. It is also possible to use a more general expression, for example, “to accomplish what I must do in the future.”

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 3:13

3:13a

Brothers: The term Brothers here refers to other Christians, fellow believers, not to literal Brothers. You might translate this as “brothers and sisters,” “older and younger siblings” or “relatives.” The term Brothers also occurs in 1:12, 3:1, 3:17, 4:1, 4:8. See the note on 1:12a.

I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it: Paul was saying in other words what he had already said in 3:12a. He had not yet become all that God wanted him to be.

consider: This means “to regard, believe, say.” But here Paul referred to more than just his opinion of himself. He knew that he had not yet achieved what God wanted him to be.

taken hold of it: See the note on 3:12c.

3:13b

one thing I do: Paul was introducing the main thing that he wanted to do. He was about to explain what he wanted more than anything else. He did this by comparing himself to a man running a race to win a prize.

3:13c

Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead: The phrase what is behind refers to Paul’s past, particularly to the things he used to boast about (3:5–6). This would include what happened before he became a Christian, and perhaps even some of what happened after he became a Christian.

Forgetting: Paul did not want to concentrate on his past. This does not mean he would completely forget but that it would not be the main thing he thought about. He compared this to a man running a race and not looking back to see who was close behind him or how far he had run. Make sure that your translation clearly means that Paul intended to forget these things. You might need to use a word meaning “ignoring,” or you might need to use a negative like “not concentrating on” or “not paying any attention to.”

straining toward what is ahead: This also is using the metaphor of a race. The runner pushes himself forward as fast as he can. He tries to be the first to reach the finish line. The meaning here is that Paul was disciplining himself to become more like Christ, trying hard and doing his best to be what Christ wanted him to be.

If people run races in your culture, then it may be possible to use this metaphor. But if people in your culture do not know about racing, you may need to explain that in your translation. See the first meaning line of 3:13c in the Display. Or you may need to leave out the metaphor and translate only the meaning. For an example, see the second meaning line of 3:13c in the Display.

behind…ahead: Because Paul was using the metaphor of a race here, these words can be understood in two ways:

(a) position in space : That is, within Paul’s metaphor of the race, the word behind means “in back of” or “at the rear of,” and the word ahead means “in front of.”

(b) position in time : When Paul used the metaphor of a race, he was referring to his life. In this case, the word behind means “in the past, what happened before now,” and the word ahead means “in the future, what will happen later.”

Consider the following when you translate these words:

• In some languages, there may be words meaning “behind” and “ahead” which have the same dual meaning of space and time as the words do in Greek and English. If you have such words in your language, you should use them here.

• If you must decide which words to use, you should use sense (a) above, if you have used the metaphor of a race. Use sense (b) if you have not been able to retain the metaphor.

In some cultures the people think of the past as figuratively in front of them or “ahead,” because they can visualize what has already happened. They then think of the future as “behind,” something unknown that they cannot visualize. If this is true in your language, you need to be careful to use the correct terms so people understand what Paul was saying.

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