The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated in English as “joy” or “happiness” is translated in the HausaCommon Language Bible idiomatically as farin ciki or “white stomach.” In some cases, such as in Genesis 29:11, it is also added for emphatic purposes.
Other languages that use the same expression include Southern Birifor (pʋpɛl), Dera (popolok awo), Reshe (ɾipo ɾipuhã). (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
Following are a number of back-translations of Philippians 4:1:
Uma: “So, relatives whom I love and whom I miss/long-for: really make strong your standing believing the Lord. You [emphatic], relatives, are the pride of my heart [lit., bigness of my heart] and what makes-glad my heart.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Therefore my brothers who trust in Isa Almasi, if this is what we (incl.) expect/hope-for from Almasi, we (incl.) should/ought to really remain trusting in him. I love you and I really long for you. You are the reason that I am glad and I am really happy about you.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Therefore my dear brothers, perfect your obedience to the commands of the Lord. I’m very lonely for you; I rejoice because of you and you are the ones who make me happy.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Therefore you who are my siblings, persevere in believing in the Lord. I love you and I also miss you greatly, because you of course admittedly are the ones who are making-me -happy and you moreover are like my reward for my work.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Therefore my siblings in believing whom I hold dear, I hope you will hold fast, your way of life being firmly-grounded in the Lord. I really want very much to be able to see you again, my dear ones. You cause me big happiness and you are like the reward for my teaching.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Listen my dear brothers, very much I want to see you. I am very happy concerning you. And now, I tell you not to separate from our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
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.”
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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.
Here, tatte (立って) or “stand” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
The Hebrew adonai in the Old Testament typically refers to God. The shorter adon (and in two cases in the book of Daniel the Aramaic mare [מָרֵא]) is also used to refer to God but more often for concepts like “master,” “owner,” etc. In English Bible translations all of those are translated with “Lord” if they refer to God.
In English Old Testament translations, as in Old Testament translations in many other languages, the use of Lord (or an equivalent term in other languages) is not to be confused with Lord (or the equivalent term with a different typographical display for other languages). While the former translates adonai, adon and mare, the latter is a translation for the tetragrammaton (YHWH) or the Name of God. See tetragrammaton (YHWH) and the article by Andy Warren-Rothlin in Noss / Houser, p. 618ff. for more information.
In the New Testament, the Greek term kurios has at least four different kinds of use:
referring to “God,” especially in Old Testament quotations,
meaning “master” or “owner,” especially in parables, etc.,
as a form of address (see for instance John 4:11: “Sir, you have no bucket”),
or, most often, referring to Jesus
In the first and fourth case, it is also translated as “Lord” in English.
Most languages naturally don’t have one word that covers all these meanings. According to Bratcher / Nida, “the alternatives are usually (1) a term which is an honorific title of respect for a high-ranking person and (2) a word meaning ‘boss’, ‘master’, or ‘chief.’ (…) and on the whole it has generally seemed better to employ a word of the second category, in order to emphasize the immediate personal relationship, and then by context to build into the word the prestigeful character, since its very association with Jesus Christ will tend to accomplish this purpose.”
When looking at the following list of back-translations of the terms that translators in the different languages have used for both kurios and adonai to refer to God and Jesus respectively, it might be helpful for English readers to recall the etymology of the English “Lord.” While this term might have gained an exalted meaning in the understanding of many, it actually comes from hlaford or “loaf-ward,” referring to the lord of the castle who was the keeper of the bread (source: Rosin 1956, p. 121).
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Following are some of the solutions that don’t rely on a different typographical display (see above):
Iyansi: Mwol. Mwol is traditionally used for the “chief of a group of communities and villages” with legal, temporal, and spiritual authority (versus the “mfum [the term used in other Bantu languages] which is used for the chief of one community of people in one village”). Mwol is also used for twins who are “treated as special children, highly honored, and taken care of like kings and queens.” (Source: Kividi Kikama in Greed / Kruger, p. 396ff.)
Binumarien: Karaambaia: “fight-leader” (Source: Oates 1995, p. 255)
Warlpiri: Warlaljamarri (owner or possessor of something — for more information tap or click here)
We have come to rely on another term which emphasizes God’s essential nature as YHWH, namely jukurrarnu (see tetragrammaton (YHWH)). This word is built on the same root jukurr– as is jukurrpa, ‘dreaming.’ Its basic meaning is ‘timelessness’ and it is used to describe physical features of the land which are viewed as always being there. Some speakers view jukurrarnu in terms of ‘history.’ In all Genesis references to YHWH we have used Kaatu Jukurrarnu. In all Mark passages where kurios refers to God and not specifically to Christ we have also used Kaatu Jukurrarnu.
New Testament references to Christ as kurios are handled differently. At one stage we experimented with the term Watirirririrri which refers to a ceremonial boss of highest rank who has the authority to instigate ceremonies. While adequately conveying the sense of Christ’s authority, there remained potential negative connotations relating to Warlpiri ceremonial life of which we might be unaware.
Here it is that the Holy Spirit led us to make a chance discovery. Transcribing the personal testimony of the local Warlpiri pastor, I noticed that he described how ‘my Warlaljamarri called and embraced me (to the faith)’. Warlaljamarri is based on the root warlalja which means variously ‘family, possessions, belongingness’. A warlaljamarri is the ‘owner’ or ‘possessor’ of something. While previously being aware of the ‘ownership’ aspect of warlaljamarri, this was the first time I had heard it applied spontaneously and naturally in a fashion which did justice to the entire concept of ‘Lordship’. Thus references to Christ as kurios are now being handled by Warlaljamarri.” (Source: Stephen Swartz, The Bible Translator 1985, p. 415ff. )
Mairasi: Onggoao Nem (“Throated One” — “Leader,” “Elder”) or Enggavot Nan (“Above-One”) (source: Enggavoter 2004)
Obolo: Okaan̄-ene (“Owner of person(s)”) (source: Enene Enene)
Lotha Naga: Opvui (“owner of house / field / cattle”) — since both “Lord” and YHWH are translated as Opvui there is an understanding that “Opvui Jesus is the same as the Opvui of the Old Testament”
Seediq: Tholang, loan word from Min Nan Chinese (the majority language in Taiwan) thâu-lâng (頭儂): “Master” (source: Covell 1998, p. 248)
Thai: phra’ phu pen cao (พระผู้เป็นเจ้า) (divine person who is lord) or ong(kh) cao nay (องค์เจ้านาย) (<divine classifier>-lord-boss) (source: Stephen Pattemore)
Arabic often uses different terms for adonai or kurios referring to God (al-rabb الرب) and kurios referring to Jesus (al-sayyid الـسـيـد). Al-rabb is also the term traditionally used in Arabic Christian-idiom translations for YHWH, and al-sayyid is an honorary term, similar to English “lord” or “sir” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin).
Tamil also uses different terms for adonai/kurios when referring to God and kurios when referring to Jesus. The former is Karttar கர்த்தர், a Sanskrit-derived term with the original meaning of “creator,” and the latter in Āṇṭavar ஆண்டவர், a Tamil term originally meaning “govern” or “reign” (source: Natarajan Subramani).
Burunge: Looimoo: “owner who owns everything” (in the Burunge Bible translation, this term is only used as a reference to Jesus and was originally used to refer to the traditional highest deity — source: Michael Endl in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 48)
Yagaria: Souve, originally “war lord” (source: Renck, p. 94)
Aguacateco: Ajcaw ske’j: “the one to whom we belong and who is above us” (source: Rita Peterson in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 49)
Konkomba: Tidindaan: “He who is the owner of the land and reigns over the people” (source: Lidorio 2007, p. 66)
Chichewa: AmbuyeAmbuye comes from the singular form Mbuye which is used to refer to: (1) someone who is a guardian or protector of someone or group of people — a grandparent who has founded a community or village; (2) someone who is a boss or master over a group of people or servants and has absolute control over them; (3) owner of something, be it a property, animals and people who are bound under his/her rule — for people this was mostly commonly used in the context of slaves and their owner. In short, Mbuye is someone who has some authorities over those who call him/her their “Mbuye.” Now, when the form Ambuye is used it will either be for honorific when used for singular or plural when referring to more than one person. When this term is used in reference to God, it is for respect to God as he is acknowledged as a guardian, protector, and ruler of everything. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation).
Hdi uses rveri (“lion”) as a title of respect and as such it regularly translates adon in the Old Testament. As an address, it’s most often with a possessive pronoun as in rvera ɗa (“my lion” = “my lord” or “sir”). So, for example, Genesis 15:2 (“O Lord God”) is Rvera ɗa Yawe (“My lion Yahweh”) or Ruth to Boaz in Ruth 2:13: “May I find your grace [lit. good-stomach] my lion.” This ties in nicely with the imagery of the Lord roaring like a lion (Hosea 11:10; Amos 3:8; Joel 3:16). Better still, this makes passages like Revelation 5:5 even richer when we read about rveri ma taba məndəra la Yuda, “the Lion of the tribe of Judah”. In Revelation 19:16, Jesus is rveri ta ghəŋa rveriha “the lion above lions” (“lord of lords”). (Source: Drew Maust)
Law (2013, p. 97) writes about how the Ancient GreekSeptuagint‘s translation of the Hebrew adonai was used by the New Testament writers as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments: “Another case is the use of kurios referring to Jesus. For Yahweh (in English Bibles: ‘the Lord‘), the Septuagint uses kurios. Although the term kurios usually has to do with one’s authority over others, when the New Testament authors use this word from the Septuagint to refer to Jesus, they are making an extraordinary claim: Jesus of Nazareth is to be identified with Yahweh.”
This verse is introduced in Greek by a conjunction meaning “so then,” “therefore,” or “accordingly”; possible equivalents may be “as the result of what I have said” or “the purpose of what I have already said is that….” It is possible to regard this verse as forming the conclusion of the previous paragraph (PhillipsLa Sainte Bible: Nouvelle version Segond réviséeJerusalem BibleTraduction œcuménique de la Bible UBS Greek text), but it is equally possible to make the verse as an introduction to what follows. The transition is made by referring back to the thoughts presented in the previous paragraph and using them as a basis for the exhortations that follow.
Paul addresses his Philippian brothers with a series of endearing terms, showing his deep affection for them. To capture this feeling Good News Translation transforms the adjectives and nouns into a series of exclamatory clauses, an effective way in English of indicating intense feeling. In some languages, however, such a series of exclamations would be disconcerting to the reader. It would be best, therefore, in certain instances to translate verse 1 as “My dear fellow believers, you are very dear to me, and I miss you greatly. You make me so happy, and I am very proud of you. In view of all that I have said to you, this is how you should stand firm in your life in the Lord…,” or “… what I am going to say to you now is how you should stand firm in your life in the Lord….” Note that in this restructuring of verse 1 brothers (“fellow believers”) is rendered only once since a repetition of the term might seem unnecessarily redundant. Note also that the exclamatory forms are altered so as to make them positive indicative statements.
How dear you are to me, an adjective in the Greek meaning “beloved,” is one of Paul’s favorite words used in reference to his friends. The same adjective, rendered dear brothers, is used again later in the verse to emphasize the deep affection he has toward his friends. How dear you are to me may be rendered as “I love you very much” or “I care about you greatly.”
How I miss you translates another adjective, which means literally “longed for” (King James Version). The word occurs only here in the New Testament, but its cognate verb and nouns appear elsewhere in Paul’s letters. It signifies an intense emotion, what might be called a “homesick tenderness.” In 1.8 its verbal form is rendered deep feeling … comes. How I miss you may be rendered as “how sorrowfully I feel when I am not with you.” In a number of languages a closer equivalent may be “I desire very much to be with you.”
How happy you make me renders another favorite word of Paul in this letter, literally “joy.” How happy you make me may be restructured as “you cause me to be very happy.”
How proud I am of you is literally “you are my crown.” This is not the word generally used for the crown (diadem) worn by a king or queen. It refers, rather, to the crown awarded to a victor in Greek athletic games or to the wreath placed on the head of a guest at a feast. It is a symbol of victory, pride, happiness, and honor (see Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “my crown of victory”). These words recall Paul’s tribute to the church at Thessalonica (cf. 1 Thes 2.19, 20). In some languages one may be able to preserve the figurative usage of “my crown” in a statement such as “you are like a crown for my head.” But this type of rendering has, in some instances, resulted in wrong interpretations; for example, it has been understood in the sense of “you are a weight upon my head,” and thus a mental burden. In some instances how proud I am of you! may be rendered as “I am always glad to tell people about you,” or “I am always boasting about you.”
The adverb rendered this … is how should be taken closely with the opening conjunction so, then. It carries the force of “in view of all that I have said to you” (Barclay).
The imperative rendered you should stand firm is the same word used in 1.27. With this word one can visualize a soldier standing firmly amidst the horrors of a battle. The idea is to remain faithful without giving way (Jerusalem Bible), or to demonstrate unswerving loyalty (Barclay) amidst attacks from without and false teachings within. As in other instances in which the metaphor stand firm is employed, one can sometimes express it better in negative terms, for example, “you should never run away,” “you should never give in,” or “you must never collapse.”
In your life in the Lord is literally “in the Lord.” There can be no closer relation possible than for one to be in another person’s life, “living in another person’s blood stream,” as some languages would phrase it. This thought is vividly expressed in 1.21 (see the discussion there). In your life in the Lord may be rendered in some instances as “as you live in the Lord.” In some instances a literal rendering of “in the Lord” may be rather meaningless, and so it may be better to say, “as you live joined in the Lord,” or “as you live like one person together with the Lord.”
In order to reproduce the proper force and to make it easier to follow the train of thought, this verse may have to be restructured in some languages. Thus, “So then, my brothers, in view of all that I have said to you, you should stand firm in your life in the Lord, dear brothers! How dear you are to me, and how I miss you! how happy you make me, and how proud I am of you!” (cf. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).
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 .
Paul encouraged the believers to be faithful to the Lord.
4:1 is a summary of what Paul talked about in 3:12–21.
4:1a
Therefore: This connecting word indicates that what Paul had been saying in chapter 3, especially in the latter part, was the reason why he then said what he did in 4:1.
my 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, 3:13, 3:17, 4:8. See the note on 1:12a.
whom I love and long for: Once again Paul told the Philippians how much he loved them. The phrase long for means to wish strongly to see someone because you love him very much. See note on “I long for all of you” in 1:8, where the same Greek word is used.
4:1b
my joy: When Paul called the Philippians his joy in this verse, he meant that they caused Paul to be happy. Some possible ways to translate this are:
you give me joy -or-
you make me happy
and crown: When Paul called the Philippians his crown, he meant they were his reward for the work he had done. The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as crown refers to the ring of leaves that was placed on the head of someone who had just won a race or competition. It was his reward/prize for winning. Therefore, it is possible that Paul was thinking of the reward that he would get in heaven because of how he had discipled the Philippians. They were like his reward because they had believed in Christ and were following him. Here is an idea for translating the word crown :
you are the reward for my work
Paul also used the ideas of “joy” and crown together in 1 Thessalonians 2:19.
4:1c
that is how: The Greek word houtōs that the Berean Standard Bible translates as that is how can also be translated as “in this way” or “so.” Paul encouraged the Philippians to stand firm in the way he had just been describing in the previous verses.
stand firm in the Lord: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as stand firm is also used in 1:27c–d. It literally just means “stand,” but Paul used it figuratively to mean “be steadfast.” Paul wanted the Philippians to be strong in their faith no matter what happened to them. A possible rendering for the phrase stand firm in the Lord in this context is:
remain loyal to the Lord
my beloved: The Berean Standard Bible translates this phrase from the same Greek word from which it translates the phrase “whom I love” in 4:1a. Think about whether it is better in your language to repeat the same idea or to use a different expression here in your translation. See also the note on “my beloved” in 2:12a.
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