saint

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The Greek that is translated as “saint” in English is rendered into Highland Puebla Nahuatl as “one with a clean hearts,” into Northwestern Dinka as “one with a white hearts,” and into Western Kanjobal as “person of prayer.” (Source: Nida 1952, p. 146)

Other translations include:

complete verse (Philippians 4:22)

Following are a number of back-translations of Philippians 4:22:

  • Uma: “All the believers in Yesus who are in this town, with those who are in the house of the king, sent greeting to you, relatives.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “All the ones trusting Isa here, especially the ones who work in the sultan’s palace, remember you.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “All of my fellow believers here in the town especially our (incl.) brothers who live here in the house of the king, they send their greetings also to you.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “along with all God’s people here in Roma, but especially those who work in the house of the Emperor (RL Emperador).” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “All our other siblings in believing here, especially those of the household of the Impiradur, also greet you.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “All the people here who are the people of God greet you. Also some of the believers who live in the house of the king of Rome strongly send word to greet you.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Philippians 4:22

The expression all God’s people here would seem to indicate that Paul has a wide circle of Christians in mind, including those who belong to the Emperor’s palace, literally “Caesar’s household” (Revised Standard Version). The word “household” could refer to the Emperor’s immediate family, but that is not the likely meaning. The reference is probably to functionaries or servants in the palace who were Christian. Moffatt identifies them as “the Imperial slaves,” but a broader rendering like that of Good News Translation seems more suitable. Who belong to the Emperor’s palace may be difficult to translate literally, since in some languages people are not regarded as belonging to a place. One may need to say “those who work in the Emperor’s palace.”

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 4:22

4:22a

All the saints send you greetings: The phrase All the saints apparently represents the larger group of believers in Rome, all those who were followers of Christ in that city.

4:22b

especially those from the household of Caesar: The phrase household of Caesar refers to those believers who in some way worked for the Roman emperor.

those from the household of Caesar: It is not likely that Paul was referring to the emperor’s relatives. He probably meant people who worked in the emperor’s palace as slaves or other servants as well as those who worked for the emperor as scribes, soldiers or administrators throughout the city of Rome.

Caesar: This was originally the proper name of the Roman emperor, but it came to be used as the title of the emperor or leader of the Roman Empire. It is better, therefore, to translate it as “Roman emperor” or “Roman king” than to transliterate it as a proper name.

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Sung version of Philippians 4

Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).

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