complete verse (Philippians 1:30)

Following are a number of back-translations of Philippians 1:30:

  • Uma: “So at this time, you are indeed receiving suffering, the same as the sufferings that I have received, both the sufferings that you saw for yourselves when I was still with you, and the suffering that I am undergoing here, as you have heard.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Because of your trust in Almasi you endure persecution like I do. Formerly you saw the troubles that I endured and now you hear that I am still enduring.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “We (incl.) have all been included in those who suffer hard things because of the Good News, and the hard things which happened to me long ago and still are happening today, I cannot get away from them as you have learned.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “And the hardship that you are experiencing, it’s the same as my previous hardship that you were seeing and likewise also that which you hear is happening to me now.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “For probably you haven’t yet forgotten the big-size of the causing hardship to me by your companions, and probably you are hearing news also of my hardships here. Well now, you also are getting to experience being caused hardship in this way.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “and now, let us search for how the word will win out. You see what I have done before, and now you hear that I continue to search out how to have that word win out.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

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 formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Philippians 1:30

The Greek of this verse is somewhat obscure. It means literally “having the same conflict such as you saw in me, and now hear in me.” The participle “having” agrees with “you” of the previous verse; so “you” is the logical subject of the participial clause. The emphasis is on the word “same,” and several translations (including Good News Translation) make this fact explicit: now you can take part with me in the battle; “take your part in the same struggle” (Goodspeed); “you and I are together in the same fight” (Jerusalem Bible); “you and I are engaged in the same contest” (New English Bible). The Greek word translated battle applies originally to athletic contests in the arena, but it is also used of any inward or outward struggle (Col 2.1; 1 Thes 2.2; cf. 1 Tim 6.12; 2 Tim 4.7; Heb 12.1).

As already suggested in connection with the term fighting in verse 27, it may not be possible to preserve the metaphor of battle in verse 30. Sometimes, however, one can speak of “struggle” or “conflict,” and in other instances the closest equivalent may be “severe opposition.” Since the conflict is essentially one in which Paul is defending the gospel, it may be important to make this aspect more specific. For example, verse 30 may be rendered as “Now you can join me in my struggle to defend the good news. This is the same struggle which you saw me having in the past, and I am continuing in my struggle to defend the good news even as you now hear.”

For a smoother connection, Good News Translation repeats the battle (in the battle … the same battle). The Greek verb rendered you saw is in the aorist tense, referring to incidents in the past. Most translations make this information explicit: you saw me fighting in the past (Good News Translation); “you saw me fighting before” (Jerusalem Bible); “you saw how I fought it once” (Knox). The fight to which these words refer is recorded in Acts 16.19-24 (cf. 1 Thes 2.2). Since the emphasis is on the same kind of fight which the Philippians are encouraged to engage in, Good News Translation uses the word same.

As you hear … I am fighting still is literally “now you hear in me.” “In me” is to be taken in the sense of “in my person,” that is, I am fighting still personally, a reference to Paul’s present imprisonment as he awaits trial.

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 1:30

1:30a–b

the same struggle you saw I had: People were persecuting the Philippian believers because of what they as Christians believed. This was similar to the way they had persecuted Paul when he had been in Philippi. See Acts 16:19–24.

struggle: The Greek word used here refers to a conflict, a contest or a fight. This includes the idea of suffering.

you saw I had: The Philippians had witnessed what Paul had suffered for Christ in Philippi. He was beaten and put in prison.

hear that I still have: Here Paul was referring to the suffering he was experiencing while in prison in Rome. The Philippians would have heard about this from Epaphroditus, who carried the letter to them. In both Philippi and Rome Paul continued preaching the good news about Jesus, even though this was why the authorities put him in prison in both of those cities.

© 2002 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.