Following are a number of back-translations of Philippians 2:3:
Uma: “Don’t just make yourselves big, don’t seek-to-be-praised. Rather each should humble himself, we say others are more important than ourselves.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Whatever you do, do not want/aspire to make yourself great. But you should be of lowly/humble liver towards your companions and you should always consider your companions greater than you.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “It’s necessary that you do not argue and you do not try to make yourself higher than someone else but rather, each one of you must regard himself as being lower in rank than his companion.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Your purpose in doing even anything, it shouldn’t be the raising (i.e. in importance) or betterment of yourselves or your being-spoken-well-of/boasted-about, but rather you should humble (lit. lower) your minds so that you will consider your fellows as more-important than yourselves.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “It’s necessary that you don’t do anything at all with a motive in your mind/inner-being of causing yourself to be dominant or just praise-seeking. On the contrary, what is good is that you are humble, and greater than your honoring yourselves is your honoring of your companion.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Do not be proud and seek for yourselves that people look well upon you. Rather, do as though you were of little value. Do as though other people were much better than you.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
In Greek, no verb appears in the first half of this verse, yet the construction (literally, “nothing according to partisanship nor according to vainglory”) carries an imperative force (cf. Gal 5.13). On the basis of the preceding verse, some commentators suggest that one should supply the verb “think” or “contemplate,” that is, “think nothing” or “contemplate nothing.” However, don’t do anything or “do nothing” (Revised Standard Version cf. PhillipsNew American Bible “never act”) seems to bring out the sense more forcefully. From has the sense of “on the principles of,” “from motives of” (cf. PhillipsBarclay). The noun rendered selfish ambition has already appeared in 1.17. It describes a desire to do things for selfish purposes which result in creating a partisan spirit. From selfish ambition may be expressed as “simply because you want things for yourselves,” or “because of what you yourselves desire.”
A cheap desire to boast translates a single Greek noun which means “vainglory.” It appears only here in the New Testament (the corresponding adjective is used in Gal 5.26, where it is rendered “be proud” by Good News Translation), and suggests a conceit that is groundless (cf. Barclay “the conceited desire for empty prestige”). In some languages from a cheap desire to boast may be expressed as “simply because you wish to show off,” “because you are so proud of yourselves,” or “because you want people to know how great you think you are.”
The antidote to a cheap desire to boast is to be humble toward one another (literally, “in lowliness of mind”). “Humility” is one of the most important Christian moral attitudes. The Greek moralists regarded humility as the subservient attitude of a lower-class person, an attitude of abject self-abasement. But in the New Testament, based on the example of Christ (cf. 2.8), humility acquires a positive meaning, connoting the lowly service done by a noble person. Humility before God, a recognition of one’s utter dependence on him, leads to humility in one’s relations with his fellowmen (1 Peter 5.5-6). One aspect of humility is selflessness. Be humble toward one another is sometimes expressed negatively as “do not be proud of yourselves.” In some instances one may introduce a verb of activity and so translate “act toward each other in a humble way,” or “… as a humble person.”
The final phrase of verse 3 defines essentially what humility is, always considering others better than yourselves. In some instances the translation may require an expression of direct discourse, for example, “always think, Others are better than I am.” Again, however, the meaning may sometimes be expressed by a negative formulation, for example, “never think that you are better than others are.” This particular rendering is really not as strong as the original text would imply.
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 .
Do nothing out of: This means “Do not do anything from,” that is, “Never act in accord with” or “…in a spirit of.”
selfish ambition: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as selfish ambition also occurs in 1:17a. See note there. You may need to translate it with a verb. For example, “trying to make yourself [or yourselves] seem more important than others.”
empty pride: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as empty pride can also be translated as “conceit” or “vanity.” A person who has empty pride is one who is proud and who boasts. He praises himself and thinks that his ideas are always the best.
2:3b
humility: The word humility is the opposite of “selfish ambition” and “empty pride” in 2:3a. The Greek word refers to someone who has the characteristics of meekness or lowliness. If you need to translate this as a verb, you could say:
act as if you were not important -or-
submit yourselves to others
consider others more important than yourselves: A believer should not think of himself as more important than or superior to others, as some in Philippi may have been doing. Each believer should think of other people as more important than himself. This is another way of saying “be humble.” Another way to say this could be:
give more honor to others than you give to yourselves
General Comment on 2:3
In some languages it may be helpful to reverse this sentence in order to make the negative command “Do nothing” into a positive command “Do everything.” A suggested model is:
Do everything in humility and by considering others better than yourselves. Do not be ambitious for yourself or try to make yourself look great.
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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