Philippians

From Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus. To all of God's holy people in Christ Jesus who live in Philippi, along with the overseers and the deacons.

1Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:

NotePhilippi was a city in Macedonia, in northern Greece, governed as a Roman colony: many residents were retired Roman soldiers and their descendants, and they prized their Roman citizenship. The KJV's "servants" translates the Greek word for slaves, people who belong to an owner. Its "bishops" translates episkopoi, overseers or supervisors, a word that carried no sense yet of the later church office of a bishop over a region. "Deacons" translates diakonoi, those who serve or see to practical needs. "Saints" here is not a special grade of holy person but Paul's ordinary term for every member of the congregation.

2May grace and peace be yours from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

2Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

NoteOrdinary Greek letters opened with the word chairein, "greetings." Paul replaces it with the similar-sounding charis, grace, and adds "peace," the standard Jewish greeting shalom. The opening is a deliberate reshaping of the usual formula, not a stray blessing.

3I thank my God every time I think of you.

3I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,

4In every prayer I pray for all of you, I always make my requests with joy,

4Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,

5because of your partnership in the good news from the first day until now.

5For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;

Note"Fellowship" translates koinonia, which means partnership or a shared stake in an enterprise, including sharing its costs. The Philippians had repeatedly sent Paul money, and the word covers that concrete support as well as goodwill.

6I am sure of this one thing: the God who began a good work in you will keep at it and finish it by the day of Jesus Christ.

6Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

NoteIn 1611 "perform" meant to carry a thing through to completion, not to put on a performance. "The day of Jesus Christ" is a fixed phrase, modeled on the Hebrew prophets' "day of the LORD," for the final day when Christ appears and matters are settled.

7It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I hold you in my heart. Whether I am in chains, or defending and proving the good news, you all share God's grace with me.

7Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.

Note"Meet" in 1611 English means fitting or proper. "Bonds" means chains: Paul is writing under arrest. The Greek of "I have you in my heart" is ambiguous and can equally mean "you have me in your heart"; translators must pick one, and either is grammatically possible.

8God is my witness how much I long for all of you with the deep affection of Christ Jesus.

8For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.

Note"Bowels" is the KJV's literal rendering of splanchna, the inner organs. Greek and Hebrew speakers located strong feeling in the gut the way modern English locates it in the heart, so the word means deep, physically felt affection, not anything anatomical.

9And this is what I pray: that your love will grow more and more, along with knowledge and every kind of good judgment,

9And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;

Note"Judgment" here translates aisthesis, perception or discernment: the trained ability to size up a situation and tell what it calls for. It does not mean passing judgment on people.

10so that you can test things and choose what is best, and so that you may be pure and blameless when the day of Christ comes,

10That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;

Note"Approve things that are excellent" renders a phrase that can be taken two ways, and both readings are current: test things and so choose what is best, or tell apart things that differ. "Sincere" translates eilikrines, meaning unmixed or pure. "Without offence" translates a word that can mean either not stumbling yourself or not tripping anyone else up.

11filled with the fruit that right living produces, which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

11Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

12Brothers and sisters, I want you to understand that what has happened to me has actually helped the good news move forward.

12But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;

Note"Fallen out" is old English for "turned out." "Brethren" is the standard address to a whole congregation, women included.

13As a result, it has become clear to the whole palace guard, and to everyone else, that I am in chains because I belong to Christ.

13So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places;

Note"The palace" translates praitorion. It could mean the emperor's elite Praetorian Guard, the soldiers who would have taken turns chained to a prisoner like Paul, or the official residence of a provincial governor. Which one is meant depends on where Paul was imprisoned, which is disputed.

14And because of my chains, most of the believers have grown confident in the Lord, so they are far bolder about speaking God's message without fear.

14And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

Note"Waxing" is old English for growing or becoming. "The word" is shorthand for the Christian message.

15It is true that some preach Christ because they are jealous and want to compete with me, but others preach him because they mean well.

15Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:

16The first group preaches Christ to stir up rivalry, and not honestly. They think they can add to the pain of my chains.

16The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds:

NoteThe KJV follows later Greek manuscripts, which put these two groups in the opposite order from the older manuscripts most modern versions use. In the KJV the rivals come in verse 16 and the friends in verse 17; elsewhere it is reversed. The content is the same either way. "Contention" translates eritheia, self-seeking rivalry, a word used of politicians canvassing for office.

17The others preach out of love, because they know I have been put here to defend the good news.

17But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.

18So what? It makes no difference. Either way, whether their motives are false or true, Christ is preached. And I am glad about that. Yes, and I will go on being glad,

18What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.

Note"Pretence" means pretext: a motive put on for show, covering a different real one. It does not mean the preaching itself was fake.

19because I know that through your prayers, and through the help that the Spirit of Jesus Christ supplies, all this will turn out for my deliverance.

19For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

Note"Salvation" translates soteria, which can mean rescue in the everyday sense of getting out of prison alive, or ultimate deliverance and vindication. Paul's wording here repeats a line from Job in the Greek Old Testament, where Job says his case will turn out for his vindication, and the ambiguity is left standing.

20I expect and hope with all my heart that I will not be ashamed in any way. Instead I want to be completely bold, so that now, as always, Christ will be honored in my body, whether I live or die.

20According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.

Note"Magnified" means made to look great, given honor and public size. It is not about physical enlargement.

21For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

21For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

22But if I go on living in this body, that means my work will bear fruit. So which one should I choose? I do not know.

22But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.

Note"Wot" is old English for "know." "The flesh" here simply means the physical body and ordinary bodily life, with no suggestion of sinfulness.

23I am pulled hard in both directions. I want to leave this life and be with Christ, which is far better,

23For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:

Note"In a strait betwixt two" means hemmed in or pressed hard from both sides at once, the way a ship is squeezed in a narrow channel. "Depart" translates a word used for untying a ship from its moorings or striking camp to move on.

24but it is more needed, for your sake, that I stay in this body.

24Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.

25Since I am sure of this, I know that I will stay and remain with all of you, to help you grow and to give you joy in the faith,

25And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith;

Note"Furtherance" means progress or advancement.

26so that when I come to you again, you will have even more reason to be glad in Christ Jesus because of me.

26That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.

Note"Rejoicing" here translates kauchema, which means a boast or the grounds you have for boasting, something you can point to with pride.

27Only be sure that the way you live matches the good news about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or am away and only hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm together in one spirit, struggling side by side with one mind for the faith of the good news,

27Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

Note"Conversation" in 1611 English meant a person's whole way of life and conduct, not talk. The Greek word underneath it, politeuesthe, literally means "live as citizens," and it would have landed pointedly in Philippi, a Roman colony whose residents took pride in their citizenship. "As it becometh" means as befits or is worthy of. "Striving together" translates a term drawn from athletes contending as a team or soldiers holding a line shoulder to shoulder.

28and that you are not frightened in any way by those who oppose you. That is a clear sign to them that they will be destroyed, but a sign that you will be saved, and this comes from God.

28And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.

Note"An evident token" means a clear sign or proof. "Perdition" means ruin or destruction, the opposite of being saved; the KJV word does not carry a separate technical meaning.

29For God has granted you, on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him but also to suffer for him,

29For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

Note"It is given" translates a verb built on the word for grace, so it means granted as a favor or gift. The sentence treats both the believing and the suffering as things handed to them.

30since you are going through the same struggle you saw me have, and now hear that I am still having.

30Having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me.

Note"Conflict" translates agon, the word for a contest in the athletic games or a fight in the arena. It is the same image as "striving together" in verse 27.