A little amateur translation like this is mainly made for fun.  However, I’ve never seen a phrase-by-phrase gloss of any large section of the New Testament, and have often thought it might demystify the process of translation.  Taking phrases in order doesn’t always suit Greek sentence structure (e.g. Phil 1:15), but that’s not an insurmountable problem on the whole.

More interestingly, it’s an chance to try and translate for readers with no assumed Christian background.  This is a different task to translating within a Christian tradition that knows or expects further commentary or exposition.  To give one example, when Paul says “I have been put here,” in prison, “for the defence of the gospel” (NRSV, 1:16), and that his churches are encouraged and emboldened by this (1:12–14), and that it’s all working out for his “deliverance” (lit. salvation, 1:19), this seems an odd state of affairs.  Why wouldn’t being free have served all of those purposes better?  The translator is in a position to know that if Paul is tried and exonerated in Rome, then his gospel may effectively be declared legal – which it presently isn’t, as only Jewish subjects have exemptions from the requirement of making sacrifices for the Emperor.  This understanding can be conveyed largely by translating deliverance as acquittal.  A first-time reader won’t have any way to make these connections, so it’s better for the translator to make it as comprehensible as they can, and not leave the reader misled, confused, or guessing.

Greetings and Thanks

Paul’s Longing and Prayers

Regarding Paul’s circumstances

Stand strong together

Look after each other

Think like Christ

Stick with it

Regarding Timothy

Regarding Epaphroditus

1 Τὸ λοιπόν, ἀδελφοί μου, χαίρετε ἐν Κυρίῳ.  τὰ αὐτὰ γράφειν ὑμῖν ἐμοὶ μὲν οὐκ ὀκνηρόν, ὑμῖν δὲ ἀσφαλές.

2 Βλέπετε τοὺς κύνας, βλέπετε τοὺς κακοὺς ἐργάτας, βλέπετε τὴν κατατομήν.  3 ἡμεῖς γάρ ἐσμεν ἡ περιτομή, οἱ Πνεύματι Θεοῦ λατρεύοντες καὶ καυχώμενοι ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ καὶ οὐκ ἐν σαρκὶ πεποιθότες, 4 καίπερ ἐγὼ ἔχων πεποίθησιν καὶ ἐν σαρκί.  Εἴ τις δοκεῖ ἄλλος πεποιθέναι ἐν σαρκί, ἐγὼ μᾶλλον· 5 περιτομῇ ὀκταήμερος, ἐκ γένους Ἰσραήλ, φυλῆς Βενιαμείν, Ἑβραῖος ἐξ Ἑβραίων, κατὰ νόμον Φαρισαῖος, 6 κατὰ ζῆλος διώκων τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, κατὰ δικαιοσύνην τὴν ἐν νόμῳ γενόμενος ἄμεμπτος.  7 Ἀλλὰ ἅτινα ἦν μοι κέρδη, ταῦτα ἥγημαι διὰ τὸν Χριστὸν ζημίαν.  8 ἀλλὰ μὲν οὖν γε καὶ ἡγοῦμαι πάντα ζημίαν εἶναι διὰ τὸ ὑπερέχον τῆς γνώσεως Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου μου, δι’ ὃν τὰ πάντα ἐζημιώθην, καὶ ἡγοῦμαι σκύβαλα ἵνα Χριστὸν κερδήσω 9 καὶ εὑρεθῶ ἐν αὐτῷ, μὴ ἔχων ἐμὴν δικαιοσύνην τὴν ἐκ νόμου, ἀλλὰ τὴν διὰ πίστεως Χριστοῦ, τὴν ἐκ Θεοῦ δικαιοσύνην ἐπὶ τῇ πίστει, 10 τοῦ γνῶναι αὐτὸν καὶ τὴν δύναμιν τῆς ἀναστάσεως αὐτοῦ καὶ κοινωνίαν παθημάτων αὐτοῦ, συμμορφιζόμενος τῷ θανάτῳ αὐτοῦ, 11 εἴ πως καταντήσω εἰς τὴν ἐξανάστασιν τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν.  12 οὐχ ὅτι ἤδη ἔλαβον ἢ ἤδη τετελείωμαι, διώκω δὲ εἰ καὶ καταλάβω, ἐφ’ ᾧ καὶ κατελήμφθην ὑπὸ Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ.  13 ἀδελφοί, ἐγὼ ἐμαυτὸν οὔπω λογίζομαι κατειληφέναι· ἓν δέ, τὰ μὲν ὀπίσω ἐπιλανθανόμενος τοῖς δὲ ἔμπροσθεν ἐπεκτεινόμενος, 14 κατὰ σκοπὸν διώκω εἰς τὸ βραβεῖον τῆς ἄνω κλήσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ.  15 Ὅσοι οὖν τέλειοι, τοῦτο φρονῶμεν· καὶ εἴ τι ἑτέρως φρονεῖτε, καὶ τοῦτο ὁ Θεὸς ὑμῖν ἀποκαλύψει· 16 πλὴν εἰς ὃ ἐφθάσαμεν, τῷ αὐτῷ στοιχεῖν.  17 Συνμιμηταί μου γίνεσθε, ἀδελφοί, καὶ σκοπεῖτε τοὺς οὕτως περιπατοῦντας καθὼς ἔχετε τύπον ἡμᾶς.  18 πολλοὶ γὰρ περιπατοῦσιν οὓς πολλάκις ἔλεγον ὑμῖν, νῦν δὲ καὶ κλαίων λέγω, τοὺς ἐχθροὺς τοῦ σταυροῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, 19 ὧν τὸ τέλος ἀπώλεια, ὧν ὁ θεὸς ἡ κοιλία καὶ ἡ δόξα ἐν τῇ αἰσχύνῃ αὐτῶν, οἱ τὰ ἐπίγεια φρονοῦντες.  20 ἡμῶν γὰρ τὸ πολίτευμα ἐν οὐρανοῖς ὑπάρχει, ἐξ οὗ καὶ Σωτῆρα ἀπεκδεχόμεθα Κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, 21 ὃς μετασχηματίσει τὸ σῶμα τῆς ταπεινώσεως ἡμῶν σύμμορφον τῷ σώματι τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ, κατὰ τὴν ἐνέργειαν τοῦ δύνασθαι αὐτὸν καὶ ὑποτάξαι αὐτῷ τὰ πάντα.

1 Ὥστε, ἀδελφοί μου ἀγαπητοὶ καὶ ἐπιπόθητοι, χαρὰ καὶ στέφανός μου, οὕτως στήκετε ἐν Κυρίῳ, ἀγαπητοί.  2 Εὐοδίαν παρακαλῶ καὶ Συντύχην παρακαλῶ τὸ αὐτὸ φρονεῖν ἐν Κυρίῳ.  3 ναὶ ἐρωτῶ καὶ σέ, γνήσιε σύνζυγε, συνλαμβάνου αὐταῖς, αἵτινες ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ συνήθλησάν μοι μετὰ καὶ Κλήμεντος καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν συνεργῶν μου, ὧν τὰ ὀνόματα ἐν βίβλῳ ζωῆς.

4 Χαίρετε ἐν Κυρίῳ πάντοτε· πάλιν ἐρῶ, χαίρετε.  5 τὸ ἐπιεικὲς ὑμῶν γνωσθήτω πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις.  ὁ Κύριος ἐγγύς· 6 μηδὲν μεριμνᾶτε, ἀλλ’ ἐν παντὶ τῇ προσευχῇ καὶ τῇ δεήσει μετὰ εὐχαριστίας τὰ αἰτήματα ὑμῶν γνωριζέσθω πρὸς τὸν Θεόν.  7 καὶ ἡ εἰρήνη τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡ ὑπερέχουσα πάντα νοῦν φρουρήσει τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν καὶ τὰ νοήματα ὑμῶν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ.  8 Τὸ λοιπόν, ἀδελφοί, ὅσα ἐστὶν ἀληθῆ, ὅσα σεμνά, ὅσα δίκαια, ὅσα ἁγνά, ὅσα προσφιλῆ, ὅσα εὔφημα, εἴ τις ἀρετὴ καὶ εἴ τις ἔπαινος, ταῦτα λογίζεσθε· 9 ἃ καὶ ἐμάθετε καὶ παρελάβετε καὶ ἠκούσατε καὶ εἴδετε ἐν ἐμοί, ταῦτα πράσσετε· καὶ ὁ Θεὸς τῆς εἰρήνης ἔσται μεθ’ ὑμῶν.

10 Ἐχάρην δὲ ἐν Κυρίῳ μεγάλως ὅτι ἤδη ποτὲ ἀνεθάλετε τὸ ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ φρονεῖν· ἐφ’ ᾧ καὶ ἐφρονεῖτε, ἠκαιρεῖσθε δέ.  11 οὐχ ὅτι καθ’ ὑστέρησιν λέγω· ἐγὼ γὰρ ἔμαθον ἐν οἷς εἰμι αὐτάρκης εἶναι.  12 οἶδα καὶ ταπεινοῦσθαι, οἶδα καὶ περισσεύειν· ἐν παντὶ καὶ ἐν πᾶσιν μεμύημαι, καὶ χορτάζεσθαι καὶ πεινᾶν, καὶ περισσεύειν καὶ ὑστερεῖσθαι.  13 πάντα ἰσχύω ἐν τῷ ἐνδυναμοῦντί με.  14 πλὴν καλῶς ἐποιήσατε συνκοινωνήσαντές μου τῇ θλίψει.  15 οἴδατε δὲ καὶ ὑμεῖς, Φιλιππήσιοι, ὅτι ἐν ἀρχῇ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, ὅτε ἐξῆλθον ἀπὸ Μακεδονίας, οὐδεμία μοι ἐκκλησία ἐκοινώνησεν εἰς λόγον δόσεως καὶ λήμψεως εἰ μὴ ὑμεῖς μόνοι, 16 ὅτι καὶ ἐν Θεσσαλονίκῃ καὶ ἅπαξ καὶ δὶς εἰς τὴν χρείαν μοι ἐπέμψατε.  17 οὐχ ὅτι ἐπιζητῶ τὸ δόμα, ἀλλὰ ἐπιζητῶ τὸν καρπὸν τὸν πλεονάζοντα εἰς λόγον ὑμῶν.  18 ἀπέχω δὲ πάντα καὶ περισσεύω· πεπλήρωμαι δεξάμενος παρὰ Ἐπαφροδίτου τὰ παρ’ ὑμῶν, ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας, θυσίαν δεκτήν, εὐάρεστον τῷ Θεῷ.  19 ὁ δὲ Θεός μου πληρώσει πᾶσαν χρείαν ὑμῶν κατὰ τὸ πλοῦτος αὐτοῦ ἐν δόξῃ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ.  20 τῷ δὲ Θεῷ καὶ Πατρὶ ἡμῶν ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων· ἀμήν.

21 Ἀσπάσασθε πάντα ἅγιον ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ.  ἀσπάζονται ὑμᾶς οἱ σὺν ἐμοὶ ἀδελφοί.  22 ἀσπάζονται ὑμᾶς πάντες οἱ ἅγιοι, μάλιστα δὲ οἱ ἐκ τῆς Καίσαρος οἰκίας.

23 Ἡ χάρις τοῦ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ μετὰ τοῦ πνεύματος ὑμῶν.

Readers of the New Testament may wonder how the text might have changed through copying over time.  For Philippians, this can easily be shown with a few internet links.  The following Greek manuscripts of Philippians let you to check in on it every few hundred years.

• Papyrus 46, folio 86r-90v (c.200 CE)¹ – P46 is the oldest existing copy of the whole letter,² though there are partial quotes in many earlier writers by this time.³
• Codex Sinaiticus (4th.C.)⁴ – One of the four Great Uncial Codices,⁵ from Roman Christendom.
• Codex Boernerianus (9th.C.)⁶ – A Greek-Latin diglot, from the Dark Ages.
• Walters MSS 533, folio 239r-247v (12th.C.)⁷ – An illuminated Byzantine manuscript, from the High Middle Ages.
• Novum Testamentum omne (1516)⁸ – The first printed Greek edition, with parallel Latin, from the late Renaissance.
• Nestlè 4th.ed. (1904),⁹ an early eclectic text, now in the public domain, which is the basis for this translation.  An ‘eclectic’ text considers textual variants on a case-by-case basis rather than preferring a particular family of manuscripts.
• Novum Testamentum Graece: Nestlè-Aland 28th.ed. (2012)¹⁰ – The current critical edition, which notes all significant textual variants in manuscripts.

The earliest substantial quotes from Philippians appear in Marcion’s Apostolikon (c.140 CE).  This was a Gnostic edition of Paul’s letters containing nothing favourable towards Judaism or Jesus’ bodily existence.  Marcion’s text partly survived through a book-by-book commentary by Tertullian, written sixty years later, which quoted agreements and differences with Paul’s letters (Against Marcion, Book V, Chapter XX, c.208 CE).¹¹