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Philippians 1:1-6 translation

Posted by on Feb 6, 2010 in translation | 2 comments

My translation:

This letter is from Paul and Timothy, who are Jesus Christ’s servants, and it is written to all of the people who live in Philippi who God has set apart by Jesus Christ along with your caretakers and servants.

I pray for grace and peace for you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

I thank my God because of all of my memories of you, always interceding on your behalf with joy in every one of my prayers. I pray for you with joy because of your partnership with the good news, from the very beginning until now. This gives me confidence that the one who started a good work in you will complete that work by the time of Jesus Christ’s return. (Philippians 1:1-6)

Greek Text:

Παῦλος καὶ Τιμόθεος δοῦλοι Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ πᾶσιν τοῖς ἁγίοις ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τοῖς οὖσιν ἐν Φιλίπποις σὺν ἐπισκόποις καὶ διακόνοις: χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη ἀπὸ θεοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν καὶ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. Εὐχαριστῶ τῷ θεῷ μου ἐπὶ πάσῃ τῇ μνείᾳ ὑμῶν, πάντοτε ἐν πάσῃ δεήσει μου ὑπὲρ πάντων ὑμῶν μετὰ χαρᾶς τὴν δέησιν ποιούμενος, 5ἐπὶ τῇ κοινωνίᾳ ὑμῶν εἰς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ἀπὸ τῆς πρώτης ἡμέρας ἄχρι τοῦ νῦν, πεποιθὼς αὐτὸ τοῦτο, ὅτι ὁ ἐναρξάμενος ἐν ὑμῖν ἔργον ἀγαθὸν ἐπιτελέσει ἄχρι ἡμέρας Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ:

Here is another translation for comparison:

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:1-6 ESV)

Related posts:

  1. Philippians 2:5-11 translation
  2. Philippians 3:7-12 translation
  3. Philippians 1:7-11 translation
  4. Philippians 1:18b-26 translation

2 Comments

Comments are closed. If you would like to discuss this post, send an email to alan [at] alanknox [dot] net.

  1. 1-21-2013
    Dayne says:

    Hey Alan, nice translation, especially with the words episkopois and diakonois… a quick question if you don’t mind, why do you think Paul specifically singled out these two groups from the hagiois?

    I’ve read some commentaries that conclude that Paul does so because they are the two groups of people that hold ‘offices’ within the church and therefore responsible for tackling the issues the letter raises. In light of the entire NT I disagree with this view, but what other explanation is feasable and mandates those people to obtain special mention?

    Thanks in advance.

  2. 1-21-2013
    Alan Knox says:

    Dayne,

    There are many different theories, as you said. From my perspective, “episkopoi” and “diakanoi” refer to those followers fo Jesus Christ who have been recognized by the church as actually living the way that all of his followers should live. The primary distinction is age: “episkopoi” are older while “diakanoi” are younger.

    -Alan