Today’s English Version (Good News Translation) indicates the Pauline origin of the letter by beginning it with from Paul—so also the New English Bible (New English Bible) and the Jerusalem Bible (Jerusalem Bible). Although Timothy is mentioned as a fellow sender, there is not hint that he is a joint author of the letter; and it is unlikely that he served as Paul’s amanuensis, or secretary, as some suppose. The first person singular pronoun “I” is used throughout the letter; and when Timothy is mentioned again (2.19-23), he is referred to in the third person. Apparently, his name is inserted at the beginning because of his constant and intimate relationship with the church at Philippi (cf. Acts 16.1, 3; 17.14; 19.22) and also because Paul wanted to pave the way for his visit mentioned in 2.19-23.
In order to show the relationship of Timothy to Paul in this letter, it may be best to begin the salutation as “Timothy joins me, Paul, in sending this letter to all God’s people…,” or “I, Paul, together with Timothy, send this letter….” This suggested use of the first person singular pronoun “I” in apposition with “Paul” may be necessary so that the readers will understand that the Paul referred to in verse 1 is also the writer of this letter, and not another person. In the salutation of his letter to the Romans, Paul refers to himself as both “servant” and “apostle” (Rom 1.1).
Paul does claim one title both for himself and for his companion Timothy; they are servants of Christ Jesus. Thus the word rendered “servants” is the ordinary Greek word for “slaves” (cf. Goodspeed]; Bruce has “bond servants”). It is the correlative of “Lord.” A servant is free to come and go, but a slave is not. When Paul identifies himself and Timothy as “servants,” he means that they are the absolute possession of Jesus Christ, their Lord, and owe absolute obedience to him. Yet the kind of servanthood Paul has in mind is not that of complete servitude, utter absence of freedom, he is thinking, rather, of a cheerful and willing service which is inseparable from true freedom (cf. Rom 6.18, 22). In the Old Testament the prophets are often spoken of as “the servants of the Lord” (Amos 3.7; Jer 7.25; Ezra 9.11; Dan 9.6); and the same title is applied to Moses (Exo 14.31; Josh 1.2), Joshua (Judges 2.8), and David (Psa 78.70; 89.3, 20). It is possible that Paul also has in mind the idea of a call to service, indeed an honor analogous to that of the Old Testament prophets and leaders. Thus “servant” in this context become a title of dignity, since God’s “servant” is a chosen instrument entrusted with particular tasks.
It may be difficult in some languages to make the phrase servants of Christ Jesus an appositional qualifier of proper names such as Paul and Timothy, especially if personal pronouns such as “I” and “we” are used in connection with these proper names. It may be more appropriate to say “we are servants of Christ Jesus” or “we serve Christ Jesus.” Or perhaps a relative clause can be employed, for example, “we who are servants of Christ Jesus.” In the New Testament the word “servants” is applied, not to a select group of spiritual and moral elite, but to the rank and file of committed Christians who are set apart to belong to God and are dedicated to his service. They constitute the new and true people of God.
In some languages a verb must be introduced to indicate specifically the relationship of Paul to those to whom he writes. It may be useful to say “I, Paul, together with Timothy … am writing to all of you who are God’s people living in Philippi,” or “… this is my letter written to all of you who….” To connect the proper name with the qualifier, one may say “I, Paul, and Timothy are servants of Jesus Christ. We write this letter to….”
This letter is addressed, as some translations have it, “to all the saints” (Revised Standard Version [Revised Standard Version]; Jerusalem Bible Moffatt [Moffatt]; New American Bible [New American Bible] “to all the holy ones”); but this rendering can be quite misleading, since the word translated as “saint” is equivalent to the Old Testament Hebrew word meaning “to separate” or “to set apart.” Accordingly, Today’s English Version (Good News Translation) renders to all God’s people (so also Goodspeed New English Bible [New English Bible] Bruce). In some languages the so-called possessive construction God’s people, or “people who belong to God,” may seem absurd. A more natural expression may be “people who worship God” or “people who are related to God.”
The phrase in Philippi may sometimes be expanded to “living in Philippi” and also may be rendered as a restrictive clause, “who are living in Philippi.” In some instances, it may be useful to specify Philippi by a classifier, for example, “in the town of Philippi” or “in the town named Philippi.” The participle “living” would indicate permanent residence, expressed in some languages as “who have their homes in.” If in Philippi is treated as a restrictive relative clause, it may be coordinated with the following relative clause by a conjunction such as “and,” for example, “who are living in Philippi and who are in union with Christ Jesus.”
God’s people are the ones who are in union with Christ Jesus (Good News Translation Goodspeed; New English Bible “incorporate in Christ Jesus”; Bruce “united in Christ Jesus”; Phillips [Phillips] combines this phrase with the preceding and renders “true Christians”). In the Greek this is expressed simply as “in Christ Jesus.” This phrase is the most characteristic expression used by Paul to describe Christians who have intimate communion with the living Christ, and who are, at the same time, members of the new community of which Christ is the Head. To be in union with the living Christ is to live continually in his presence just “as a bird in the air, a fish in the water, or the roots of a tree in the soil” (Vincent). Good News Translation connects the phrase to God’s people (so also New English Bible Jerusalem Bible), not to the church leaders and helpers (see New American Bible).
Of all the expressions in the New Testament, the phrase “in Christ Jesus” is one of the most difficult to translate satisfactorily. In union with Christ Jesus is probably the closest natural equivalent in English, but in other languages one must use such expressions as “who are tied to Christ Jesus,” “who are one with Christ Jesus,” “who are related to Christ Jesus,” or even “who stand together with Christ Jesus.”
The letter is also addressed to the church leaders and helpers, literally “bishops and deacons” (Revised Standard Version New English Bible New American Bible). These terms seem to describe two kinds of church officials, but it is doubtful that they had acquired a specialized technical sense in Paul’s lifetime. Good News Translation employs more generic terms to describe them (cf. Jerusalem Bible “presiding elders and deacons”; Knox “pastors and deacons”; Goodspeed “superintendents and assistants”). Church leaders were probably elders in the church at Philippi who were responsible for administrative duties, including financial ones. The helpers were probably their assistants, and their chief responsibilities seem to have been in financial matters. It is likely that these men are mentioned in the salutation because they were actually responsible for collecting and sending the gifts which Paul had received (cf. 4.10-13).
Including is literally “with,” an ambiguous word in this context. A conjunction such as “and” before the phrase the church leaders and helpers, instead of including, may suggest in some languages that the church leaders and helpers were themselves not in union with Christ Jesus, thus separating the leaders and helpers as a distinct class from the believers. It may, therefore, be necessary to follow Good News Translation and use a word such as including in rendering this phrase. Because of the particular emphasis placed upon these leaders and helpers, it may even be valid to add the word “especially” after including.
It is often necessary to define the relationship existing between the church on the one hand and the leaders and helpers on the other. The church leaders may be rendered as “the leaders among the believers” or “… in the congregation.” Helpers must often be translated in a way that will indicate clearly who are being helped. Some translators, therefore, use expressions which imply “those who help the leaders,” and to an extent this may be justified. Other translators use expressions which suggest “those who help the other believers.”
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 .