As in all situations, Paul changes conventional Greek and Hebrew greetings into a Christian benediction and couples God and Jesus Christ as the sources of all blessings. Many translations render this benediction quite literally, following the Greek word order, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Revised Standard Version New English Bible cf. Moffatt Bruce New American Bible), but Good News Translation translates it in a more straightforward and more natural manner (cf. Goodspeed “God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ bless you and give you peace”).
The phrase grace and peace, combining the Christian concept of “grace” with the Jewish view of “peace” (both terms either related to or involved in standard greetings), is a formula often used in early Christian greetings. Grace expresses God’s love to sinful people who do not deserve it—the love manifested in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Peace in this context means not simply an absence of troubles or anxieties, but a state of total well-being, a wholeness of life resulting from forgiveness of sins and reconciliation to God through Jesus. The ultimate source of grace and peace is obviously God, whom Jesus revealed as Abba Father, but to the extent that such blessing is made possible only through Jesus, who is confessed as Messiah (Christ the anointed King) and exalted as Lord by his resurrection (2.9), he too is to be acclaimed as the giver of grace and peace. It is therefore better to render may God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace, rather than “grace and peace to you from God our Father, even the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ,” as is sometimes suggested.
This type of blessing or benediction must be identified in some languages as a kind of prayer, and so must be introduced by a verb specifically indicating prayer, for example, “I pray that God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will give you grace and peace.” In this context our is, of course, inclusive—that is, including the Philippian believers as well as Paul and Timothy. In some languages it is necessary to say “our Lord” rather than the Lord, since it may be impossible to speak of a “Lord” without indicating those to whom he is related as Lord.
In almost all languages Jesus Christ is treated simply as a proper name, but the title Lord is often rendered as a description of function, for example, “the one who commands us” or “the one whom we obey.”
The term grace is a highly technical expression, with special connotations in this type of greeting. Some languages have no close equivalent, but one can often employ such a phrase as “show great kindness to” or “be very good to.” It may even be difficult to find an appropriate term for peace, since the New Testament concept of peace is not the mere absence of conflict or anxiety. The closest equivalent in some instances may be “cause you to live well.” This type of expression, however, may be understood in the sense of mere material prosperity, which, of course, in not what is meant. In some languages such an expression as “to feel real contentment” may be the closest equivalent.
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 .