24I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.
The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated in English as “joy” or “happiness” is translated in the HausaCommon Language Bible idiomatically as farin ciki or “white stomach.” In some cases, such as in Genesis 29:11, it is also added for emphatic purposes.
Other languages that use the same expression include Southern Birifor (pʋpɛl), Dera (popolok awo), Reshe (ɾipo ɾipuhã). (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
The Greek that is often translated as “church” in English is translated into Avaric as imanl’urazul ahlu: “the community of believers” or “the believing people.”
Magomed-Kamil Gimbatov and Yakov Testelets (in The Bible Translator 1996, p. 434ff. ) talk about the genesis of this term (click or tap here to read more):
“The word ‘Church’ presents particular difficulties, as we might expect when we think that even many Christians do not understand it correctly. When people today say ‘church,’ they often mean a particular building, or an organization consisting chiefly of clergy (priests and monks). It is even harder to find a word or combination of words which adequately translates the meaning for people unfamiliar with Christianity. Surprisingly, the Greek word ekklesia, indicating in the classical language ‘an assembly of the people,’ ‘a gathering of citizens,’ has come into Avar and other Dagestani languages in the form kilisa. This, like the word qanch (‘cross’), is an ancient borrowing, presumably from the time before the arrival of Islam, when Dagestan came under the influence of neighboring Christian states. In modern usage, however, this word indicates a place of Christian worship. Thus it is completely inappropriate as a translation of its New Testament ancestor ekklesia.
“We were obliged to look at various words which are closer to the meaning of the Greek. Some of these words are dandel’i (‘meeting’), danderussin (‘assembly’), the Arabic-derived mazhlis (‘meeting, conference’), zhama’at (‘society, community’), ahlu (‘race, people, family, group of people united by a common goal or interest’, as in the Arabic phrase ahlu-l-kitab ‘people of the Book’ or ‘people of the Scriptures’), which describes both Jews and Christians, and ummat (‘people, tribe’). In Islamic theology the phrase ‘Mohammed’s ummat’ means the universal community of Muslims, the Muslim world, in the same way as the Christian world is known as ‘Isa’s ummat.’ None of these descriptions on their own, without explanation, can be used to translate the word ‘Church’ in the New Testament. Thus, after long consideration, we adopted the phrase imanl’urazul ahlu, meaning ‘the community of believers,’ ‘the believing people,’ This translation corresponds closely to New Testament teaching about the Church.
“It is interesting that the same word ahlu with the meaning ‘tribe, community’ has been used by translators for different reasons in the introduction to the Gospel of Luke in order to translate the expression in the original Greek pepleroforemenon en hemin pragmaton (πεπληροφορημένων ἐν ἡμῖν πραγμάτων), which the Russian Synodal translation renders ‘about the events well-known amongst us’ (Luke 1:1). The expression ‘amongst us’ cannot be translated literally into Avar, but has to be rendered ‘among our people’; and here the same term was used as for the word ‘church’, literally ‘among our tribe, community (ahlu).'”
In Kamo “church” is fang-balla (“owners of writing-people”) when referring to the church community and “house of writing-people” when referring to a church building. David Frank explains: “In Kamo culture, Christianity was associated with writing, so Christianity is called balla, which they say means ‘people who write.’ Christianity is balla, and Christians are called fang-balla, which means ‘owners of Christianity.’ That is the term that is used for the church, in the sense of people, rather than a building. In Philemon 1:1b-2a, Paul says he is writing ‘To our friend and fellow worker Philemon, and to the church (fang-balla ‘owners of Christianity) that meet in your house.’ The word fang “owner’ is very productive in the Kamo language. A disciple is an ‘owner of learning,’ an apostle is an ‘owner of sending,’ a believer is an ‘owner of truth,’ a hypocrite is an ‘owner of seeing eyes.’ The expression ‘house of writing-people’ is used in Matthew 16:18, which reads in Kamo, ‘And so I tell you Peter, you are a rock, and on top of this rock foundation I will build my house of writing-people, and never even death will not be able to overcome it.” (See also Peter – rock)
In Bacama there also is a differentiation between the building (vɨnə hiutə: “house of prayer”) and the community (ji-kottə: “followers”) (source: David Frank in this blog post ).
In 16th-century Classical Nahuatl, a transliteration from Spanish (Santa Yglesia or Santa Iglesia) is typically used rather than a translation, making the concept take on a personified meaning. Ottman (p. 169) explains: “The church building, or more precisely the church complex with its associated patio, has a Nahuatl name in common usage — generally teopan, something like ‘god-place,’ in contradistinction to teocalli, ‘god-house,’ applied to a prehispanic temple — but the abstract sense is always Santa Iglesia, a Spanish proper name like ‘Dios’ or ‘Santa María’, and like ‘Santa María’ often called ‘our mother.’ As a personified ‘mother,’ in the European tradition as well as in Nahuatl, She instructs Her children or chastises them; as Bride of Christ, She both longs for Her heavenly rest and bears witness to it, in the ‘always-already’ of eschatological time; as successor to the Synagogue, the blindfolded, broken-sceptred elder sister who accompanies Her in painting and sculpture, She represents the triumphant rule of truth. ‘The Church’ can mean the clerical hierarchy; it can also, or simultaneously, mean the assembly of the faithful. It dispenses grace to its members, living and dead, yet it is also enriched by them, living and dead, existing not only on earth but in purgatory and in heaven.”
In Lisu the building (“church”) is called “house of prayer” (source: Arrington 2020, p. 196) whereas in Highland Totonac the community is referred as “those who gather together” (source: Hermann Aschmann in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 171ff. ), in Huehuetla Tepehua as “those who gather together who have confidence in Christ” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), in Uma as “Christian people” (source: Uma Back Translation), in Kankanaey as “the congregation of God’s people” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation), and in Tagbanwa as “you whom God separated-out as his people because of your being-united/tied-together with Jesus Christ” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation).
In American Sign Language, “church” (as in the community of believers) is made up of the combination of the signs for “Jesus-into-heart” (signifying a believer), followed by the sign for “group.” (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Church” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
While British Sign Language also uses a sign that focuses on a group of people believing in Jesus (see here ), another sign that it uses combines the signs for “ringing the (church) bells” and a “group of people.” (Source: Anna Smith)
“Church” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
Following are a number of back-translations of Colossians 1:24:
Uma: “At this time relatives, I am glad to carry suffering because of my work helping you. For there is still suffering that I must undergo because of my work for Kristus, and the suffering that I am encountering at this time, I am encountering because of my work for all the believers in Kristus. All of us who believe in Kristus can be compared to his body.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “So-then I am yet joyful to endure persecution because it is for your good. I endure/suffer so that the sufferings of Isa Almasi, those that are not yet finished will be complete, that means so that the sufferings of his body will be complete; the meaning of his body is the ones trusting him.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Never mind if I now have to endure that which is very difficult because it’s for your good. I rejoice in this because just like the sufferings of Christ, I’m finishing up all of the difficult things that He wants me to endure so that the body of Christ — which is to say, those who believe in Him, might be bettered.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Even-though I am being hardshipped because of what I was preaching that was to-your-benefit, I am happy nevertheless, because this hardship of mine, that’s what-is-added-to/continuation-of the hardship that Cristo endured for all who believe who are compared to his body.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “I am really being-happy-about these hardships of mine now because my proverb (is), even if I am hardshipped as long as it’s for your good. For in these hardships of my body, I am completing-the-full-amount of what Cristo determined that I should experience for the benefit of all those trusting in and believing/obeying him, their likeness being his body.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “And now, I am glad that I am suffering on your behalf. Because now it has come to me to suffer that which I must pass through like when Christ suffered on behalf of the people who believe in him.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).
Paul speaks of his sufferings on behalf of the Colossians, which can be understood only in a general sense of his hardships and troubles in his work as the apostle to the Gentiles, since he has had no personal contact with the Christians in Colossae.
Since the relationship between sufferings and being happy is essentially one of cause and effect, it may be important to make this quite explicit, for example, “my sufferings on your behalf have caused me to be happy” or “I am happy that I may now suffer for you.” This may be far more meaningful than to say “happy about my sufferings.”
By means of my physical sufferings may be expressed in some languages by a clause introduced by “because,” for example, “because I suffer in my body” or simply “because I am suffering,” in which case a verb for “suffering” should indicate physical suffering.
Now … my sufferings denotes his situation as a prisoner (4.10, 18). The relationship between Paul’s sufferings and what still remains of Christ’s sufferings is not easily understood. I am helping to complete translates a double compound verb (antanaplēroō), found only here in the NT. The simple verb plēroō means “fill, fulfill,” and the single compound anaplēroō is an emphatic form, “fill completely.” The added preposition anti “in the place of” or “on behalf of” indicates that this is done in the place of or on behalf of someone else. So here it means “complete, on Christ’s behalf” or “in the place of Christ.”
The expression Christ’s sufferings may be understood more in a qualitative than in a literal sense; that is to say, these are “the kinds of suffering which Christ endured.” In this way, one may avoid the impression that what Christ suffered was inadequate for atonement. One may, therefore, translate I am helping to complete what still remains of Christ’s sufferings as “I am helping to complete the suffering which must be endured in the way Christ suffered” or “there is much suffering which people must endure and I am suffering in the way in which Christ suffered in order to complete the suffering which is necessary.”
Christ’s sufferings: the Greek for sufferings is here a different word from the one Paul uses for his own sufferings; it is possible that this word (thlipsis) was a technical term for the “tribulation” of the Messianic era, which would precede the end. What still remains translates a plural noun, literally, “the things lacking,” “the deficiencies,” and the plural, as such, states that there are sufferings still to be endured by Christ. In no sense, does Paul mean that Christ’s suffering and death for the redemption of mankind was not sufficient; what is meant is that in the service of Christ his servants are called upon to suffer as he did; suffering is an integral part of the ministry of Christ’s servants, as it was of Christ himself. Barclay translates “the uncompleted sufferings which the work of Christ still entails.”
Paul’s sufferings are physical (lit. “in the flesh”), and they are on behalf of the church. There are two different ways of construing the phrase: (1) Paul’s physical sufferings are on behalf of the church: Revised Standard VersionTwentieth Century New TestamentNew International VersionTranslator’s New TestamentNew English BibleDie Bibel im heutigen Deutsch; (2) Christ’s sufferings are on behalf of the church: Good News TranslationMoffattGoodspeedPhillipsJerusalem BibleNew American Bible. Although it is impossible to state dogmatically which is intended, it seems more probable that the former is meant. It should be mentioned that some commentators and translations connect the phrase “in my flesh” to the immediately preceding “the afflictions of Christ”; they take this to mean that the afflictions of Christ are in the body of Paul; so Abbott; Moffatt “all that Christ has to suffer in my body,” and as an alternative rendering in Traduction œcuménique de la Bible; this, however, does not seem very probable.
If one wishes to make clear that it is Paul’s suffering in this context which is on behalf of the church, it may be necessary to introduce a separate clause, for example, “this suffering of mine is on behalf of the church, which is Christ’s body.”
For his body, the church, see verse 18.
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Colossians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1977. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
Paul told about the way he worked hard to tell the gospel to the non-Jews
Theme: Paul willingly suffered and worked hard so that the Colossians, most of whom were not Jews, would understand the true message about Christ so thoroughly that no one would be able to deceive them.
Paragraph 1:24–29
Theme: Paul willingly suffered so that the Colossians, most of whom were not Jews, would know the message about Christ.
1:24a
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you: Paul was writing about what he had suffered. Here is another way to translate this clause:
And now I am happy about my sufferings for you (Good News Translation)
I rejoice: Paul was not saying that he enjoyed suffering. Rather he was saying that he was willing to suffer for the Christians in Colossae and other places.
for you: The words for you mean “in order to help you,” or “to benefit you.” In this section, 1:24–2:5, Paul spoke mainly about his work to preach the gospel to the Gentiles (those who were not Jews), and so the pronoun you means, “you Gentile Christians.”
The reason Paul had been suffering was that when he preached the gospel, especially to the Gentiles, his enemies had often persecuted him and put him in prison.
1:24b
I fill up in my flesh what is lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions: This is a difficult expression to understand and scholars disagree about what it means. It is not possible in these notes to explain all the different possibilities. Because of this, these notes present one major view among the many. For other views, you need to consult commentaries.
I fill up: The Greek verb antanaplērō that the Berean Standard Bible translates I fill up means, “I complete (something) by adding what is lacking.” Here it means, “I am completing what Christ has appointed for me to suffer,” or “I am completing my responsibility to suffer [on behalf of Christ].” Paul did this willingly (see the note on 1:24a).
in my flesh: This means that Paul was writing about physical suffering (see Good News Translation).
what is lacking: This clause implies what Christ taught, that is, that all Christians will suffer persecution. So here Paul meant that he was suffering what still needed to be suffered.
in regard to Christ’s afflictions: The Greek word thlipsis that the Berean Standard Bible translates afflictions is not used in the NT to refer to what Christ suffered when he died on the cross. It refers to the persecution, difficulties, and other physical and emotional hardships that Christians suffer. For example, it is used in Matthew 24:9, John 16:33, and Revelation 7:14.
Biblical scholars have different opinions about what the phrase Christ’s afflictions means in this context. The three most common opinions are as follows:
(1) “⌊I am suffering⌋ on behalf of Christ.”
(2) “⌊I am suffering⌋ the sufferings of Christ”—that is, “through my suffering, as a member of the body of Christ, it is as if Christ himself were suffering.”
(3) “⌊I am suffering⌋ in the same way Christ suffered.”
It is recommended that you follow the first option (1). Since Paul was writing about his own sufferings, it seems more likely that he was saying that he was suffering on behalf of Christ, that is, for the sake of Christ. (See Acts 9:16.)
Paul was not saying that what Christ suffered on the cross lacked something. This would imply that Jesus’ death was not sufficient to save those who believe in him. Your translation should be worded carefully to avoid suggesting this.
1:24c
His body, which is the church: See the notes on body and church in 1:18a.
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
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