καὶ τοὺς πλείονας τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἐν κυρίῳ πεποιθότας τοῖς δεσμοῖς μου περισσοτέρως τολμᾶν ἀφόβως τὸν λόγον λαλεῖν.
14and most of the brothers and sisters, having been made confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, dare to speak the word with greater boldness and without fear.
The Greek that is typically translated as “boldness” in English is often translated in the the widely-used Mandarin Chinese Union Version with an existing Chinese proverb: tǎnrán wújù (坦然无惧) or “calm and fearless.” (Source: Zetzsche)
In Makonde it is translated as “being strong in heart.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
The Greek that is translated in English as “brother” or “brother and sister” (in the sense of fellow believers), is translated with a specifically coined word in Kachin: “There are two terms for brother in Kachin. One is used to refer to a Christian brother. This term combines ‘older and younger brother.’ The other term is used specifically for addressing siblings. When one uses this term, one must specify if the older or younger person is involved. A parallel system exists for ‘sister’ as well. In [these verses], the term for ‘a Christian brother’ is used.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae)
In Matumbi is is translated as alongo aumini or “relative-believer.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
In Martu Wangka it is translated as “relative” (this is also the term that is used for “follower.”) (Source: Carl Gross)
In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is often translated as Mitchristen or “fellow Christians.”
See also brothers.
Following are a number of back-translations of Philippians 1:14:
The Hebrew adonai in the Old Testament typically refers to God. The shorter adon (and in two cases in the book of Daniel the Aramaic mare [מָרֵא]) is also used to refer to God but more often for concepts like “master,” “owner,” etc. In English Bible translations all of those are translated with “Lord” if they refer to God.
In English Old Testament translations, as in Old Testament translations in many other languages, the use of Lord (or an equivalent term in other languages) is not to be confused with Lord (or the equivalent term with a different typographical display for other languages). While the former translates adonai, adon and mare, the latter is a translation for the tetragrammaton (YHWH) or the Name of God. See tetragrammaton (YHWH) and the article by Andy Warren-Rothlin in Noss / Houser, p. 618ff. for more information.
In the New Testament, the Greek term kurios has at least four different kinds of use:
In the first and fourth case, it is also translated as “Lord” in English.
Most languages naturally don’t have one word that covers all these meanings. According to Bratcher / Nida, “the alternatives are usually (1) a term which is an honorific title of respect for a high-ranking person and (2) a word meaning ‘boss’, ‘master’, or ‘chief.’ (…) and on the whole it has generally seemed better to employ a word of the second category, in order to emphasize the immediate personal relationship, and then by context to build into the word the prestigeful character, since its very association with Jesus Christ will tend to accomplish this purpose.”
When looking at the following list of back-translations of the terms that translators in the different languages have used for both kurios and adonai to refer to God and Jesus respectively, it might be helpful for English readers to recall the etymology of the English “Lord.” While this term might have gained an exalted meaning in the understanding of many, it actually comes from hlaford or “loaf-ward,” referring to the lord of the castle who was the keeper of the bread (source: Rosin 1956, p. 121).
Following are some of the solutions that don’t rely on a different typographical display (see above):
We have come to rely on another term which emphasizes God’s essential nature as YHWH, namely jukurrarnu (see tetragrammaton (YHWH)). This word is built on the same root jukurr– as is jukurrpa, ‘dreaming.’ Its basic meaning is ‘timelessness’ and it is used to describe physical features of the land which are viewed as always being there. Some speakers view jukurrarnu in terms of ‘history.’ In all Genesis references to YHWH we have used Kaatu Jukurrarnu. In all Mark passages where kurios refers to God and not specifically to Christ we have also used Kaatu Jukurrarnu.
New Testament references to Christ as kurios are handled differently. At one stage we experimented with the term Watirirririrri which refers to a ceremonial boss of highest rank who has the authority to instigate ceremonies. While adequately conveying the sense of Christ’s authority, there remained potential negative connotations relating to Warlpiri ceremonial life of which we might be unaware.
Here it is that the Holy Spirit led us to make a chance discovery. Transcribing the personal testimony of the local Warlpiri pastor, I noticed that he described how ‘my Warlaljamarri called and embraced me (to the faith)’. Warlaljamarri is based on the root warlalja which means variously ‘family, possessions, belongingness’. A warlaljamarri is the ‘owner’ or ‘possessor’ of something. While previously being aware of the ‘ownership’ aspect of warlaljamarri, this was the first time I had heard it applied spontaneously and naturally in a fashion which did justice to the entire concept of ‘Lordship’. Thus references to Christ as kurios are now being handled by Warlaljamarri.” (Source: Stephen Swartz, The Bible Translator 1985, p. 415ff. )
Law (2013, p. 97) writes about how the Ancient Greek Septuagint‘s translation of the Hebrew adonai was used by the New Testament writers as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments: “Another case is the use of kurios referring to Jesus. For Yahweh (in English Bibles: ‘the Lord‘), the Septuagint uses kurios. Although the term kurios usually has to do with one’s authority over others, when the New Testament authors use this word from the Septuagint to refer to Jesus, they are making an extraordinary claim: Jesus of Nazareth is to be identified with Yahweh.”
See also Father / Lord.
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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-kotoba (みことば) or “word (of God)” in the referenced verses.
(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
In Greek the first clause is literally “most of the brothers having confidence in the Lord because of my bonds.” Good News Translation restructures this by changing “because of my bonds” (dative of cause) into the subject and “most of the brothers” (subject of the participle) into the direct object, thus my being in prison has given most of the brothers more confidence in the Lord (cf. Moffatt “my imprisonment has given the majority of the brotherhood greater confidence in the Lord”). My being in prison constitutes the cause for Paul’s fellow believer’s becoming more confident. This relation must be expressed in some languages by a clause of cause, for example, “because I am in prison, most of my fellow believers have more confidence in the Lord.”
The exact relation of the phrase in the Lord to the context is debated. In Greek it lies between “the brothers” and “having confidence,” and it is therefore grammatically possible to connect it with either. King James Version and American Standard Version connect it with “the brothers.” New English Bible favors this construction by rendering “fellow Christians” (Goodspeed “Christian brothers”; New American Bible “brothers in Christ”). But this exegesis is questionable. In 2.24 Paul uses the same verb with “in the Lord.” Besides, whenever he speaks of “brethren” he always means “Christians,” and so to add “in the Lord” is really redundant. Consequently, to connect in the Lord with confidence, as Good News Translation does, makes better sense (cf. Moffatt; Phillips “taking fresh heart in the Lord”). The Lord is the basis of confidence and hope. That being the case, in a number of languages this relation must be expressed as one of cause, for example, “are more confident because of the Lord,” or even of agency, “the Lord has caused them to be more confident.”
They grow bolder may be expressed negatively as “they do not fear so much,” or “they fear less and less.” The fundamental change expressed in grow bolder all the time must be rendered in some languages as “becoming bolder constantly,” or “are constantly more and more bold.”
To preach the message is literally “to speak the word.” The earliest manuscript reading supports the Good News Translation rendering without adding “of God” after “the message” (but see Revised Standard Version New English Bible New American Bible “the word of God”). The fact that the genitive qualifier “of God” appears in different positions in various manuscripts and the fact that it has a variant reading “of Lord” suggest that it was not in the original.
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 .
1:14a
In the Greek this verse begins with a conjunction that could be translated as “and”. This verse tells another good thing that happened because Paul was in prison. If you need to make this connection clear, you could begin with a phrase like: “And that is not all.”
the brothers: See note on 1:12a.
1:14b
confident: This comes from the Greek word peithō. The form of the verb used here means “to be confident” or “to trust.” The Berean Standard Bible translates this same Greek word as “confident” in 1:6 and “trust” in 2:24, and as “convinced” in 1:25. It is recommended that you translate it with a term meaning “have been made confident” or “have been given confidence.”
in the Lord: It is not clear in the Greek text which part of the verse this phrase connects to. There are two possibilities:
(1) It should be connected to what follows it in the Greek text, that is, the verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as “confident.” In this case the phrase “confident in the Lord” would mean “the Lord has caused them to be confident.” The brothers were more bold to tell about Christ because of this confidence that the Lord had given them. The majority of commentators support this interpretation. (Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New American Standard Bible, NET Bible, God’s Word, New Century Version)
(2) It should be connected to what precedes it in the Greek text, that is, “the brothers.” This would then mean “believing brothers” or “Christians.” (New International Version, King James Version, Revised English Bible, New Living Translation (2004), Contemporary English Version, New Jerusalem Bible)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).
by my chains: Paul said that his chains had given the other Christians courage, but he did not say how this was done. He may have meant that they gained courage by seeing the way God had helped him while he was in prison.
1:14c
more greatly: In the Greek this is a verb form, literally “much more to dare.” The believers became much bolder/braver than they had been before. They knew some people were against the Christian message. That is why Paul was in prison. But when they saw Paul continue to speak about his Savior even though he was in prison, this increased their courage. If you have a verb meaning “to be brave,” you may use it here. In some languages it will be necessary to use an adjective meaning “bold, courageous” or an adverb meaning “boldly, courageously.”
the word: Some Greek texts have the full phrase “the word of God” and other Greek texts have simply the word. However, these two phrases clearly refer to the same thing, that is, “the message from God.” Therefore, it is recommended that you include the words “of God.”
without fear: This describes the way in which the believers preached. You may need to translate this as a separate sentence at the end of the verse. For example:
They are not afraid.
In some languages it may be necessary to provide an object specifying of whom the brothers were not afraid. If this is the case in your language, you may supply an object such as “unbelievers.”
General Comment on 1:14
In some languages it may be best to give the reason (1:14b) at the end of the verse. For example:
The Lord has caused the brothers to be more confident and to preach the word of God more boldly and without fear. This has happened because I have been in prison.
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