complete verse (Philippians 2:20)

Following are a number of back-translations of Philippians 2:20:

  • Uma: “Only Timotius is here who has the same heart as mine and thinks of your goodness [welfare], relatives.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Timoteo is the only one here who is so very concerned/worried like I about you.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “He is my only companion here whose breath for you is big.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “I don’t know any other of my companions who truly is concerned about you (lit. hurts-for you) but he only.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “He really is without equal in his harmonizing with the things I am thinking, and also his valuing of you is big.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Because there is no one else besides him who has turned up who earnestly searches how to do good for you like I do in my thinking.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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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).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Philippians 2:20

He is the only one who shares my feelings represents a positive statement corresponding to the negative one in the original (King James Version “for I have no man like-minded”). Who shares my feelings translates a very rare Greek adjective meaning “like-souled.” This word means not so much a sharing of the same disposition as a sharing of intimate feelings, a genuine concern and care, as Paul goes on to say. Obviously, Paul is not talking about someone who shares Timothy’s feelings, as some translations seem to suggest (Moffatt “I have no one like him”; so also Revised Standard Version Jerusalem Bible New American Bible). Rather, he is comparing Timothy with himself, indicating that Timothy is the person he can rely on to share his own concerns for the Philippian Christians (Good News Translation New English Bible). In some languages who shares my feelings is best rendered “who shares one heart with me.” In other languages one may say “he has my heart and mind,” “he thinks the same in his heart as I do,” or “my thoughts are his thoughts.”

Paul wants his friends in Philippi to know that Timothy is the one who, like himself, really cares about you. The adverb rendered really is a word suggesting kinship (literally, “legitimately born”). It is often used in the sense of “genuinely” or “sincerely” or “truly.” The adjectival form is used in 1 Tim 1.2, where Paul speaks of Timothy as “my true son in the faith.” The verb “to care” in this clause is the same verb as that used in 4.6, where the readers are advised “Don’t worry about anything.” In the present context the verb does not have the negative sense of “to be anxious for” but the positive sense of “to take genuine interest in” (New English Bible New American Bible), or “to really care about” the well-being of others. In some languages “to care for someone else” may be most effectively expressed as “help,” for example, “he really wants to help you.”

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 .