InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEUT JOB YEHO (JOS) HERO (JDG) RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG YOEL (JOEL) MIC ISA ZEP HAB YIR (JER) LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBAD DAN EZEK EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL 2 PS WIS TOB MAN BAR G DAN G ESD L ESD ESG JDT 3 MAC SIR 1 MAC 2 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL LAOD PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Php 2 V1 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V24 V25 V26 V27 V28 V29 V30
People tagged in the matching LV passage: Paul
Used in these topics: Humility and serving others
OET-LV fulfill of_me the joy, in_order_that the same thing you_all_may_be_thinking, the same love having, united_in_soul, the one thing thinking.
OET (OET-RV) then complete my happiness by being in agreement in your thinking and being united in the same love.[fn]
2:2 Here Paul repeats about being united in thought, but the repetition seems to only clutter his argument.
Paul encouraged the Philippians to act as believers should, to agree with each other and to be courageous when they spoke to other people about Christ. Since they lived among many people who were opposed to the gospel, they should expect to defend their faith. They should also expect to suffer because they trusted in Christ.
Since Christ has shown the Philippians how much he loves them, they should love one other, agree with one another and be humble.
2:1–4 is one long sentence in the Greek. In your translation you may need to divide this into several shorter sentences.
After the subordinate clauses in 2:1, where Paul was stating things that were true about the Philippians, in 2:2, he stated what he wanted the Philippians to do as a result of what was true in 2:1. In 2:2a, Paul told the Philippians what they were to do and in the rest of the verse how they were to do it.
Remember that, if you split 2:1 into a number of short sentences, you may need to include an introductory phrase like “Since all these things are true…” in order to connect 2:2 correctly to 2:1.
Several translations supply a phrase like “I urge you” at the beginning of 2:2 to help bring out some of the emotional force of Paul’s appeal.
then make my joy complete by
make me completely joyful by
Therefore, I urge you to make me even more joyful by doing as follows:
Since all these things are true, make me truly happy by doing this:
make my joy complete: Paul was already joyful, but he meant that he would have more joy or complete joy if the Philippians did as he instructed in the rest of this verse. Some translations make this clearer by saying “make me even more joyful.”
being like-minded,
Agree with one another,
2:2b means almost the same as 2:2d. They repeat the same main idea to emphasize Paul’s desire that the Philippians should be united spiritually.
being like-minded: A literal translation is “think the same thing.” Paul wanted the Philippians to agree with one another and to have the same intentions and purposes. What Paul said in the following clauses (2:2c–4b) may make it clear what he meant by the phrase being like-minded.
If your language has one way to talk about an outward agreement (in words) and another way to talk about agreement in feeling or truly agreeing in the heart, you should choose the second way here.
having the same love,
and love one another with mutual affection,
having the same love: This seems to imply that Paul wanted all the Philippians to love each other deeply.
being united in spirit and purpose.
being united in heart and mind.
thinking in the same way and aiming for the same goal.
being united in spirit: The phrase being united in spirit means “having the same attitude, agreeing together from the heart.”
and purpose: This literally means “thinking the one thing.” It has essentially the same meaning as “being one in spirit.” Paul wanted them all to have the mind of Christ; that is, to think like Christ did.
A way of combining these parts of the verse could be:
Agree together in your hearts and souls by the way you think and by the way you love one another.
In some languages it may be helpful to reorder this verse. For example:
I urge you bto agree completely with one another, clove one another equally dand be united in your hearts and minds. aIf you do this, I will be completely happy.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
πληρώσατέ μου τὴν χαρὰν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: πληρώσατε μού τήν χαράν ἵνα τό αὐτό φρονῆτε τήν αὐτήν ἀγάπην ἔχοντες σύμψυχοι τό ἕν φρονοῦντες)
If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of joy, you can express the idea behind the abstract noun joy by using an adjective or verb. Alternate translation: [make me overflow with happiness]
τὸ αὐτὸ φρονῆτε
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: πληρώσατε μού τήν χαράν ἵνα τό αὐτό φρονῆτε τήν αὐτήν ἀγάπην ἔχοντες σύμψυχοι τό ἕν φρονοῦντες)
Alternate translation: [you think together as one]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
τὴν αὐτὴν ἀγάπην ἔχοντες
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: πληρώσατε μού τήν χαράν ἵνα τό αὐτό φρονῆτε τήν αὐτήν ἀγάπην ἔχοντες σύμψυχοι τό ἕν φρονοῦντες)
If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of love, you can express the idea behind the abstract noun love with an adjective or verb. Alternate translation: [love each other]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
σύνψυχοι
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: πληρώσατε μού τήν χαράν ἵνα τό αὐτό φρονῆτε τήν αὐτήν ἀγάπην ἔχοντες σύμψυχοι τό ἕν φρονοῦντες)
Paul’s use of the idiom united in soul is a figurative way of asking the Philippians to be unified and to agree about what is important. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use an equivalent idiom or use plain language. Alternate translation: [be one in spirit] or [be one in heart and will] or [agree about what is important] or [be unified]
τὸ ἓν φρονοῦντες
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: πληρώσατε μού τήν χαράν ἵνα τό αὐτό φρονῆτε τήν αὐτήν ἀγάπην ἔχοντες σύμψυχοι τό ἕν φρονοῦντες)
Alternate translation: [being concerned about the same things]
OET-LV fulfill of_me the joy, in_order_that the same thing you_all_may_be_thinking, the same love having, united_in_soul, the one thing thinking.
OET (OET-RV) then complete my happiness by being in agreement in your thinking and being united in the same love.[fn]
2:2 Here Paul repeats about being united in thought, but the repetition seems to only clutter his argument.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.
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