Open Bible Data Home About News OET Key
OET OET-RV OET-LV ULT UST BSB MSB BLB AICNT OEB WEBBE WMBB NET LSV FBV TCNT T4T LEB BBE Moff JPS Wymth ASV DRA YLT Drby RV SLT Wbstr KJB-1769 KJB-1611 Bshps Gnva Cvdl TNT Wycl SR-GNT UHB BrLXX BrTr Related Topics Parallel Interlinear Reference Dictionary Search
InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL 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 3 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V20 V21
OET (OET-LV) whose the end is destruction, of_whose the god is their belly, and their glory is in the shame of_them, the ones the earthly things thinking.
OET (OET-RV) and their end is destruction. Their god is their belly, and they take pride in their shame—they’re only thinking about earthly things.
Paul told the believers to watch out for those who were teaching that believers must be circumcised. He also warned them against those who were proud of doing evil. He encouraged them to follow his example instead. Paul tried to be like Christ and depended on him alone in order to become righteous.
In both 3:1 and 4:1, Paul talked about being joyful. Therefore, it is possible to consider that 3:1 is an introduction to this section and 4:1 is a summary of this section. However, some English versions consider that 3:1a is the final statement in the previous section and so attach it to the end of chapter 2 (REB, NJB, NRSV). You may want to follow whatever the national language version in your area does here.
Paul wanted the Philippians to act like citizens of heaven, as he did, and not to act like those who were proud of doing wrong.
Their end is destruction,
In the end they will be ruined,
God will finally destroy them in hell, because this is how they act:
end: The word that the BSB translates literally as end refers to the conclusion or end result of their lives.
destruction: The Greek word that the BSB translates as destruction also means “ruin.” It is the opposite of “salvation.” In some languages it may be necessary to translate this as a verb and say, “they will be ruined/destroyed.” In some languages it may be necessary to use an active verb and provide a subject. It is God who will destroy them.
their god is their belly,
They live only to satisfy what their bodies want.
The only thing that controls them is the evil desires of their bodies.
their god is their belly: This Greek phrase that the BSB translates as their belly could have one of two meanings:
It is a figure of speech referring to the desires of their bodies, including desires for food and sex and other earthly pleasures. For example:
their bodily desires (GNT)
what their bodies want (NCV)
It refers to their literal stomachs. Food and drink was what they were most concerned about. (NASB, REB, NLT)
Most English versions use “stomach” or belly, which can be take either literally or as a figure of speech. It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). In the context of the rest of 3:19 (the more general ideas of shameful things and earthly things), it seems that 3:19b also refers to the more general idea of the desires of the body rather than just the desire for food.
By saying that the desires of their bodies were their god, Paul meant that they obeyed these desires as they would a god.
One way to translate this is:
They care only about the things they want here on earth.
and their glory is in their shame.
They boast about doing shameful things.
They are proud of doing things of which they ought to be ashamed.
their glory: This means that these people glory in something or are proud of something.
their shame: This refers to the shameful things these people do. For example, it refers to the sort of things Paul talked about in 3:19b.
The things they did were shameful and they ought to have been ashamed of them, but they were not. In fact, they were even proud of the way they behaved. The whole phrase then means that they were proud of the things they did, things of which they ought to have been ashamed.
In many languages it will not be possible to use nouns like “glory” and shame, but it will be necessary to use verbs. For example:
They are proud of what they should be ashamed of (GNT)
They…brag about the disgusting things they do (CEV)
Their minds are set on earthly things.
The only things they think about are the things that affect life here on earth.
All they give attention to are the things that people here on earth think are important.
Their minds are set on earthly things: These people constantly thought about the things on earth. In fact, the only things they paid attention to were things on the earth, things like food, clothes, pleasure. One way to translate this is:
They only ever think about the things on earth.
In some languages it seems better to place 3:19a at the end of the verse, because it gives the result of the other things Paul talked about in this verse. For example:
So as a result of this God will finally destroy them.
However, if you think this might be helpful in your language, consider carefully how you will then maintain the contrast Paul made by putting “earth” (3:19d) and “heaven” (3:20a) close together.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
ὧν τὸ τέλος ἀπώλεια
whose ˱of˲_whose (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὧν τό τέλος ἀπώλεια ὧν ὁ Θεός ἡ κοιλία καί ἡ δόξα ἐν τῇ αἰσχύνῃ αὐτῶν οἱ τά ἐπίγεια φρονοῦντες)
If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of end, you can express the idea behind the abstract noun end in another way. Alternate translation: [whom God will destroy]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
ὧν τὸ τέλος ἀπώλεια
whose ˱of˲_whose (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὧν τό τέλος ἀπώλεια ὧν ὁ Θεός ἡ κοιλία καί ἡ δόξα ἐν τῇ αἰσχύνῃ αὐτῶν οἱ τά ἐπίγεια φρονοῦντες)
If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of destruction, you can express the idea behind the abstract noun destruction by using a verb such as “destroy.” Alternate translation: [whom God will destroy]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / synecdoche
ὧν ὁ Θεὸς ἡ κοιλία
whose ˱of˲_whose ¬the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὧν τό τέλος ἀπώλεια ὧν ὁ Θεός ἡ κοιλία καί ἡ δόξα ἐν τῇ αἰσχύνῃ αὐτῶν οἱ τά ἐπίγεια φρονοῦντες)
Paul uses belly to represent all physical desires for pleasure. By Paul calling their belly their god, he means that these people love and serve their physical desire for pleasure rather than loving and serving God. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use an equivalent expression from your culture, or you could use plain language. Alternate translation: [who serve their desire for food and other pleasures rather than serve God] or [who obey their physical appetites instead of obeying God] or [who love pleasure more than they love God]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
ἡ δόξα ἐν τῇ αἰσχύνῃ αὐτῶν
their their glory_‹is› in the shame ˱of˲_them
Here, shame stands for the actions that people should be ashamed of but are not. Alternate translation: [they are proud of the things that should cause them shame]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
ἡ δόξα ἐν τῇ αἰσχύνῃ αὐτῶν
their their glory_‹is› in the shame ˱of˲_them
If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of glory, you can express the idea behind the abstract noun glory by using an adjective such as “proud.” Alternate translation: [who take pride in what should bring them shame]
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
ἡ δόξα ἐν τῇ αἰσχύνῃ αὐτῶν
their their glory_‹is› in the shame ˱of˲_them
If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of shame, you can express the idea behind the abstract noun shame by using an adjective such as “ashamed.” Alternate translation: [who take pride in what should cause them to be ashamed]
Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
οἱ τὰ ἐπίγεια φρονοῦντες
the_‹ones› (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὧν τό τέλος ἀπώλεια ὧν ὁ Θεός ἡ κοιλία καί ἡ δόξα ἐν τῇ αἰσχύνῃ αὐτῶν οἱ τά ἐπίγεια φρονοῦντες)
Here, earthly refers to all the things that pertain to everyday living on earth. Alternate translation: [who only think about the things here on this earth] or [who only think about the things of this life]
Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
οἱ τὰ ἐπίγεια φρονοῦντες
the_‹ones› (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὧν τό τέλος ἀπώλεια ὧν ὁ Θεός ἡ κοιλία καί ἡ δόξα ἐν τῇ αἰσχύνῃ αὐτῶν οἱ τά ἐπίγεια φρονοῦντες)
The implied contrast that Paul is making here is between earthly things and spiritual things. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [who think about is earthly things instead of the things of God] or [who only think about earthly things instead of the things of God]
OET (OET-LV) whose the end is destruction, of_whose the god is their belly, and their glory is in the shame of_them, the ones the earthly things thinking.
OET (OET-RV) and their end is destruction. Their god is their belly, and they take pride in their shame—they’re only thinking about earthly things.
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.