Thursday, November 29, 2012

Translation Fun with Philippians 4:13

Last year, I wrote a little post about how various translators translated Philippians 4:4-7. I thought I would now look at Philippians 4:13. This is a verse that is very easy to take out of context, to lift out of the surroundings and apply or misapply to just about any and every situation.

ESV: I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
CEB: I can endure all these things through the power of the one who gives me strength.
HCSB: I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me.
NASB:  I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
NIV, 1984: I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
NIV, 2011: I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
NKJV: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
NLT: For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
KJV: I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Amplified: I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency].
J.B. Phillips: I am ready for anything through the strength of the one who lives within me.
Good News Translation: I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me.
Contemporary English Version: Christ gives me the strength to face anything.
The Message: I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.

The context of the verse is that Paul is telling his readers that whether he is rich or poor, well fed or hungry, that no matter what his outward condition, God is taking care of him, enabling him to go on.

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
(Philippians 4:11-13 ESV)

Some translators have clearly sought to reword the verse so that it fits with the context clearly so that it can't (as easily) be misinterpreted.


© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

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