What Does Philippians 3:20 Mean?
For our citizenship is in the heavens, from there also we await the Deliverer, the Lord Jesus, the Anointed One.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:THE KEY
The word translated “conversation” opens onto civic belonging: your commonwealth is in heaven, and your awaited Deliverer comes from there.
THE MEANING
Your belonging is located in heaven, and your hope is fixed on Jesus, the Deliverer who comes from that same realm. Your present home and your future hope share one source.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that your deepest belonging ends at the borders of the earthly world; the verse locates your commonwealth in heaven.
THE ROOT
πολίτευμα
politeuma
GROWS FROM
πολιτ- (polit-), from πόλις (polis)
City, citizenry, and the shared civic body.
“citizenship” in this verse is politeuma. The Greek word opens “conversation” onto a commonwealth: the civic community to which you belong. Its city-and-citizen family makes the verse speak not only of where you conduct your life, but of where your belonging is rooted.
ALSO GROWS
polis: city
πόλις
The city is the shared place at the heart of this civic word family.
polites: citizen
πολίτης
A citizen belongs to the city; the verse places that belonging in heaven.
politeuomai: live or conduct oneself as a citizen
πολιτεύομαι
This related verb shows how civic belonging can shape the manner of life.
σωτήρ
sōtēr
GROWS FROM
σῴζ- (sōz-), from σῴζω (sōzō)
Deliver, rescue, bring safely through.
“Saviour” in this verse is sōtēr. The awaited one is named by what he does: he delivers and brings through. The verse ties heavenly belonging to the arrival of the Deliverer.
ALSO GROWS
sōzō: deliver, rescue
σῴζω
This verb gives the action carried by the name Saviour.
sōtēria: deliverance
σωτηρία
The noun names the rescue the Deliverer brings.
THE PATTERN
Scripture locates deep belonging in the city or country God establishes, beyond the limits of the present world.
And of Zion it is said, This man and that man is born in her; the Most High himself sets her firm.But now they reach for a better homeland, the heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has made ready a city for them.Beloved, I urge you as those dwelling alongside, to hold yourselves away from the fleshly cravings, which march against your living soul.THE THREAD
For here we have no city that remains, but we search for the one that is coming.Philippians’ politeuma belongs to the same Greek city family as polis, the city named in Hebrews. The verse opens the idea of heavenly citizenship as a home whose city is still to come.
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