Bible Commentaries
Philippians 4

Verses 1-23

IV 1-9 The Dissensions— 1. A touching verse, but the Latin superlatives are not in the Gk: ’beloved . . . desired . . . beloved’. ’so’, as set forth above; but the Apostle immediately goes on, 2, to press his exhortation to concord (cf. 2:1-7) on the two ladies whose squabbles were presumably the chief cause of trouble. He even goes on, 3, to urge his ’loyal yoke-fellow’ or comrade to ’assist them’, evidently to compose their differences, ’seeing that [such is the force of the particular Greek relative pronoun used here] they have toiled with me in the gospel, as have also Clement’ etc. Some (e.g. Knabenbauer and Vincent) think that ’Synzygus’ (here translated ’yoke-fellow’) is a proper name, and that instead of ’loyal’ we should translate ’rightly so named’, i.e. genuine. But such a name does not occur in the NT nor (so far as is known) out of it, and it would be surprising that Paul should not have mentioned elsewhere one whose worthy claim to the name he should so emphatically assert. Such an emphasis on the name, however, would not in itself be strange; cf. Phm 10, 11, 20. To the present writer it seems likely that Silas may be meant; he may have been at Philippi about this time, and so prominent a companion of Paul, who had first evangelized Philippi along with him, would not need to be named. The prominence of the two ladies as a source of trouble illustrates the greater importance of women in Macedonia, of which the position of Lydia, Acts 16:14-15, Acts 16:40, is another example; cf. § 905f. ’Clement’ was early identified with Clement of Rome (e.g. by Origen in Ioann. 1:29; PG 14, 293), generally admitted to be responsible for the well-known litter to the Corinthians. The ’Clement’ here in question was a prominent fellow-worker of St Paul, and there is no serious chronological difficulty; still, the name was common, and the identification must remain uncertain. 4. Cf. 3:1. 5. ’your modesty’ or general forbearance. This exhortation doubtless has some connexion with what has preceded; and so of the next two verses. ’The Lord is nigh’. There are certainly passages in St Paul which create a difficulty because he seems to speak of the end of the world as imminent; but this need not be considered one of them. There is nothing in the context about the end of the world; the Christians are to live in joy, gentleness, freedom from care, trustful and thankful prayer, peace in Christ. And on the other hand the notion of the Lord being nigh would be familiar from Ps 118 (119) 151; 144(145) 18. And it is reinforced here by 7; cf. 1:21; 3:9; etc.

7. ’will guard your hearts’.

8. ’modest’ in a general sense, seemly, dignified. ’lovely’, rather ’lovable’. ’whatever is virtuous and praiseworthy’; omit ’of discipline’.

10-21. An affectionate ending— 10. ’Indeed in this matter you were thinking (about me all along), but you lacked opportunity’. Paul lovingly excuses them.

11. ’Not that I speak because I was in want’; lit. ’according to want’. He does not deny the want, but it is not his motive in speaking; he was hardened to that. ’I have learnt to be self-sufficing in whatever circumstances I am’.

12. ’I have been initiated in everything and in all things, both to plenty and to hunger’. ’initiated’ is a term taken from the pagan mysteries, the verb of which our word ’mystery’ itself is a noun. St Ignatius of Antioch (martyred early 2nd cent.) in his letter to the Ephesians, ch 12, calls them ’fellowinitiates of Paul’.

14. ’You have done well in sharing with my affliction’, i.e. with me in my affliction. 15. ’when I departed from Macedonia (cf.Acts 17:1-15) no church entered into relation of giving and receiving with me’, i.e. ’opened a debit and credit account with me’; the terms are financial, as again in 17, ’accumulating to your account’. St Paul is referring to the return of temporal gifts for spiritual, but not of course as a strict bargain; cf.1 Corinthians 9:11-14; Romans 15:27.17. ’the fruit’ could likewise probably bear the sense of ’interest’ on an investment, meaning here the recompense for the charitable deed, and, 18, ’I have’ (or, as one might render it in this sense, ’I have received’) is a technical expression in drawing up a receipt, found also in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 6:2, Matthew 6:5, Matthew 6:16. They have received full payment, the transaction is finished, they must be content to sign the receipt and expect nothing more. For these various terms cf. Moulton-Milligan, Vocabulary. ’an odour of sweetness’: cf.Exodus 29:18, and often in OT for the sweet savour of an acceptable sacrifice, here in a metaphorical sense.

19. ’from his riches my God will in Christ Jesus satisfy with glory your every need’. ’glory’, as often in Paul (Colossians 1:11; Ephesians 3:16; Romans 3:23) for grace, which is here chiefly in question.

22-23. 22. The imperial household was enormous, containing men and women of every status, and even slaves might hold high and confidential positions. Paul may have come to know some of them through the praetorian guard, and may be paying tribute to their importance and help. His salutations in Rom 16, sent even before his arrival in Rome, are also significant, as is likewise the epistle of St Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans, in which he expresses a fear that their influence may deliver him from the martyrdom for which he longs.

23. St Paul probably writes this verse with his own hand, after dictating the rest; this was a custom of the time, a kind of signature and a guarantee of genuineness; cf.2 Thessalonians 2:2; 2 Thessalonians 3:17; 1 Corinthians 16:21; Galatians 6:11; Colossians 4:18.