Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Philippians 1:7

Philippians 1:6 is a parenthesis in the thought, suggested probably by the last words of Philippians 1:5. We now take up the thread of Philippians 1:4-5; the thankful remembrance, the glad prayer, occasioned by their “fellowship in the Gospel.” He now justifies the assertion in detail.

δίκαιον. Not “meet” only, but “right.” He feels a delightful duty.

ἐμοὶ. The emphatic form; “for me,” whatever is right for others.

φρονεῖν. Almost, “to feel” this gratitude and joy. Φρονεῖν, a favourite word with St Paul, nearly always denotes a mental state or habit, not explicit thinking. See e.g. Romans 8:5-7; Romans 8:27; below, Philippians 3:15; Philippians 3:19; Colossians 3:2. For another shade of meaning see below, Philippians 4:10.

ὑπὲρ πάντων ὑμῶν. “On behalf of you all,” R.V. Ὑπέρ c. gen. properly means “over,” and so suggests, first and most surely, attention, concern, interest; as when a man is busy “over” his work. This of course lends itself, in fit contexts, to such special meanings as “on behalf of,” or even “in the place of”; but these need a context to develope them. The context of prayer above (Philippians 1:4) justifies R.V. here.

διὰ τὸ ἔχειν με ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ ὑμᾶς. We might render, of course, “Because you have me, &c.” But with that meaning he would probably write ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις: and the following context makes his affection for them the prominent thought.

ἔν τε τοῖς δεσμοῖς μου κτλ. His first allusion to imprisonment. We can connect these words, in grammar, with either the previous or following sentences. But a connexion with the following is, in reason, the much more probable. To St Paul, his δεσμά and his ἀπολογία were practically one experience; to the Philippians, they would seem two distinct calls for loving fellowship.

ἐν τῇ�. Two words linked by one definite article. They cover together his missionary work at Rome. His ἀπολογία (cp. Acts 22:1; Acts 25:16; below, 16; and esp. 1 Peter 3:15) was the explanation and vindication of the Gospel to the unconvinced; his βεβαίωσις, the development of “the reason of the hope” in the minds of convinced disciples, and also perhaps the practical “planting” of the Church for orderly work and witness.

μου τῆς χάριτος. Comparing Romans 1:5; Ephesians 3:2; Ephesians 3:8, we see a reference here not to Divine grace in general (God in Christ, for and in the saints; see on Philippians 1:2 above) so much as to the special gracious gift of apostleship. So were the Philippians bound to him, alike in Divine life and in human love, that in his apostolic sufferings and labours they were his fellows, identified with him in everything, and by love, prayer, and gifts, working as it were through him.

The words συγκοινωνούς μου … ὄντας, in apposition to the ὑμᾶς above, may be rendered as if almost absolute; “you all being copartners of my grace.”

Observe in this whole context the iteration of πάντες ὑμεῖς. It has been suggested that he has in view the slight inner dissensions at Philippi, and thus delicately deprecates them. But the motive seems too artificial to be quite in place in this warm passage; the language is that of unreserved affection.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Philippians 1:7

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