Philippians 2:16

λόγον ζωῆς. The Gospel, as the revelation and offer of eternal life in Christ. So the Saviour’s teachings are ῥήματα ζωῆς αἰωνίου, John 6:68, and the message of His grace is λόγος ζωῆς, 1 John 1:1 (see Westcott in loco against a reference there to the Personal Logos). The essence of the λόγος is (1 John 5:11), ὅτι ζωὴν αἰώνιον ἔδωκεν ἡμῖν ὁ θεός· καὶ αὔτη ἡ ζωὴ ἐν τῷ υἱῷ αὐτοῦ ἐστίν.

ἐπέχοντες. “Holding forth” for notice and acceptance. So Homer, Od. XVI. 443:

κρέας ὀπτὸν

ἐν χείρεσσιν ἔθηκεν, ἐπέσχε τε οἶνον ἐρυθρόν

He drops the metaphor of the luminary, and thinks of the banquet and its provision. Ἐπέχειν occurs in some other N.T. passages, but in the sense of giving attention, or (Acts 19:22) of lingering.—On the phrase λόγον ἐπέχειν see Appendix I.

εἰς καύχημα ἐμοὶ. Ἐμοὶ is slightly emphatic; he thankfully claims his part in their work and its fruits, as he had brought the light to them.—For the thought of such καύχημα cp. 1 Thessalonians 2:19, τίς ἡμῶν … στέφανος καυχήσεως; ἤ οὐχὶ καὶ ὑμεῖς ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν … ἐν τῇ παρουσίᾳ αὐτοῦ; There as here he looks forward to a personal recognition of his converts at the Lord’s Coming, and to a special joy over them.

εἰς ἡμέραν Χριστοῦ. “Unto the day,” in view of it. He anticipates the “exultation” to be actually felt ἐν ἡμέρᾳ Χριστοῦ.

εἰς κενὸν. A phrase exclusively Pauline in N.T. See 2 Corinthians 6:1, μὴ εἰς κενὸν τὴν χάριν … δέξασθαι; Galatians 2:2, μήπως εἰς κενὸν τρέχω, 1 Thessalonians 3:5, εἰς κενὸν … κόπος.

ἔδραμον … ἐκοπίασα. “Did run,” “did toil.” He anticipates his retrospect from “the day of Christ,” and sees the present race and present toil summed up into recollections. For such an aorist cp. 1 Corinthians 13:12, τότε ἐπιγνώσομαι καθὼς καὶ ἐπεγνώσθην.

On the metaphor of ἔδραμον, a favourite one with St Paul, giving the thought of both the energy and the goal of life, cp. e.g. Acts 20:24, τελειῶσαι τὸν δρόμον μου: Galatians 2:2, μή πως εἰς κενὸν τρέχω ἤ ἔδραμον: 2 Timothy 4:7, τὸν δρόμον τετέλεκα: and see 1 Corinthians 9:24; 1 Corinthians 9:26; Romans 9:16; Hebrews 12:1.

Lightfoot thinks that in ἐκοπίασα we have a probable allusion to the training of the athletic runner; he finds μὴ τρέχε, μὴ κοπία, in a connexion suggestive of this (Anthol. III. p. 166). He quotes (as a possible echo of St Paul here) Ignatius (ad Polyc c. 6) συντρέχετε, συγκοπιᾶτε. On St Paul’s athletic metaphors see Appendix L.

L. ST PAUL’S USE OF ATHLETIC METAPHORS[20]. (CH. Philippians 2:16, Philippians 3:14)

[20] Contributed almost entirely by the kindness of Dr J. Armitage Robinson.

IN his constant illustration of the Christian life by the requirements and rewards of the Greek athletic contests, St Paul at once displays his own Hellenic sympathies and appeals to the noblest enthusiasm of the national life of his Greek converts. The Olympian games were closely connected with all that was most precious in the contribution made by Greece to the providential education of the world. Once in every four years the perpetually quarrelling states of the Panhellenic union proclaimed a solemn armistice for a single summer month, and met on the sacred plain of Olympia in a brotherly contest, city against city as well as man against man, for the highest glory that life could offer. Nothing might take precedence of this supreme festival. Even the sending of forces to support the heroes of Thermopylæ[21] must wait till the sacred month was over. Round this centre of Greek life religion, literature and art ranged themselves spontaneously in their most splendid forms. Historians read their histories to the assembled multitudes; poets proclaimed the glories of the successful champions, and sculptors perpetuated their noble forms. Time for the next four years was marked by the name of the victor in the foot-race, who though he carried off but a crown of wild olive returned to his city to receive substantial honours for the remainder of his days.

[21] Herod. VII. 206. The advance force under Leonidas was to be supported πανδημεί by the Spartans after the Carneia, the Spartan festival which coincided with the Olympia; and the other States were purposing the like action: but ἦν κατὰ τὠυτὸ Ὀλυμπιὰς τούτοισι τοῖσι πρήγμασι συμπεσοῦσα.

Something may be usefully noted here as to the training, the testing of candidates, and the actual contest. The training extended over ten months. A strict diet was enforced (ἀναγκοφαγία). The length and severity of this preparatory discipline led to a professionalism which is sharply criticized by several Greek writers. Athletes as such became marked off from ordinary competitors. Euripides[22] denounces the uselessness of the mere athlete’s life, and Galen[23] (cent. 2) its brutalizing tendency. Extreme exertion, even flagellations, inordinate overfeeding, and as a consequence excessive sleep—these were the exaggerations which accompanied the athletics of a baser period. Yet a certain moral witness was given by the necessity of abstinence from unchaste lusts: and the discipline and self-control demanded by these labours were in striking contrast with the lightness and carelessness which characterized so much of the Greek citizen’s life.

[22] In a long fragment of his tragedy of Autolycus (in Athenæus X. p. 413: Dindorf, Poetæ Scenici, Fragmenta).

[23] In his περὶ Ἰατρικῆς κτλ., c. xlvi. (Galeni opp., v. 894, ed. Kühn), and often.

A month before the contest all the candidates were tested by the Hellanodicæ. Every competitor must be able to shew that he was a pure Greek, and that he had undergone the regular training. He must further declare his determination to abide by the customary rules, and take a solemn oath to this effect.
Of the contest itself two forms only need be noticed here. The Foot-race, in the Stadium, was the central event of the Festival; the Olympiad was marked by the name of the winner. The Herald proclaimed:

“Foot by foot

To the foot-line put.”

The starting-rope (ὕσπληξ), the race, the goal, the revel, the hymn—all these are familiar from the splendid verse of Pindar. And it is to this race that St Paul most frequently refers. But the severer contest of the Boxing-match, sometimes even fatal in its issue, also finds a place in his vocabulary of illustration. The Boxer’s hands and arms were furnished with the dangerous cestus of twisted leather loaded with metal[24]. In training the competitors would practise even upon “dummies,” or upon nothing, “striking the air”: but their crushed ears attested more serious and painful preparations[25].

[24] See e. g. Theocritus, Idyll. XXII. 80, and cp. Virg. Æn. v. 400.

[25] Theocr. XXII. 45, δεινὸς ἰδεῖν, σκληραῖσι τεθλασμένος οὔατα πυγμαῖς.

The following passages in St Paul present more or less distinctly athletic metaphors. The passing character of the allusion in some cases serves to shew how familiar, and how instinctive, was the illustration.—The words printed in thicker type recall, often with unmistakable intention, sometimes perhaps half unconsciously, the phraseology of the games.

1 Thessalonians 2:1-4. αὐτοὶ γὰρ οἴδατε, ἀδελφοί, τὴν εἴσοδον ἡμῶν τὴν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ὅτι οὐ κενὴ γέγονεν�προπαθόντες καὶ ὑβρισθέντες … ἐν Φιλίπποις ἐπαρρησιασάμεθα … λαλῆσαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς … ἐν πολλῷ� … καθὼς δεδοκιμάσμεθα ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ … οὕτω λαλοῦμεν … ὡς … ἀρέσκοντες … τῷ θεῷ τῷ δοκιμάζοντι τὰς καρδίας ἡμῶν.

1 Thessalonians 2:18-19. ἠθελήσαμεν ἐλθεῖν … ἀλλὰ ἐνέκοψεν ἡμᾶς ὁ Σατανᾶς. τίς γὰρ ἡμῶν … στέφανος καυχήσεως; ἠ οὐχὶ καὶ ὑμεῖς κτλ.;

2 Thessalonians 3:1. ἵνα ὁ λόγος τοῦ Κυρίου τρέχῃ καὶ δοξάζηται.

Galatians 2:2. μή πως εἰς κενὸν τρέχω ἢ ἔδραμον.

Galatians 5:7. ἐτρέχετε καλῶς· τίς ὑμᾶς ἐνέκοψεν;

Philippians 1:27; Philippians 1:30. συναθλοῦντες … τὸν αὐτὸν ἀγῶνα ἔχοντες.

Philippians 2:16. οὐκ εἰς κενὸν ἔδραμον οὐδὲ εἰς κενὸν ἐκοπίασα.

Philippians 3:12; Philippians 3:14. οὐχ ὅτι ἤδη ἔλαβον … διώκω δέ, εἰ καὶ καταλάβω … τὰ μὲν ὀπίσω ἐπιλανθανόμενος τοῖς δὲ ἔμπροσθεν ἐπεκτεινόμενος κατὰ σκοπὸν διώκω εἰς τὸ βραβεῖον κτλ.

Colossians 1:29; Colossians 2:1. εἰς ὃ καὶ κοπιῶ� … θέλω γὰρ ὑμᾶς εἰδέναι ἡλίκον ἀγῶνα ἔχω κτλ.

Colossians 2:18. μηδεὶς ὑμᾶς καταβραβευέτω.

Colossians 3:15. ἡ εἰρήνη τοῦ Χριστοῦ βραβευέτω κτλ.

1 Timothy 4:7-10. γύμναζε σεαυτὸν πρὸς εὐσέβειαν· ἡ γὰρ σωματικὴ γυμνασία πρὸς ὀλίγον ἐστὶν ὠφέλιμος … εἰς τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ κοπιῶμεν καὶ ἀγωνιζόμεθα (ita leg.) κτλ.

1 Timothy 6:11-12. δίωκε δικαιοσύνην … ἀγωνίζου τὸν καλὸν� … ἐπιλαβοῦ τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς … ἐνώπιον πολλῶν μαρτύρων.

Cp. Hebrews 12:1. ἔχοντες περικείμενον ἡμῖν νέφος μαρτύρων, ὄγκον� … διʼ ὑπομονῆς τρέχωμεν τὸν προκείμενον ἡμῖν ἀγῶνα.

2 Timothy 2:5. ἐὰν δὲ καὶ ἀθλῇ τις, οὐ στεφανοῦται ἐὰν μὴ νομίμως�.

2 Timothy 4:7-8. τὸν καλὸν�, τὀν δρόμον τετέλεκα … λοιπὸν�στέφανος.

Cp. Acts 13:25. ὡς ἐπλήρου ὁ Ἰωάνης τὸν δρόμον. Acts 20:24. τελειῶσαι τὸν δρόμον μου.

By far the most elaborate illustration is found in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, where almost every word receives its signification from the Greek games.

Οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι οἱ ἐν σταδίῳ τρέχοντες πάντες μὲν τρέχουσιν, εἷς δὲ λαμβάνει τὸ βραβεῖον; οὕτω τρέχετε ἵνα καταλάβητε. πᾶς δὲ ὁ�· ἐκεῖνοι μὲν οὖν ἵνα φθαρτὸν στέφανον λάβωσιν, ἡμεῖς δὲ ἄφθαρτον. ἐγὼ τοίνυν οὕτω τρέχω, ὡς οὐκ�· οὕτω πυκτεύω, ὡς οὐκ�· ἀλλʼ ὑπωπιάζω μου τὸ σῶμα καὶ δουλαγωγῶ, μήπως ἄλλοις κηρύξας αὐτὸς�.

It is interesting to set beside this the splendid appeal on behalf of purity in Plato, Laws, Bk viii. p. 840. After recording instances of famous athletes and their temperance in the period of training, the Athenian stranger says:

“And yet, Cleinias, they were far worse educated in their minds than your and my fellow-citizens, and in their bodies far more lusty.
“Cleinias. No doubt this fact has been often affirmed positively by the ancients of these athletes.

“Ath. And shall they be willing to abstain from what is ordinarily deemed a pleasure for the sake of a victory in wrestling, running, and the like; and our young men be incapable of a similar endurance for the sake of a much nobler victory, which is the noblest of all, as from their youth upwards we will tell them?” (Jowett’s Plato, Vol. v., p. 409.)

I. “HOLDING FORTH THE WORD OF LIFE.” (CH. Philippians 2:16)

THE late Dr F. Field (Otium Norvicense, pars tertia, p. 118) has an interesting note on λόγον ζωῆς ἐπέχοντες. He points out that ἐπέχειν where we might expect προσέχειν is a usage unexampled, or at best supported by remote examples. And he adduces from later Greek authors examples (collected by Wetstein) of the phrase λόγον ἐπέχειν τινός in the sense of “correspond to,” “play the part of.” E.g. Diogenes Laertius, VII. 155, about a theory of the universe: μέση ἡ γῆ, κέντρου λόγον ἐπέχουσα, “doing duty as a centre”; St Basil, Hexaëmeron IX. (tom. i. p. 83 E), κακὸν δὲ πᾶν�, ἡ δὲ�, “all evil is a sickness of the soul; virtue is as it were its health.” He compares the better-known phrases, τάξιν or τόπον ἐπέχειν τινός: e.g. Theodoret (tom. III. p. 489), ἡ εὐαγγελικὴ πολιτεία σώματος ἐπέχει τάξιν, ὁ δὲ νόμος σκιᾶς. And he quotes the Syriac Peshitto of this passage of Philippians, which is, “to whom ye are in place of life.” His own rendering of the passage would be, “In the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world, being (to it) in the stead of life.” “To the last clause a marginal note might be added: ‘Gr., holding the analogy of life.’  ”

The suggestion is important, and from a source which must always command attention. Yet the quotation from Homer, in the notes on ch. Philippians 2:16, still seems on review pertinent, and need not be called “remote,” coming from the great Poem. With some hesitation we recommend adherence to the more ordinary rendering.