Exhortations to unity and humility enforced by the example of Christ, Philippians 2:1-11; to an advancement in the way of salvation, so that they may be lights in the world, and a joy to the Apostle, Philippians 2:12-18; of the intention to send Timothy, and of the return of Epaphroditus, Philippian... [ Continue Reading ]
Philippians 2:1. IF THERE IF THEREFORE ANY CONSOLATION IN CHRIST, It is better to supply the verb here in the indicative, than in the subjunctive, as in the Authorised Version. The apostle neither doubts himself of consolation being found in Christ, nor implies any doubt on the part of those whom he... [ Continue Reading ]
_Exhortations to unity and humility enforced by the example of Christ,_ 1-11. Following up the exhortation with which the last chapter closed, that the Philippians should stand fast in one spirit, the apostle proceeds with a like teaching. He takes for granted that they have found in Christ consolat... [ Continue Reading ]
Philippians 2:2. FULFIL YE MY JOY. The Philippian church had already caused him much joy (see Philippians 4:1-10): there is, however, one thing yet wanting. He has little blame to bring against them, but there is reported to him some want among them of unity of spirit, and the apostle's joy will not... [ Continue Reading ]
Philippians 2:3. DO NOTHING THROUGH FACTION OR THROUGH VAIN-GLORY. There is no verb expressed in the original, but this in such an earnest exhortation is at once supplied. The reading which introduces the two prepositions is to be preferred, and in that form the two distinct evils against which St.... [ Continue Reading ]
Philippians 2:4. NOT LOOKING EACH OF YOU TO HIS OWN THINGS, BUT EACH OF YOU ALSO TO THE THINGS OF OTHERS. According to the best texts, this is another participial sentence continuing the explanation of means towards attaining the great end of oneness of mind. The apostle does not exhort men to cease... [ Continue Reading ]
Philippians 2:5. HAVE THIS MIND IN YOURSELVES WHICH WAS ALSO IN CHRIST JESUS. He has already said ‘be of the same mind,' ‘be of one mind,' and thus pointed towards a grand ideal. He now sets forth that ideal, as it has once been seen embodied in Christ, the great Exemplar.... [ Continue Reading ]
EXCURSUS ON CHRIST'S HUMILIATION Philippians 2:5-8. In this passage St. Paul speaks more definitely than in any other of the mystery of the Divine and human in Christ Jesus, and of the relation between the two natures in our Lord's life on earth. Consequently his language has formed a ground of muc... [ Continue Reading ]
Philippians 2:6. WHO BEING ORIGINALLY IN THE FORM OF GOD, COUNTED IT NOT A PRIZE TO BE ON AN EQUALITY WITH GOD. In this exceedingly difficult and important passage, it is necessary to say something of the separate words of the verse, but it should be borne in mind that the words each form part of a... [ Continue Reading ]
Philippians 2:7. BUT EMPTIED HIMSELF, TAKING THE FORM OF A SERVANT. This literal rendering of the Greek expresses by a figure the act of Christ in the incarnation. But no figure ever exactly represents that for which it is put, and must therefore never be too closely pressed. For the various exposit... [ Continue Reading ]
Philippians 2:8. AND BEING FOUND IN FASHION AS A MAN. Being found, that is of those by whom he was seen and known. This was constantly expressed by those who saw and heard Him: ‘Never man spake like this man;' and even the centurion (Mark 15:39), while styling Him ‘Son of God,' speaks of Him as ‘thi... [ Continue Reading ]
Philippians 2:9. WHEREFORE ALSO GOD HIGHLY EXALTED HIM. This refers to the fact that at the ascension it was in ‘the likeness of men' that Christ ascended into heaven. Thus was He exalted in the body of His humiliation, and the exaltation thereof corresponds to the debasement to which He voluntarily... [ Continue Reading ]
Philippians 2:10. THAT IN THE NAME OF JESUS. The literal rendering keeps up for us, as is so often the case, the connection between Old Testament and New Testament phraseology. So we have (1 Chronicles 14:10) to ‘glory' in the name of the Lord, and (Psalms 63:4) to lift up the bands in His name, and... [ Continue Reading ]
Philippians 2:11. AND THAT EVERY TONGUE SHOULD CONFESS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD. There is not only to be done to him that reverence of the body which shall acknowledge His divinity, but with ‘the best member that they have' men shall give to Jesus the Divine Name. The word translated ‘Lord' is that... [ Continue Reading ]
Philippians 2:12. SO, THEN, MY BELOVED. The particle in the original is not equivalent to ‘on which account,' or ‘wherefore,' but merely the lighter conjunction by which an imperative or hortatory clause is attached to what has preceded. AS YE HAVE ALWAYS OBEYED. This is the secret of all the joy... [ Continue Reading ]
_Exhortations to advance in the way of salvation, to be lights in the world and a joy to the apostle,_ 12-18. Having set before them the perfect example of Christ as an incentive to unity of mind, the apostle continues his exhortation, urging them to diligence in their Christian course, that they m... [ Continue Reading ]
Philippians 2:13. FOR IT IS GOD WHICH WORKETH IN YOU. Thus only can your work have a beginning. The first movement comes from God. He bestows His quickening gift, and then you may improve what He has given by your earnest labour. So St. Peter (2 Peter 1:3-7) describes the groundwork of faith as the... [ Continue Reading ]
Philippians 2:14. DO ALL THINGS WITHOUT MURMURINGS AND DISPUTINGS. Two hindrances are here contemplated to the right employment of the will and power which it is God's good pleasure to bestow, There may rise within men a disappointment at the work to which God sends them, and thus they may murmur an... [ Continue Reading ]
Philippians 2:15. THAT YE MAY BE BLAMELESS AND HARMLESS. The verb implies that the process will be a gradual one, ‘that ye may become,' and the whole context makes its clear that the advance will be one which will make itself felt by others. ‘Blameless' no doubt primarily before men, but also with t... [ Continue Reading ]
Philippians 2:16. HOLDING FORTH THE WORD OF LIFE. Here also there seems to be a double application possible of the verb ‘holding forth.' It may mean ‘setting forth' by your conduct, what the word of life has been able to do for you: how it has made your life a real one, and done it by directing you... [ Continue Reading ]
Philippians 2:17. YEA, AND IF I AM OFFERED. The literal meaning of the verb is, ‘to be poured as a drink-offering' over a sacrifice. And the thought in St. Paul's mind continues from the previous verse. I have laboured even to weariness, but I am ready to do more than this. I am ready to die, if my... [ Continue Reading ]
Philippians 2:18. AND IN THE SAME MANNER DO YE ALSO JOY AND REJOICE WITH ME. There are two offerings in the contemplation of St. Paul: his own, as he is poured out on the sacrifice; the offering of the faithful lives of the Philippians which they themselves are to make. He does not intimate whether... [ Continue Reading ]
Philippians 2:19. BUT I HOPE, IN THE LORD JESUS, TO SEND TIMOTHY SHORTLY UNTO YOU. The verb is the same which is rendered ‘hope' immediately in Philippians 2:23, and there is no need for any variation of rendering. ‘In the Lord Jesus' is equivalent to ‘through the Lord Jesus,' It was to Jesus he loo... [ Continue Reading ]
_Of his intention soon to send Timothy, and of the immediate return of Epaphroditus,_ 19-30. The apostle now turns to personal matters about which he is sure from their behaviour that they will be interested. I hope, he says, soon to be able to part with my companion Timothy and send him to you. He... [ Continue Reading ]
Philippians 2:20. FOR I HAVE NO MAN LIKE-MINDED. That is, like-minded with myself, whose soul equally with my own will be filled with affection and interest for you. WHO WILL CARE TRULY FOR YOUR STATE. This word ‘truly' is used by Paul in another place of Timothy (1 Timothy 1:2), where he styles h... [ Continue Reading ]
Philippians 2:21. FOR THEY ALL SEEK THEIR OWN, NOT THE THINGS OF JESUS CHRIST. We find other times in St. Paul's life when this bitter sense came upon him. So when he writes (2 Timothy 4:10-11), ‘Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world... only Luke is with me.' In the ‘things of Jesu... [ Continue Reading ]
Philippians 2:22. BUT YE KNOW THE PROOF OF HIM. No mention of what was done by Timothy at Philippi occurs in the Acts, but such events call forth display of character; and we may be sure that when St. Paul suffered, Timothy took all the share he could in what his ‘father in Christ' had to bear. That... [ Continue Reading ]
Philippians 2:23. HIM THEREFORE I HOPE TO SEND FORTH-WITH. The adverb here implies that the prospect appeared very immediate. There must have been a constant fluctuation of mind for the apostle in this imprisonment, for he had arrived at Rome (Acts 28:21) before any charge against him had been forwa... [ Continue Reading ]
Philippians 2:24. BUT I TRUST IN THE LORD THAT I ALSO MYSELF SHALL COME SHORTLY. Here he uses the same adverb of his own coming which he had used in Philippians 2:19 of the sending of Timothy. We can see the great naturalness of the language here. As he writes of Timothy's visit, his heart warms and... [ Continue Reading ]
Philippians 2:25. BUT I COUNTED IT NECESSARY. In our idiom we should say ‘I count,' but the Greeks put their verbs in epistolary writing into the tense which would be true not only at the date of the writing, but also at the date of receiving the letter. We have no such indefinite tense, though some... [ Continue Reading ]
Philippians 2:26. SINCE HE LONGED AFTER YOU ALL. St. Paul testifies to the same longing in himself in Philippians 1:8. AND WAS SORE TROUBLED. The strength of this word will be recognised from its being used (Matthew 26:37; Mark 14:33) of Christ's agony in the garden (Authorised Version, _‘_ to be... [ Continue Reading ]
Philippians 2:27. FOR INDEED HE WAS SICK NIGH UNTO DEATH. Such a sickness must also in all probability have extended over some time. And St. Paul's words indicate that the report which the Philippians had heard had come short of the reality. BUT GOD HAD MERCY ON HIM. The phrase is common in the Go... [ Continue Reading ]
Philippians 2:28. I HAVE SENT HIM THEREFORE THE MORE DILIGENTLY. That is, because of his longing to return, and because I desired that he should be restored to health, for which result this was the surest means. ‘Diligently' indicates that St. Paul had allowed no time to elapse after the recovery of... [ Continue Reading ]
Philippians 2:29. RECEIVE HIM, THEREFORE, IN THE LORD WITH ALL JOY. Therefore, that is, because I have been so zealous in sending him to you as soon as he was able to come, receive him joyfully. ‘In the Lord' marks what he would have the reception to be. It would be joy of the whole church for the r... [ Continue Reading ]
Philippians 2:30. BECAUSE FOR THE WORK OF CHRIST. There is some uncertainty whether the last two words be not an addition of later date. Some MSS. read ‘work of the Lord' instead, and some omit them altogether. ‘The work' is a New Testament phrase for the work of preaching the Gospel (see Acts 15:38... [ Continue Reading ]