Philippians Chapter 1

 

An Exegetical Commentary by the Sangre de Cristo Seminary Class of 1999, edited by Nate Wilson

 

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Jump to commentary on: 1:1-5, 1:6-11, 1:12-14, 1:15-18, 1:19-21, 1:22-26, 1:27-30

 

 

Philippians 1:1-5
(Dwight F. Zeller)

1 Paulos kai Timotheos douloi Christou1 IAsou pasin tois hagiois 
     en ChristOi “I”Asou tois ousin1 en Filippois sun episkopois kai diakonois,
2 charis humin kai eirAnA apo theou patros hAmOn kai kuriou “I”Asou Christou.
3 eucharistO2 tOi theOi mou epi pasAi tAi mneiai humOn
4 pantote en pasAi deAsei mou huper pantOn humOn, meta charas An deAsin poioumenos3,
5 epi tAi koinOniai humOn eis to euaggelion apo tAs prOtAs hAmeras achri tou nun,

 

Textual Notes

The UBS 2nd Edition has no critical notations on 1:1-5. The Nestle text as found in the 7th printing of the 26th ed. of Novum Testamentum Graecea includes the following critical apparatus:

 

1:1 sun episkopois –Although most ancient documents support this reading, it is just one compound word in the 2nd edition of the Vaticanus (4th century uncial), and in K (9th century uncial), 33 (9th century miniscule), 1241 (12th century miniscule), 1739 (10th century miniscule), 1881 (14th Century miniscule), church father Cass. (Cassiodorus? Cassian?), and others. This is an insignificant variant.

 

1:3 Variant reading egw men eucaristw tw kuriw hmwn “I indeed give thanks to our Lord,” appears in the Original Claromontanus (6th cent. Uncial), F (9th Cent. Uncial), G (9th cent. Uncial), old Latin (5th cent.), and writings of Ambrosiaster (4th cent. Church father) and Cass. (Cassiodorus or Cassian). Gives more emphasis to I thank, and also mentions “our Lord” instead of “our God,” but there is not sufficient support to accept this reading.

 

1:4 meta charas An deAsin “with joy [and] in my every prayer” The [kai/and] is inserted in F, G, and  (9th Cent. Uncials), and in a few late miniscules, probably 10-12th century, and in many Vulgate manuscripts. This variant makes two events instead of one, but there isn’t sufficient manuscript support.

 

1:5 apo tAs prOtAs hAmeras The [ths/“the”] is omitted in the Calromontanus (4th Cent Uncial), F, G, and  (9th Cent. Uncials), and in the Majority Text. It is included in the Chester Beatty Papyri (2nd Century), Alexandrinus (5th Cent. Uncial), Vaticanus (4th Century uncial), P (9th Cent Uncial), 33 (9th cent. Miniscule), 81 (11th Cent. Miniscule), and in a few of the late 10th-12th Century miniscules, so it should probably be kept in the text, but whether it is kept or omitted, the noun it modifies remains definite because of the adjective which precedes it.

 

VERBALS

#

Root

Parsing

Translation

Syntax

1

eimi

Dative Plural Masculine Present Active Participle

to be

adjective (modifying “saints”)

2

eucaristew

1s Present Active Indicative

to give thanks

Main Verb

3

poiew

Nominative Singular Masculine Present Middle Participle

to do/make

Manner

 

TRANSLATIONS

DFZ: 1. Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus, who are1 in Philippi, with the overseers and deacons. 2. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3. I thank2 my God upon every remembrance of you, 4. always in every supplication of mine on behalf of you all, [making3 (my) supplication with joy], 5. for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now,

ASV:Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus that are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 I thank my God upon all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every supplication of mine on behalf of you all making my supplication with joy, 5 for your fellowship in furtherance of the gospel from the first day until now;

NAS: Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, 5 in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now.

 

COMMENTARY

1:1: douloi – slave (from dew = I bind). This can be used in the Hellenistic context as a slave who served his master, or in the O.T. sense of being the servant of the Lord (i.e. Moses) Maybe both (R&R, DFZ).

 

hagiois – saints. This is the covenant people – a term transferred from the O.T. Israelites were saints by virtue of their consecration to Jehovah (Ex. 19:6, Dt. 7:6, 14:2,21), not because of their moral behaviour, but because a person is so designated, implies moral behaviour as a duty/result (L., DFZ)

 

en Filippois – in Philippi – founded by Phillip of Macedonia. On the trade route between Rom and the East. Home of many retired Roman Soldiers -- actually Naval personnel (R&R DFZ).

 

sun – together with – implies a close fellowship of cooperation between saints, bishops, and deacons (R&R). This also indicated by the alternate reading sunepiskapoi.

 

episkopois – bishops/episcopals. Occurs 5 times in the N.T. and comes from “skopos” – “a watcher.” Liddell & Scott – “one who watches over” used 14 times in the Septuagint with the sense of “overseer” or “inspector.” Deissman notes it was a technical term for a holder of a religious office. Ignatias indicated in the early 2nd century church, that each church had a bishop, group of presbyters, and a group of deacons (Anglican/Episcopal setup). Lightfoot agrees that in Paul’s Epistles “bishop” and “presbyter” seem to be synonymous.

 

diakonois – deacons. Occurs 30 times in the N.T. Translated “minister,” “servant,” and “deacon.” In pre-Christian times, inscriptions used it to refer to an “attendant” or “official in a temple or religious guild (Earle).

 

1:2 charis … eirAnA – Grace & Peace – I count it is used 16 times in the N.T. By Paul 13 times (Ro. 1:7, 1Cor. 1:3, 2Cor. 1:2, Gal. 1:3, Eph. 1:2, Phil. 1:2, Col. 1:2, 1Thess. 1:1, 2Thess. 1:2, 1Tim. 1:2, 2Tim. 1:2, Tit.1:4, Philemon 3), by Peter 2 times (1Pet. 1:2, 2Pet. 1:2), by John 2 times (2Jo. 3, Rev. 1:4) Combination of a Greek blessing (“Grace”) and a Hebrew blessing (“Shalom/Peace”). Maybe coined by Paul, then used by others (DFZ).

 

1:3 eucharistO – I give thanks. Note the alternate reading which gives emphasis on the subject: “I MYSELF INDEED give thanks.” Note also it is in the Present tense: “I am CONTINUALLY giving thanks.”

 

epi pasAi tAi mneiai humOn – upon every remembrance of you. (What a loaded phrase!) The preposition gives it  the thought of “as often as I make mention of you.” The epi may also have some causal meaning – “I thank my God BECAUSE of your every remembrance of me” (R&R). The ‘umwn is “quite ambiguous” – it can be:

a)       Subjective: “whenever you remember me,”

b)      Or objective “whenever I think of you” (May be both.)

 

1:4 deAsei … deAsin – “prayer … prayer” Some translators render this “prayer … request” (KJV, NKJV), but the same word should be translated the same within the same sentence, as is done by NAS and RSV (DFZ).

 

1:5 epi tAi koinOniai – “in view of your participation” (NAS). 20 times in N.T. RSV & NIV render it “partnership,” but it is much more than “fellowship” or “partnership,” it has the connotation of “giving” to something in order for it to have a relationship and can sometimes be even translated “contribute.” I think this refers to the gift they had sent as well as their concern for and involvement in (by sending Epaphroditus) his ministry (R&R, DFZ). Lightfoot translates it “cooperation.”

 

“Bond-servants” – chosen to be servants because indebted to someone. God, I pray for two things:

1)      That someone could pray this for me

2)      That I could say I am praying this for someone else.

The truth is that both are already being done – Praise God! Lord Jesus, thank You so much for the people who pray for me. Listen to their prayers and bless not only myself but also them. Father, I thank You that You have put people in my life who have become strong Christians and have rubbed off on me and you’ve given me the grace to rub off on them. (NW 1987)

 

Syntactic-Logical Flow

1:1 Paul & Timothy

Slaves of Christ Jesus

            To all the saints in Christ Jesus

                                    Who are in Philippi – with the bishops & deacons

1:2 Grace to you and peace from

  1. God our Father
  2. and the Lord Jesus Christ

1:3 I thank my God

            (when) 1) upon every remembrance of you

                        2) Always in every supplication of mine on behalf of you all

                                                (manner) [making supplication with joy.]

1:5 For your participation in the gospel

(when) from the first day until now

 

TRUTH & APPLICATIONS

THEN: Paul greets the Philippian Christians with thanks as he remembers in prayer with joy their participation in the gospel.

NOW: We should greet fellow Christians who have participated in our ministry with thanks, having remembered them in prayer with joy.

 

  1. We are slaves of Jesus Christ, both in the sense of being His property and of being humbled begfore Him.
  2. As saints, we have been concecrated to the Lord, therefore we should showit in our lives.
  3. We should consider those who give their finances and time to the ministry to which we have been called as fellow participants. (No man is an island; there are no Lone Ranger Christians!)

 

 

Philippians 1:6-11
(Ron Kruis)

6 pepoithOs1 auto t