%VVT] as objective, viewed in the light of true moral relations. For
it is not properly Antmomianism that we are here to understand as
meant, which makes sin a virtue, and which would have been com-
bated in quite a different way ; still i] 66& shews that they sought
even their honour in that which the apostle stamps as ala^vvrj, which,
if it cannot be called Antinomianism properly, is only thus to be
explained, viz., that they abused a Christian truth by making it an
excuse for their moral laxity, similarly to what is said at Gal. v. 13,
seq. ; 1 Cor. vi. 12, seq. He concludes with the comprehensive
characteristic, who mind earthly things, in which he denotes the root
of this immorality of character, which leads to destruction. The
nominative, as exclamation. Mark xii. 38-40, comp. Winer's Gr.,
29, 2, p. 165 ; they who are earthly-minded !



442 PHILIPPIANS III. 20, 21.

Vers. 20, 21. The apostle has, in vers. 18 and 19 stated the
reasons why he exhorted his readers to become imitators of him, and
attentively to observe those who follow his example. With what
reason, however, he points to himself and to those like-minded with
him, he further shews really in vers. 20 and 21. I say really, since
formally ver. 20 certainly refers to verse 19, otherwise the apostle
would have written not yap but simply dt'. The connexion is, as
Winer, Gr., 53, 3, p. 403, has given it ; yap closely connects with
ol rd Imyeia typovovvrec;. For our conversation is in heaven (therefore
do I warn you against them and, we add, you have in us a right
example). 'H/^cDv accordingly refers to the foregoing ?y/*c, the ex-
amples mentioned at ver. 17. We now learn from what follows how
far their example is a true one ; for our TroAirev/m is in heaven, as
opposed to the TO imyeia faovelv. The antithesis to the disposition
denoted by the last words is properly another disposition of an oppo-
site nature, or a subjective characteristic generally ; with this, how-
ever, the objective interpretation of iro^irKv^ia as " community" will
not correspond. Therefore others, "conduct," in accordance with
the TTohreveodai, i. 27 ; against which Van Hengel has remarked
that we are not at liberty to take noMrevpa as identical with dvaa-
rpo^T/, that v-rrdpxei does not agree well with this interpretation, and
that according to it an o>f or some such word must be supplied ;
which I would be inclined rather to express thus that the rep-
resentation of the iv ovpavolg as present, does not correspond
with the immediately following t| ov in which it appears as some-
thing remote. Hence Van Hengel renders thus : nostra enim, quam
hie sequamur, vivendi ratio in ccelis est ; according to which, vivendi
ratio no longer signifies the conduct itself, but the law, and the
constitution agreeably to which one lives. Against this we cannot
urge v-ndpxEi, as Meyer maintains, since the present retains its sig-
nification ; but this view is not agreeable to our interpretation of
rjfitiv, which we understand as referring to the examples mentioned
ver. 17 ; for they are not examples in so far as they have in heaven
their vivendi ratio, which they ought to follow, but only in so far
as they really follow it. The translation, according to this view,
would be, "for our law and our constitution is in heaven," but
this presents us again with a purely objective characteristic, which
corresponds neither with the rvnoc nor with the antithesis to <j>povelv.
It seems, therefore, most advisable to return to the explanation first
adopted by Luther, namely, " citizenship." ItoMrevfia = rroAire/a,
Acts xxii. 28, a signification which connects itself closely enough
with TroXi-eveodai, i. 27, and satisfies all the demands of the con-
text. To this effect is the similar passage in Philo (comp. Van
Hengel. p. 260), where KV u> no^irevovrai is antithetically opposed
to tv o 7TapuK7)aav } and is thus explained, -narpida pev ruv ovpdviov



PHILIPPIANS III. 20, 21. 443

%>pov .... vo[j,iovoai. The word noXirevfia occurs only here,
while TToXiTtveadai is found besides i. 27 at Acts xxiii. 1. 'E ov in
what follows, is " unde," Winer's Gr., 22, 3, p. 128. The ai de-
notes the expectation as a state of mind corresponding to the char-
acter just described ; dTre/f&^o^tu ad finem usque perseveranter
exspecto, Bom. viii. 19 ; 1 Cor. i. 7, etc. SWTTJP designates the
Kvpiog 'I^crovf as the future Saviour. The salvation here meant is
that final redemption of which we read in Luke xxi. 28 ; Eom. viii.
23, and which in this very passage is more specially described in
ver. 21 as that final act of the Lord in which he will exalt his own
people from the life in the flesh to the fellowship of his glorified life
also in a bodily respect. Kvpiov, an apt appellation, both with ref-
erence to the foregoing -rroXirev^a, and also to what follows regarded
as the proof of his Kvpi6rr]g. Kender, " from whence we also expect
as the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ." Ver. 21 contains the hope
connected with the coming of the Lord peculiar to the Christian as
a citizen of heaven, and which must act as a motive leading him to
purify himself of all pollution of the flesh and of the spirit, comp. 2
Cor. vi. 17 vii. 1 ; it is the transformation of the body of his low
estate, so as to be similar to Christ's glorified body, a hope which is
founded on the power of the expected Kvptog. On fieraoxflpariaei,
comp. cr^jua ii. 8, and 2 Cor. xi. 13, 14 ; 1 Cor. iv. 6 ; the identity
of the body is denoted by the expression itself. The TT&S, with re-
spect to the dead is shewn, 1 Cor. xv. 35, seq., with respect to the
living, xv. 51-53. With a&iia rfjg raneivuaeug, comp. o&pa r^ djuap-
rias, Eom. vii. 24 ; it is the body belonging to our state of abase-
ment, in which that state represents itself. 'H^wv is to be connected
with raTTeivuatg, as afterwards avrov with <56t-a ; both are states to
which the body belongs, not merely circumlocutions for the adjective,
comp. Winer's Gr., 30, 2.

In the term rarreivcjaig, the idea of becoming lowly is not to be
urged ; comp. Luke i. 48 ; Jam. i. 10 ; nor is it to be associated, for
the sake of the antithetical reference to t%0pot rov aravpov, with the
TTad-rjuara rov Xpiorov, with oppression and persecution, as Meyer
thinks ; for it were an arbitrary limitation of ^Booi rov oravpov to
confine it to those only who would expose themselves to no such
troubles (see above), and again, because this interpretation does not
correspond with the antithesis in rairdvuotg T\[L&V and <Jo|a avrov.
That which we suffer for his sake is participation in his suffering,
not our raneivuois in opposition to Ms d6%a, comp. above ver. 10 ; 2
Cor. iii. 10 ; Gal. ii. 20, vi. 17. The body of our raTreivuais, in op-
position to the body of his 66^a, is rather the body in so far as it still
belongs to the flesh, the body of the flesh, Col. i. 22 ; the body of
death, Rom. vii. 24 ; or the natural body as opposed to the spiritual
body, 1 Cor. xv. 44. The words el$ TO yevsoOai avro are an interpo-



444 PHILIPPIANS IV. 1.

lation, the insertion of which is easily accounted for by the following
ovmj,op<f>ov. On the pregnant expression, neraoxrftiaTiaei ov^ipop^cv,
" he will transform it so as to be like in form," etc., in which avmiop-
fav indicates the result of the fteraa. see Winer's Gr., 66, 3. p. 550.
Tw ovfjMTt rrjs dofys avrov, as opposed to the body, rfjg raTreiv^aec^
"ni*>Vj needs no further explanation ; it is the ou^a TrvevfiariKov, the
attainment of which is the last aim of the hope of faith. Comp.
ver. 11 and 1 Cor. xv. 49. With this is attained, what at Rom. viii.
29 is described as that to which we are predestinated, av^op^ov^
-f)<; elicovos TOV vlov avrov. We learn from 2 Cor. iii. 18, in what
way the believer is already here below changed into the same image
from glory to glory; this change is connected with the condition of
beholding the glory of the Lord, with the operations of the Spirit
through the word, and even in its highest degree, does not rise
above the sphere of personal fellowship of faith ; on the other hand,
in the case before us, the body of the man will also experience the
transforming operation of the Spirit, and so the whole man will
be received into the fellowship of the spiritual life. This last
hope rests, however, as the apostle adds, on the power of the ex-
pected icvpiog. He will do it, through the efficacy of his power
also to subdue all things unto himself. With the expression Kara
rrjv evtpyeiav TOV dvvaadai avTOV, comp. Eph. iii. 7, K. r. t. r//f dvvd-
[teug, which means the same thing. Potentia arbor, efficacia fructus,
says Calvin on this passage ; for tvepyeia is efficacious power, actual
efficacy. The following nai t as forming a climax with peraryyiarfMtj
means " not that only, but also." With reference to the sentiment,
comp, 1 Cor. xv. 25, 26 ; Ps. ex. 1. viii. 6. The expression points
back to the prophecy contained in these passages of the Old Testa-
ment, the fulfilment of which we are to recognize in this exercise
of power on the part of the Lord Jesus Christ. His Kvpiorrjs will
then have reached its aim, but with this also its termination. God
will then be all in all, 1 Cor. xv. 28.

Chap. iv. 1. The apostle here concludes with a comprehensive
exhortation introduced by ware, as at ii. 12 ; 1 Cor. xv. 28. "ftcrre
introduces an inference from the immediately foregoing expectation ;
I am however inclined to consider the exhortation here given not
merely as connected with vers. 17-21, but with the whole preceding
section from iii. 1, just as at ii. 12 ; 1 Cor. xv. 28. For the words,
o stand fast in the Lord, may be regarded as applying, as well to
what the apostle has said against teaching, as to what he has said
against walking otherwise than he has inculcated, and in both cases
the apostle has suggested the same hope as the motive to a right
conduct, ver. 11, ver. 20, seq. As has been already remarked, this
conclusion corresponds with the commencement, rejoice in the Lord.
The love with which the apostle seeks to draw the church to a striv-



PHILIPPIANS IV. 2, 3. 445

ing and a conduct like his own, appears also here in the manner in
which he addresses it. With KnnToO-rjToi, which occurs only here,
comp. i. 8. Joy and crown, 1 Thess. ii. 19, where however the
designation is given with reference to the coming of Christ, inas-
much as then its truth and reality will appear. Here it refers to the
present, as at 1 Cor. ix. 2, 3. So standfast, not " as you now do,"
for this would contradict what goes before, but " as I have exhorted."
In tJie Lord, as i. 27 in one spirit, Christ as the element of their
spiritual life.

6. CONCLUDING EXHORTATIONS TO PARTICULAR INDIVIDUALS,
AND TO THE CHURCH AT LARGE. EXPRESSION OF THANKS.
SALUTATIONS.

(iv. 2-23.)

The series of exhortations that now follows (vers. 2-9), addressed
partly to particular individuals (2, 3), partly to the church at large
(4-9), is quite in the manner of the apostle (comp. 1 Cor. xvi. 13,
seq. ; 2 Cor. xiii. 11 ; Gal. v. 26, seq., etc.) Then follows (vers.
10-20) the expression of thanks for the contribution to his main-
tenance which they had transmitted, and which was the principal
occasion of his writing this epistle. Salutations and a benediction
form, as usual, the conclusion.

Vers. 2, 3. The apostle here first of all addresses to certain in-
uividuals the same word of counsel as at ii. 2 he has so earnestly
urged on all without exception, namely, that they be of the same
mind. And he gives charge to a third individual to be helpful to
them in this, while he acknowledges with praise the merit of these
persons in their efforts for the advancement of the gospel. Euodias
and Syntyche, to whom the exhortation to unity is addressed, are
otherwise unknown to us. Baur's suggestion (see the critical part
of the Introd.) that, on account of the exhortation to unity, two
parties rather than two persons are to be understood as meant,
must, in order to have even the semblance of truth, at least rest on
the appellative signification of the names, or on some such ground.
And is it to be said of the two parties, " they laboured with me in
the gospel with Clement also," etc. ? The Jewish, as also the Gen-
tile-Christian party in Philippi for so has Schwegler fully expressed
the idea of his predecessor have then assisted the apostle in his
labours, and besides, Clement and the rest of the fellow-labourers,
who were probably neither Jewish nor Gentile- Christians ; for they
could not have been strict Judaists who laboured with the apostle
in the gospel. Such an idea in connexion with this passage can be
entertained only by one who has already brought it along with him,
and even then it might be seen that it is here inapposite. We



446 PHILIPPIANS IV. 2, 3.

shall therefore have to rest contented with the common interpreta-
tion, that two women are here meant, such as had gained them-
selves credit in the work of spreading the gospel, of whom we have
specimens not merely in Priscilla, Rom. xvi. 3, but also in the
women named in Rom. xvi. 12, as we learn also from xvi, 1 that
there were deaconesses. I do not think, however, that we have
reason to suppose the persons here named to have been deaconesses,
partly because nothing is here said of their taking any parf in
church affairs, and also because what they are commended for with
respect to the past is, from the expression here used, to be consid-
ered as a work having an immediate reference to the propagation of
the gospel, which was not the business of the deacon as such. The
repetition of the Trapa/caAcS serves not merely ad vehementiarn affectus
significandam, but to denote that the exhortation is addressed to the
one as well as to the other. To avrb <fr>ovelv are the words used in
the exhortation addressed to the church at large, ii. 2, and it is na-
tural to suppose, with Schinz and De Wette, that the same motives
that are there stated as the ground of discord are here also to be un-
derstood. And this view is confirmed by ver. 3, where the apostle
acknowledges not merely their equal merit, but also that of all the
rest, which is only to be explained by the supposition that tho asser-
tion of these merits on the part of individuals themselves had given
occasion to strife. The words in the Lord, mark the unanimity here
enjoined as one founded on fellowship with the Lord. The apostle
beseeches a third person whom he addresses as av& ye yvqme to assist
in the work of bringing about unanimity, which is more easily
effected through the mediation of a third party. Nat (for this is the
true reading, not K<U) = "yea," as confirmation of the foregoing
counsel, " I beseech you also interest yourself in them, as those
who have laboured with me in the gospel" The expression av&yog,
properly " joined to the same yoke," hence " partner," " fellow-
labourer," occurs only here, though the figure from vyo? is common
in various applications. We find t-epo^vyeZv at 2 Cor. vi. 14. There
is therefore at least nothing surprising in the use of this otherwise
common word by the apostle. Bengel has already observed with
reason (comp. Bruckner, a. a. Q. p. 74), that the expression, gener-
ally by profane writers used of marriage, implies more and denotes
a closer relation than owepyog, and on this account might the apostle
select it in addressing the person here referred to. To the question
who the person is whom the apostle here addresses, all imaginable
answers have been given. It is the wife of the apostle say some,
misled by a false interpretation of 1 Cor. ix. 5, comp. 1 Cor. vii. 7,
or according to others, it is the husband of one of the women, and
so forth. Those opinions are alone worthy of notice which assume
the person addressed as either Epaphroditus, or a person set over the



PHILIPPIANS IV. 4-9. 447

church at Philippi, into whose hands the epistle was probably first
put, or that which treats avfyye as a proper name, the appellative
signification of which is indicated by yvrjoie, of the same nature aa
the play on the name Onesimus, which occurs at Philem. 11. There
is least to be said in favour of the first view ; for the apostle would
scarcely address by letter Epaphroditus, who was still with him, and
who is not included among those for whom the epistle was intended
(comp. also ii. 25-30). The second is the most probable, unless it be
thought preferable to take ov&ye as a proper name, a view which was
not unknown to Chrysostom, and has most recently been adopted by
Meyer. Van Hengel's objections to it are without weight. SvAAajU-
fidvov avralg, properly " to lay hold of with the hand," hence "to be
helpful to," namely, to the promotion of the avro Qpovelv ; so Luke
v. 7. AiTiveg render " ut quae," " as those who," intended to serve
as a recommendation of them. Zw^&Kijaav as at i. 27. 'Ev rw evayy.
as the object of their exertion. With Clement also, etc. It was all
the more necessary to acknowledge the merit of all, as an unbecom-
ing assertion and display of their own merits on the part of indi-
viduals had been the cause of dissension. There can be no doubt
that perd is to be connected with ovvrjdkrjaav, for not only is this con-
nexion grammatically the most proper, while it brings out clearly
the aim of this clause, but also because the idea that would other-
wise be brought out would be a strange one, namely, that besides
the person designated as ov&yog, all the rest of the apostle's fellow-
labourers are to be helpful to those women in restoring unity, a sense
which would also, as Meyer observes, make it difficult to explain
why the apostle adds the words, ivhose names are in the book of life.
That this Clement was a Philippian, or rather is here represented as
a person dwelling in Philippi, cannot be questioned. Therefore all
those conclusions fall of themselves to the ground, which Baur has
drawn from the mention of Clemens in this passage, even on the
supposition most favourable to his view, that this Clemens was the
same person as Clemens Romanus, since he is not here mentioned
as such. Comp. further the critical Introd. Whose names are, etc.,
a familiar expression denoting the certainty of their future blessed-
ness, comp. on Luke x. 20 ; Rev. xiii. 8, xvii. 8 ; Exod. xxxii. 32 ;
Is. iv. 3 ; Ezek. xiii. 9 ; Ps. Ixix. 28 ; Dan. xii. 1.

Vers. 4-9. The apostle now again addresses the church at
large. Again, he strikes the key note of the epistle, calling upon
them all to rejoice, and with this the special exhortations that fol-
low (on till ver. 7) stand in close connexion. These exhortations
are summarily contained in a concluding one in vers. 8, 9. Rejoice
in the Lord, iii. 1. Again I say he cannot say this often and em-
phatically enough ; indeed he has included all his exhortations in
this word rejoice; comp. our remarks on i. 27 ; ii. 17, 18 ; iii. 1.



448 PHILIPPIANS IV. 4-9.

Ver. 5, TO meiKe$ used substantively = emeiKia does not mean "be-
coming conduct," nor " modesty," but according to constant usage
in the New Testament = lenitas, " gentleness," pliability, comp.
Acts xxiv. 4 ; 2 Cor. x. 1 ; 1 Tim. iii. 3 ; Tit. iii. 2 (in the last two
passages it stands beside dfiaxog) ; Jam. iii. 17 (beside dprjviKT^ ;
1 Pet. ii. 18. Unto all men: Meyer well explains "let no man
come to know anything different of you experience in you any-
thing of an opposite character." Such gentleness is the fruit of
joy ; the exhortation, however, has doubtless reference to the pecu-
liar state of the church ; and we may with safety connect it with
the tptdti'a which he finds fault with in them, 2, 3, only that here,
gentleness and a yielding disposition are enjoined upon them, not
merely in regard to their intercourse one with another, but generally.
The words, the Lord is nigh, are not to be connected with what
follows (as vere. 6 and 7 contain no further allusion to this hope
of the second coming), but, as is also most natural in itself, with
what goes before. The internal connexion is obvious ; namely,
what can dispose to gentleness more than the thought that the Lord
is nigh, whose gentleness we desire to experience in ourselves ?
That 6 Kvptos does not denote God, but Christ, is evident from the
common use of the expression in the epistles, comp. Winer's Gr.,
19, 1, p. 113, and the outline there given on this subject. Nor are
the words to be understood of the " assisting presence of God," Ps.
cxlv. 18 : for if tyyv? is to be so explained, it must be understood of
Christ being thus present, which is contradicted by the words of
iii. 20, dneictiexofieOa xvpiov, and by the following ?rpo<: rbv BKOV.
Against this is also the independent position of the 6 Kvpio$ eyyvf.
Quite differently, Ps. xxxiv. 18, and cxlv. 18. 'Eyyuf, with respect
to time, as Rom. xiii. 11 ; Rev. i. 3, xxii. 10. The passages i. 6, 23,
ii. 16, iii. 11, 20, iv. 5, mutually supplement one another, and shew
that the apostle conceives of the day of the coming of Christ as
nigh, even although he does not confidently hope that he himself
will live to witness it. Olshausen has also acknowledged the inter-
pretation here given as the right one, and refers to 1 Pet. iv. 7 ;
1 John ii. 18 ; Jam. v. 8.

This hope of the coming of Christ as nigh rests on the words of
Christ himself. Matth. xvi. 28 ; Mark ix. 1. Nor has this hope
been falsified, if we are right in regarding the destruction of Jeru-
salem as the beginning of the judgment ; comp. on this, Hoffmann's
excellent investigation of the prophecy in Matth. ch. xxiv. and its
fulfilment. Nordl. 1841, ii. p. 274, seq. The injunction, be careful
for nothing, is connected with the %cpre, as that which is to allay
what might disturb this joy. Mrjdtv is the accusative of the object,
" about nothing," the antithesis is in the following t-v rcavri. This
injunction does not forbid active exertion, ii. 20, but fainthearted-



PHILIPPIANS IV. 4-9. 449

ness arising from the consciousness of one's own inability, and the
want of trust in the help of God. Such care is not to be got rid of
by contemplating our own power (on the contrary we ought ever to
grow in the knowledge of our own insufficiency), but only by a con-
fidential committal of ourselves to him who carethfor us, 1 Pet. v.
7. And this trust is to express itself in prayer, in which the heart
always anew unburdens itself of that which may become a care to
it, or has already become so. Therefore the apostle goes on to say,
but in everything, etc. 'Ev rravrt, " in everything" (Eph. v. 24, and
vi. 18), as opposed to those who seek help of the Lord only in the
season of difficulty ; the true Christian knows his need of this help
in everything, and seeks it. Tg irpoaevxq ical rq derjaei, the repetition
of the article shews that the two terms are independent of each
other (Winer's Gr., 19, 3, p. 115); the distinction between them
is, that the former denotes the form, the latter the import; the
former, prayer generally, the latter, supplication. Comp. Olshausen
on Eph. vi. 18, and Harless, who rightly observes, " derjaig, is en-
treaty, npoasv^TJ, prayer; i. e., Trpoaev^ij has, from use, been invested
with the idea of a res sacra, ftfyais not." In everything, then, says
the apostle, by corresponding prayer and supplication with thanks-
giving, make your desires known unto God. Their desires are to be
expressed, for only then will the heart be unburdened, and they are to
be expressed with thanksgiving; the prayer for new supplies of
grace is always to be connected with thanksgiving for those already
received. We have an example of such a prayer in that of Jacob,
Gen. xxviii. 10. At the same time, the expression of the desires of
the heart has a purifying effect on them, which every praying person
experiences in himself. It strips him of what is selfish in those de-
sires. Alrijuara cannot mean here, requests as expressed, as Luke
xxiii. 24 ; 1 John v. 15, but what you have to ask, desideria vestra.
The Trpdf in -npbg rbv 6e6v denotes the direction, u towards God." In
ver. 7 we have the result of such prayer, in which the heart commits
its requests to the Lord ; it is the peace of God which the heart of
the suppliant receives. The expositor finds it difficult to give an
explanation of words such as those of ver. 7. Their beauty lies in
the impression which they produce as a whole, and which rightly
affects every susceptible mind according to its individual tone of
feeling. The peace of God here is not the same as peace with God,
Rom. v. 1, and to be understood of the peace of reconciliation, nor