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Introduction (1–11). An image of the position in which the Apostle is in Rome (12–26). An exhortation to the readers to be steadfast in the fight for the faith (27-30). Phil.1:1. Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with bishops and deacons: After greetings (1-2), the Apostle says that he cannot remember the Philippians without a feeling of gratitude to God, since they always showed their ardent participation in the work of spreading the Gospel. At the same time, the Apostle expresses the desire for the Philippian church to move further and further along the path of perfection. Paul, as in the rest of the letters written from the first Roman bonds (Phil 1; Col 1:1), sends greetings to the readers not only from himself, but also from his disciple, Timothy. This is explained here by the fact that Timothy was especially close to the Philippians. He, together with Paul, founded the church and Philippi (Acts 16:12 et seq.), and then spent a long time among the Macedonian Christians (Acts 19:22; 1 Cor 16:10; 2 Cor 1:1). Paul, moreover, intended to send Timothy once again to Philippi (Phil. 2:19). - “Slaves of Jesus Christ”. The apostle does not call himself an apostle here, because in Philippi no one disputed his high apostolic dignity. The title “slave” does not in the least detract from his dignity, because it denotes his determination to devote his entire life to serving Christ (Col. 4:12). - To all the saints in Christ. The apostle does not address the Philippians as a “church,” but as individuals, to show that he treats each of them with special cordiality. – “Holy” is the name of Christians (cf. 1 Cor 1:2). - “With bishops and deacons.” Only in this letter do we find special mention in the greeting of bishops and deacons. The reason for this was undoubtedly that the main purpose of the letter was to express gratitude for the benefits that the Apostle received from the Philippian church (Phil. 2:25 et seq.; Phil. 4:10 et seq.). Meanwhile, who participated more in collecting these benefits if not bishops and deacons? Naturally, the Apostle considered it necessary to mention them separately. But who do we mean by “bishops” here? Of course, not only bishops in our modern sense of the word, because in the small Philippian church there was hardly a need for several persons of the episcopal rank. It is likely that by “bishops” here we mean both the bishop and the elders, who in the Apostolic Age were undoubtedly sometimes called bishops (see, for example, Titus 1:5 and Titus 1:7). This idea is also expressed by St. John Chrysostom, as well as Blessed. Theodoret and others. Phil.1:2. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Phil.1:3. I thank my God whenever I remember you, As was his custom (except for the letter to the Galatians), the Apostle begins the letter with gratitude to God. He always thanks God as soon as he remembers the Philippians: this memory of them is so pleasant to him, they make his heart so happy! Phil.1:4. always offering my prayer with joy in every prayer for you all, When he performs his usual prayer, he does not forget to pray for the Philippians and performs this prayer with a feeling of joy. Phil.1:5. for your participation in the gospel from the first day even until now, The reason for this joy is that the Philippians, from the very first day when the Apostle and his companions appeared to them as a preacher of the Gospel, and to this day continue to show the most ardent and active sympathy for the cause of the Gospel preaching. They, so to speak, became missionaries themselves, and, in addition, by donating to the mission they contribute a lot to its success. Phil.1:6. being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ, With this prayer, the Apostle’s gaze is also directed to the future. In the future, he foresees further improvement of the Philippians in their chosen high feat. The Apostle's confidence is based on the fact that God Himself put them on this path and maintains their fidelity to the Gospel. But God undoubtedly does not leave His work unfinished: He will give the Philippians the strength to achieve, to live until the second appearance of Christ (“the day of Jesus Christ” see 1 Cor 1:8) in the same good and even better condition. Phil.1:7. just as I should think about you all, because I have you in my heart in my bonds, in the defense and establishment of the gospel, all of you as my partners in grace. Phil.1:8. God is my witness that I love you all with the love of Jesus Christ; This confidence in the Apostle is further supported by the fact that the Apostle cannot imagine them (“in his heart”) otherwise than as his partners in “that grace” that God sent him. And this “grace” or the gracious gift of God constitutes his bond, his appearance before the Roman authorities as a defender of the Gospel (thus, we put the expression “in my bonds, in the defense and establishment of the gospel” after the word “in grace”: those words explain what the Apostle understands by “grace”) - “God is a witness ...” The Apostle adds these words in order to show that he did not say too much when he said that has all the Philippians in his heart - “by the love of Jesus Christ” - more precisely: “by the womb” (inner feelings - σπλάγχνα) of Christ, with whom the Apostle is in close communion (cf. Gal. 2:20). Such love is strong, selfless and unchanging and extends to the readiness to lay down one’s life for friends. Phil.1:9. and I pray that your love may increase even more and more in knowledge and every feeling, Thanksgiving here, as in other epistles, turns into a prayerful intercession for the readers. The apostle, with the greatest gentleness, points out to his readers what they still lack. Out of love, he desires greater “knowledge of I” or, more precisely, greater consciousness (έπίγνοσης) and “feelings of a,” i.e., greater moral tact (αίσθήσεις), so that they do not turn it on the unworthy, do not do it with some kind of indifferent condescension equally to everyone without exception 4 . Phil.1:10. so that, knowing what is best, you may be pure and without stumbling in the day of Christ, Thanks to these properties of love, the Philippians will appear pure (of heart) and unstumbling at the judgment of Christ, that is, in terms of their behavior they will not be tempting to anyone (άπρόσκοποι). Phil.1:11. filled with the fruits of righteousness through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. But the final goal of the Christian’s activity and the desires of the Apostle is the glory of God. If, in fact, God recognizes Christians as pure at the trial, then the result of this will ultimately be the glorification of God Himself, who sent Christ to people, who gave them the strength to do works of righteousness. Thus the Apostle takes away from his readers any reason to doubt. Phil.1:12. I want you, brothers, to know that my circumstances contributed to the greater success of the gospel, Turning now to the depiction of his situation, about which the Philippians, of course, were greatly worried, the Apostle reassures them with the fact that the cause of the Gospel did not suffer in the least from the fact that the Apostle was in chains. Firstly, the soldiers guarding Paul were convinced from conversations with him that he was not imprisoned for a political crime, and then the Roman Christians, seeing that the Apostle himself could not preach the Gospel, began to do this work themselves. True, some of the Apostle’s envious people began to attract the newly converted Romans to their side, but this does not bother the Apostle, since the name of Christ is still proclaimed in Rome. As for his future fate, it does not frighten him. If he has to suffer for Christ, he is glad of it. If he stays alive, he will be satisfied with this too, because he will still work for the benefit of Christians. At the same time, he says with confidence that this time his business will end happily and he will see the Philippians again. Phil.1:13. so that my bonds in Christ became known to the whole praetorium and to everyone else, The Philippians, apparently, informed the Apostle that they were oppressed by the thought that the imprisonment of the Apostle in bonds would not harm the work of preaching and the Apostle himself. The Apostle, in response to this request, says that, on the contrary, his conclusion only improved the work of preaching. The first thing he considers necessary to point out is the change in the view of the Apostle among those who touched him. First of all, “in the Praetorium,” that is, among the Praetorian soldiers (thus, we, together with P. Ewald, understand the expression το πραιτώριον not as a designation of the place where the Praetorian soldiers lived, but as a designation of this Praetorian detachment itself), who took turns guarding the prisoner, it became known that this was a prisoner for Christ (the expression “About Christ” It’s more natural to connect it with the expression “became famous”). In addition, “and all the others” who entered into a relationship with the Apostle, that is, various officials, were also convinced that Paul was not at all some kind of political or criminal criminal. Phil.1:14. and most of the brothers in the Lord, encouraged by my bonds, began to preach the word of God with greater boldness and fearlessness. Paul's bonds, which showed that he was deeply confident in the truth of the gospel, led some other Christians to boldly take up the work of preaching. Phil.1:15. Some, however, out of envy and strife, while others preach Christ with a good disposition. Phil.1:16. Some, out of selfish strife, do not preach Christ purely, thinking to increase the severity of my bonds; Phil.1:17. and others out of love, knowing that I am appointed to defend the gospel. Among these brother-preachers, some took up preaching not at all with good intentions and not from pure motives. There were people who were jealous of Paul's success as a preacher, and now, motivated by "controversy" or the desire to become famous and at the same time wanting to cause grief to Paul, whom they considered like themselves, they began to recruit disciples for themselves. They thus acted “uncleanly,” not out of true love for the cause of the Gospel. All the more, the Apostle was consoled by those preachers who acted solely out of love for both the Apostle and his cause in general, the cause of saving the pagans. Phil.1:18. But what about that? No matter how they preach Christ, feignedly or sincerely, I rejoice and will rejoice, The Apostle nevertheless rejoices that the Gospel is spreading: after all, his enemies - the enemies of Paul, and not of Christ - preached the real, genuine Gospel, and the name of Christ became more and more famous. 5 Phil.1:19. for I know that this will serve me for salvation through your prayer and the assistance of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, But not only regarding the Gospel the Apostle is calm: he is not yet afraid for his own fate. It is more correct to translate this verse: “For I know: “what will help me to salvation” (Job 13:16) through your prayer and through the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” The Apostle speaks, obviously, about the revelation that was to him (“I know”) and about his penetrating confidence in his liberation. Phil.1:20. with my confidence and hope that I will not be put to shame in anything, but with all boldness, and now, as always, Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or death. But the good outcome that the apostle foresees corresponds to his “confidence” or more precisely: “his intense expectation” (άπο καραδοκία Rom. 8:19) and his hope that he will not be put to shame in anything, but that “in all boldness”, more precisely “in every bold open act” ( παρρησία cf. Col. 2:15), Christ Himself will be magnified in the body of the Apostle. In other words: God will magnify Christ openly, using the body of the Apostle for this, forcing him to serve his body - his death or miraculous unexpected preservation - to the glory of Christ; one or another outcome awaits the Apostle - in any case, he hopes that this outcome will not be a shame for him, but, on the contrary, glorification. Phil.1:21. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. The Apostle said that even death for Christ corresponds to his inner sincere desire (“my hope” - ελπίδα μου Phil.1:20). Now he explains this position. Therefore, he is not afraid of death, because through it he will receive new true life (το ζην), life with Christ, Who is Himself life for the Apostle (cf. Gal. 2:20). Phil.1:22. If life in the flesh brings fruit to my work, then I don’t know what to choose. Phil.1:23. I am attracted by both: I have a desire to be resolved and to be with Christ, because this is incomparably better; Phil.1:24. but remaining in the flesh is more necessary for you. Living in the body, the Apostle, of course, will do a lot to spread Christianity (“fruit to my work”), and he is not averse to doing more work. But actually, he personally finds it more gratifying to be separated from this life (“to be resolved”), although again he cannot forget the believers, who, of course, long to have the Apostle among them. Phil.1:25. And I know for sure that I will stay and be with you all for your success and joy in faith, Phil.1:26. so that your praise in Christ Jesus may increase through me when I come again to you. The apostle expresses confidence, based on exact knowledge (“and I truly know”) that at this time he is not in danger of death. He will remain alive and see the readers of the message (“I will remain” - παραμένω, according to the interpretation of John Chrysostom, has exactly this meaning). By being in fellowship with the Apostle, the Philippians will become more and more perfect in their faith and rejoice in it (“for your success and joy in faith”). And the consequence of this will be that they will have the right to receive praise in abundant form “through Jesus and Christ” or, in fact, in Jesus Christ (έν X. I). With his last words the apostle wants to indicate what the praise of the readers should be. This is truly Christian praise, not like ordinary human self-praise. By adding that this praise should be multiplied through him ("through me" - έν έμοί), the Apostle puts himself in the position of an instrument and a necessary instrument, through which this praise should be multiplied. He himself, his destiny, becomes the subject of praise among the Philippians. “This is what our teacher is like – Pavel!” - they say, hearing about what is happening to the Apostle... In particular, they will boast and triumph when Paul appears among them again, freed from his prison (“at my second coming to you”). Phil.1:27. Just live worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or not, I hear about you that you stand in one spirit, striving with one accord for the faith of the Gospel, But the faith of the Philippians will have these favorable results only if they, the readers, behave worthy of their Christian calling and unanimously strive against the enemies of the Gospel. “Live” - πολιτεύεσθε, that is, live as citizens of the new kingdom, the new society of Christ. – “Worthy of the Gospel” (in Russian: “good news”). Here the Gospel is depicted as a mirror of new legislation, containing well-known laws and customs... - “Shall I come”... The Apostle does not doubt his release, but fears that circumstances will detain him somewhere after his release and he will not be able to visit his readers. – “Stand in one spirit,” that is, you maintain the unity of mood (“spirit” here means the human spirit, since it is further paralleled by “soul” - μία ψυχή - in Russian: “unanimous”). - “Striving” - συναθλοΰντες, i.e. striving together with me (άθλοΰν to work and fight) for faith (as a religious principle), which is based on the Gospel. Phil.1:28. and do not be afraid of your opponents in anything: this is a sign of destruction for them, but for you of salvation. And this is from God, “Opponents”, i.e. opponents of the Christian faith - unbelieving pagans and Jews. - “This”, i.e. the fact that you are not afraid of your opponents. - “Destruction and salvation” - here are meant as final, eternal (cf. 2 Thess. 1:5-10). - “And this is from God.” And the fear of enemies, which the firmness of Christians produces in them, and the salvation of Christians are all from God. It is more natural, however, to relate this addition only to the expression “and for you - salvation.” Phil.1:29. because it has been given to you for the sake of Christ not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him. In order to instill greater courage in the readers, the Apostle says that they should consider it a matter of God’s special mercy that they are called not only to maintain faith in Christ, but also to suffer for Him. Phil.1:30. the same feat that you saw in me and now hear about me. They should be even more encouraged by the knowledge that they are struggling in one common deed with their teacher, Paul. They themselves already know about his feats for the faith (“saw” - more precisely: you know - εΐδετε), since the Apostle had already accomplished such a feat in their city (Acts 16:22), and, in addition, they hear from Christians who came to them from Rome. By “feelings,” according to Mayer, one can also mean spiritual experience, an experimental familiarization with the matter, similar to that which we receive when we try the fruit that is offered to us. We already know by appearance what kind of fruit it is, but we only know its real taste by trying it. Such experience is higher than knowledge, because the latter extends more to the shape, appearance, color of objects, and experience gives us knowledge about the essence of a thing. The love that the Apostle speaks of here must not only be known, but also experienced. And since knowledge can be an independent task of a person, and experience is given from God - God allows us to experience His love, communicating it to us - then the Apostle considers it necessary to pray to God not only to impart to the Philippians the knowledge of love, but also to become even more experienced with it. For the latter, prayer to God is most necessary. Some of the modern theologians build an amazing theory of preaching on this. According to their view, which they try to substantiate in verse 18, the personality of the preacher of the Gospel is not important for the success of his preaching. It may be that the preacher himself does not believe in what he says, but his sermon will still be a success, and even one that is much greater than the success of a believing preacher: God Himself, through His Spirit, acts on the listeners... It is impossible to agree with such a view (which Mayer also holds), because the matter of human salvation becomes in this case completely mechanical. And then, why then would Christ begin to “choose” the preachers of the apostles? Wouldn't it be better to take the first ones available for this? You might be interested in: