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An exhortation to unanimity and humility and an example of the latter is the Lord Jesus Christ (1–18). About the supposed departure of Timothy to Philippi and the return of Epaphroditus to the Philippians (19–30). Phil.2:1. So, if there is any consolation in Christ, if there is any joy of love, if there is any fellowship of the spirit, if there is any mercy and compassion, The Apostle, at the end of the previous chapter, spoke about what the Philippians should be, and now indicates the means by which they can fulfill the desire of the Apostle. It is they who need to have like-mindedness for this, which in turn is necessarily conditioned by humility. To explain what the Apostle understands by humility, he points to the Lord Jesus Christ, Who showed the highest degree of humility in His humiliation for the good of mankind. Having then pointed out that for His humility the Lord Jesus Christ was exalted by God, the Apostle invites the Philippians to act with special caution in achieving their salvation and not to fall into doubt. The section ends with heartfelt praise of the firmness that the readers of the epistle show in preserving the Gospel. Phil.2:2. then complete my joy: have the same thoughts, have the same love, be unanimous and like-minded; The Philippians already have various virtues. “Consolation in Christ” is more correct: “exhortation, fraternal mutual admonition - such as Christ taught” (παράκλησις έν Χριστω). – “The joy of love” – more precisely: the consolation that comes from the feeling of love. - “Communion of the Spirit - cf. Phil.1:27. – “Mercy” – i.e. a kind heart (σπλάγχνα). – “Compassion”, – i.e., individual manifestations of love (οίκτιρμοί – cf. Rom. 12:1). - If readers have such virtues - and they actually do (such a thought needs to be inserted here) - then this pleases the Apostle. But his joy will be complete only when the readers have complete unanimity among themselves, and not only in relation to faith (“the same thoughts”), but also in relation to love (“the same love”). – “Unanimous and of one mind” is a strengthened designation of internal unity. Phil.2:3. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vanity, but out of humility, consider each other better than yourselves. Phil.2:4. Not only does everyone care about himself, but everyone also cares about others. To achieve complete unity in thoughts and love, it is necessary to renounce “ambitiousness”, that is, from the tendency to act for personal gain (εριθεία) and from “vanity” or empty boasting (κενοδοξία). - “Recognize each other as superior to yourselves.” This shows humility. But would it be fair in any case to humiliate oneself in front of others? Perhaps I am actually higher in merit than my neighbor? The Apostle’s call must be understood, of course, in the sense that each of us should always think of ourselves this way: “I have not fulfilled my task, I have not fulfilled all the possibilities contained in my nature. If I did more than the other, then perhaps I had more outside incentives for this and I, perhaps, could do much more than the other who accomplished everything that he had the strength to do.” - “But each one is about others too.” The Apostle speaks here not against a person’s love for himself, but against narrow egoism, which, because of its own interests, does not want to see the needs of its neighbor at all. Phil.2:5. For let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: According to the latest research, the “for particle” (γάρ) is an insertion here (Ewald, p. 102). In this case, we must assume that from verse 5 the speech begins about imitation of Christ. “The readers,” says the Apostle, “should have the same feelings, or, better, the same mood (φρονείσθω έν ΰμΐν), which was in Jesus Christ.” And what mood Christ discovered - the Apostle speaks about this further, in the next relative clause 6. Phil.2:6. He, being the image of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God; "He being the image of God". There was a lot of debate about which Christ the Apostle had in mind here—the one who pre-existed before His incarnation, the Son of God who had not yet taken on human flesh, or the Son of God who had already become incarnate. The first interpretation belongs to almost all of Christian antiquity and most of the new interpreters, the second to Novatian, Ambrose and Pelagius, and then to Erasmus, Luther, Calvin, and among the new ones, Derner, Philip and Richl, Prof. Glubokovsky (cf. The Good News of St. Apostle Paul, vol. 2, p. 287). The image of God (μορφή Θεοΰ), according to the latest interpretation, will denote the divine greatness, power and authority that Christ possessed while on earth, although he usually did not reveal it. But it is difficult to agree with such an interpretation. After all, an image (μορφή) is in any case something that can be seen by everyone and under all circumstances. And according to the interpretation under consideration, Christ usually did not allow His Divine power to be seen. Even more decisively against such an understanding is the word that follows (Phil. 2:7) “despised” - έκένωσεν, which cannot mean: “did not use, did not apply to the matter, hid,” but speaks of real devastation and deprivation. Therefore, it is more correct to understand this expression: “being the image or in the image of God” as speaking about the state of Christ before His incarnation, and the subject “He” (ός) will, however, designate not only the pre-existing Christ, but also Christ in the state of incarnation - a person who remained essentially the same both in the state of pre-existence and in the state of incarnation 7. – As for the term “image” itself, μορφή, in contrast to σχήμα (v. 7), it often always means something inherent in the subject by its nature, arising from the very nature of the subject (cf. Rom 8:29; Phil 3:10; Gal 4:19). So here, μορφή can designate a form of existence in which divine being finds adequate expression, so that from this form one can draw a conclusion about the nature of the subject 8. – Finally, the expression “being” υπάρχων is stronger than the simple ών (from είναι - to be) indicates the reality of being, although it also gives a hint that this being in greatness was temporary and could cease. - “I did not consider it robbery to be equal with God” - ούχ άρπαγμόν ήγήσατο τό εΐναι. For some reason the Russian translation understands the verb ήγήσατο as in the past. nesov. time, and yet here an aorist is placed, meaning a past action, quickly ended, a one-time act. It is therefore better to translate this verb with the expression: “did not consider.” – “Theft” – άρπαγμός. Russian translators give this word an active meaning: “theft” is an act or action. But in this case, the Russian translation is completely incomprehensible. What does it mean: to honor or consider it robbery a being equal to God? After all, the word “theft” denotes an action, and “being equal with God” denotes a state. Can an action be considered a state? It is likely that the translators used the word “theft” instead of the word “stolen.” In this case, when by άρπαγμός we understand “stolen” or, more correctly, what should be stolen, the meaning of the entire expression will become completely clear to us. The Apostle wants to say that the Son of God, who from eternity had the image of God or the glory and greatness of God, before His incarnation did not consider it necessary forcibly, contrary to the predestination of the Divine Council for the salvation of people, to reserve for Himself an existence equal to God or, in fact, the form of existence that He had from eternity as the true God. By “being equal with God” we mean precisely the state in which God is, and not the nature of God, because no one, not even God, can free himself from his nature. Phil.2:7. but he made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, becoming in the likeness of men, and becoming in appearance like a man; “But he humbled himself” - more precisely: he devastated (έκένωσεν), deprived himself voluntarily of that divine glory and power to which he had every right even in the state of incarnation. - “Taking on the form of a slave.” The in itself indefinite concept “he made himself of no reputation” receives sufficient certainty through this addition. The Lord Jesus Christ does not view His divine form of existence as a treasure that He has just found and to which He needs to hold tightly, but frees Himself from it, taking instead of the previous form of existence a new form - the existence of a slave. Whose servant Christ became is not said. The only important thing is that He became a slave, that from a state of complete freedom and independence He entered into a position of subordination (cf. 2 Cor 8:9). – Here the expression “image of a slave” denotes only the slave form of existence, because slave nature does not exist: only a slave state or position exists. It is clear that the Apostle here did not mean to speak about the incarnation of the Son of God (then he would simply say “took on the form of a man”), but about His self-abasement, however, about real self-abasement, and not apparent. He appeared only after His resurrection in “another form” corresponding to His glorification, but before the resurrection he lived as a slave, and not as a Lord (cf. Mark 10 and Matthew 28:18). The Apostle thus points out to the readers that the path to the glorification they expected lies through self-abasement and that they not only should not appropriate to themselves greatness that does not belong to them, but also refuse, in order to achieve their salvation, what belongs to them. This is exactly what Christ did, Who refused to manifest on earth the glory that belonged to Him as God. He thus corrected the offense of Adam, who wanted to be god (Gen. 3:5) 9. - “Having become like men.” The Apostle said about Christ that He became a slave. But in Holy Scripture the angels of God are also introduced as “servants” (Heb. 1:14). The Apostle therefore wants to say definitely what type of slavery Christ accepted, and says that He took on the nature not of an angel, but of a man. Using the expression “in the likeness of man” (έν όμοιώματι άνθρ.), the Apostle thereby makes it clear that Christ was only “like” people, but in reality was not identical with them, since He had no hereditary sin, and at the same time He remained the Son of God in the flesh (cf. Rom 1:3; Gal 4:4) - “And in appearance he became like a man.” Here the Apostle refers to the external appearance (σχήμα) of Christ - His habits, gestures, speech, actions and even clothing. In the eyes of everyone who met Him, He was an ordinary man - a humble rabbi... Phil.2:8. He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even to the point of death, even death on the cross. Christ, having become incarnate, could have lived peacefully, as the rabbis lived. But He humiliated Himself and suffered various hardships and insults. These sufferings ended for Him with a terrible and shameful death on the cross, on which He was hanged as a criminal. Phil.2:9. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and given Him the name that is above every name, Now the Apostle points to the exaltation of Christ after death as a special incentive for readers to follow the same path of hardship that Christ walked. By the “exaltation” of Christ we must understand not only the spatial elevation of Christ from the earthly region to heaven, but also, so to speak, His qualitative elevation. According to St. Athanasius Alex., here you can see an indication of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (Athan., word 1). - “And he gave Him the name” ..., that is, the name “Lord” (cf. Phil. 2:11). This name, of course, shows the supreme position of Christ in relation to everything that exists: He is the lord or ruler of the universe. Phil.2:10. that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, Phil.2:11. and every tongue confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. So that in the name of Jesus. Wed. Acts 4:12. Jesus Christ is the mediator between God and people, and in His name or thanks to Him, man bows or bows his knees, seeing in Him the true God. But not only people, but also beings who are “in heaven,” i.e., angels, and those living in “underworld,” i.e., demons, must recognize the power of Christ. However, one can also include glorified believers among the “heavenly”, and dead sinners among the “hell”. - “And every language,” that is, all rational beings of different spheres - earthly, heavenly and underworld. - “For the glory of God the Father.” The Apostle in other epistles (eg Eph 1:6, 12; Rom 15:9) presents the ultimate goal of everything as glorifying God. – Thus, the Apostle inspired the readers that if they, as Christians, dream of achieving glorification, which the Lord Jesus Christ spoke about, for example, to the apostles before His death (Luke 22:29, 30), then they should, following the example of their Lord, go to this through self-abasement and think no longer about their own glory, but about the glory of God the Father. Phil.2:12. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, The Apostle, from the brief history of Christ the Savior, Who precisely through self-denial and suffering reached the goal that He set for Himself, concludes that the Philippians must approach the matter of their own salvation - which here must be understood in the sense of an act taking place in the soul of a person - with fear and trembling before God, using on their part all the power of self-sacrifice. This on their part, that is, fear and trembling before God, is especially necessary at the present time, when the Apostle Paul is not with them, who previously instilled courage in them by his very presence among the Philippians. Phil.2:13. because God works in you both to will and to do according to His good pleasure. The Philippians should not be exalted in their thoughts, because God, and not they, is the one who actually acts in the matter of their salvation: He Himself creates in them a disposition for a good deed, and gives them strength to realize good aspirations. In everything, in a word, He acts according to His good pleasure, and not according to man’s merits. “This passage speaks, on the one hand, against Pelagianism, and on the other hand, through its connection with the 12th verse, it clearly shows how far the Apostle is from the doctrine of the compulsory action of God’s grace on the human will. The Apostle here says that the grace of God accomplishes the salvation of a person not without his participation” (Nazarevsky, p. 93) 10. Phil.2:14. Do everything without grumbling or doubting, The Philippians, in the work of their salvation, must avoid murmuring and doubting about what God tells them to do. The doubter, moreover, obviously looks too low at himself, and this should not be in a person redeemed by Christ. Phil.2:15. that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without blemish among a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world, Phil.2:16. containing the word of life, to my praise in the day of Christ, that I did not run in vain and did not labor in vain. Phil.2:17. But if I become a sacrifice for the sacrifice and service of your faith, then I rejoice and rejoice with all of you. Phil.2:18. In this very thing you too rejoice and rejoice with me. The goal that Christians should have in mind when walking the path of self-denial is to become innocent before the judgment of God and free from the stains of sin (ιάκέραιοι - in Russian translation: “pure”), in order to become true children of God, over whom the terrible sentence will no longer fall, which will be subjected to obstinate and depraved children, in comparison with whom The Philippians, who preserve the word of life or the gospel, are just like real lamps of the world. Then, on the day of Christ’s coming, the Apostle will be able to boast that his labors in Philippi were not in vain. To show how gratifying it is for him to see the firmness of the Philippians in the faith, the Apostle says that even if he were now destined to be poured out like a drink offering (consisting of wine) on the sacrifice that he himself brings to God in the form of a Church made up of pagans, then even here the Apostle would not have lost his joyful mood. He instills the same joy in the Philippians themselves: they should rejoice both for him, that he is able to go to death for them, and for themselves, that they - at least the Apostle assumes about them - are also capable of all self-denial because of faith in the Gospel. Phil.2:19. I hope in the Lord Jesus to soon send Timothy to you, so that I too, having learned about your circumstances, may be comforted in spirit. The thought that he might soon die prompts the Apostle to make sure that someone will help the Philippians in his place in the difficult circumstances of their lives. The choice of the Apostle in this case stops at his friend and disciple - Timothy. No one is distinguished by such devotion to Christ and to him, Paul, as Timothy. However, the Apostle intends to send Timothy to the Philippians only when he receives certain information about the state of his case. At the same time, he remains confident in the favorable outcome of his trial, which is why he promises to come to Philippi himself after being released from prison. Now the Apostle consoles the Philippians by sending to them an authorized representative, Epaphroditus, their fellow citizen. Let the Philippians greet him with joy, because he did not spare his life in serving the cause of Christ. "Timothy" - see Acts 16:1-3. Phil.2:20. For I have no one equally diligent who would so sincerely care about you, “Equally zealous,” that is, similar in spirit and character to the Apostle Paul (ϊσόψυχον). Phil.2:21. because everyone seeks their own, and not what pleases Jesus Christ. The Apostle does not mean here his co-workers, who were away from him at that time, but ordinary people, perhaps only recently converted to Christ. Phil.2:22. And you know his faithfulness, because he, like a son to his father, served me in the gospel. “Loyalty” - more precisely: art or experience (δοκιμήν). - “Served me” - more precisely: served with me (σύν έμοί έδούλευσεν) the Gospel of Christ. - “Like a son to a father” - more precisely: like a son with his father, that is, imitating his father in everything (cf. 1 Cor 16:10, 11). Phil.2:23. So I hope to send it as soon as I find out what will happen to me. Phil.2:24. I am confident in the Lord that I myself will soon come to you. Regarding Timothy, the Apostle still says that he hopes to send him to the Philippians when his situation is finally clarified. He speaks about himself with confidence (“I am sure” - πέποιθα), that he will certainly visit Philippi. He probably means a special revelation to him from the Lord Christ (“in the Lord”). Phil.2:25. However, I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and colleague and companion, and your messenger and minister in my need, For now, the Apostle considers it more necessary (explaining the need in Phil. 2:26) to send to the Philippians a certain Epaphroditus, a resident of the city of Philip. This is an outstanding man as Paul’s supporter in the fight for the cause of Christ. The Philippians themselves know him well, because he is their authorized ambassador under Paul (actually an apostle - άπόστολον) and a servant who brought Paul from the Philippians what he needed for his own maintenance. Phil.2:26. because he really wanted to see you all and was deeply grieved that you had heard about his illness. Phil.2:27. For he was sick at the point of death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him, but also on me, so that sorrow would not be added to my sorrow. Epaphroditus, while in Rome, became seriously ill. It is likely that traveling to Rome and staying in Rome during the summer months, as now, posed a health hazard at that time. A person who falls ill in a foreign land always strives with his soul to return to his homeland, to his loved ones, and Epaphroditus also really wanted to see his relatives as soon as possible and console them with his return to them in full health. The Apostle joyfully adds that God had mercy on Epaphroditus, because otherwise, if his illness had ended in death, the Apostle would have blamed himself for such an outcome: after all, it was because of him that Epaphroditus suffered the disease. The Apostle already has to grieve that he is in prison. And the death of Epaphroditus would have caused him new grief... Phil.2:28. Therefore, I sent him quickly, so that when you see him again, you will rejoice, and I will be less sad. The Apostle sent Epaphroditus sooner than he himself could have expected. It is obvious that his illness did not last very long. By sending Epaphroditus to the Philippians, the Apostle, of course, pleased them and himself at the same time, because it gave him joy to see and know that his spiritual children were in a joyful state. In relation to Paul, this, however, was not complete joy: it only made him “less sad,” but his sorrows still continued, and he could never get rid of them (2 Cor. 11:29). Phil.2:29. Receive him in the Lord with all joy, and have such in esteem, Phil.2:30. for he was close to death for the cause of Christ, endangering his life, in order to make up for the lack of your services to me. The Apostle asks to receive Epaphroditus “with all”, that is, with complete joy, and generally asks such figures to be respected. In fact, he adds, Epaphroditus did not spare his life for the common good of the believers, not for his own cause, but for the cause of Christ. It was he who wanted to fill with his ministry what had not yet been done by the Philippians for the Apostle Paul. If he only served the Apostle, then, in fact, he worked for the benefit of the cause of Christ: the work of Christ is the work that Christ does on earth through His disciples. Critical editions of the New Testament text all read here: “let this philosophize” (τουφρονείτε), since the expression: “let him philosophize” (τουφρονεΐσθω) is not found in the most ancient manuscripts and translations. Nevertheless, the latter reading should be preferred to the first, because, firstly, it is accepted by the majority of the Greek fathers, and secondly, if here we can talk about an amendment made by a copyist, then it is more natural to assume that the more difficult and unusual expression φρονείσθω was changed into the more understandable φρονείτε (applied to verse 2 πληρώσατε) than vice versa. They say that the very expression “in Christ Jesus” (v. 5) indicates that the Apostle here means the already incarnate Son of God. But this reference says nothing, because in Col. 1 it is said that “through Jesus Christ” all things were created. This means that this expression does not mean only the Son of God, who has already taken on human flesh. Further, they point out some “strangeness” of the idea that Christians should take as an example Christ, who was just preparing to take human flesh. There is nothing strange in this, however, since Christians are invited to imitate even God Himself, their Heavenly Father (Matthew 5:48; Eph 5:1). It is clear, however, that we should not consider this expression as a designation of an externally observable form of existence: God is invisible, and the Son of God is also invisible before the incarnation. “Image” is therefore more correctly translated: “kind of existence”, and not “form of appearance”. Before the incarnation, in the Divine state, the Logos had no one to appear and there was nothing for... However, this expression undoubtedly contains the idea that Christ incarnate remained God. After all, the Apostle here says everything about the same One who existed from eternity in the image of God, who, therefore, had a divine nature. He, this eternal Logos, did not change His nature, but only took on human nature. Rev. Theophanes says: “We have accepted the form of a slave - having accepted a paired nature, which, no matter what degree it stands, is always the work of God. What followed from this? – That the beginningless begins, the omnipresent is determined by place, the eternal lives through days, months and years, the all-perfect increases with age and intelligence. And He goes through all this, by the nature of God, the created nature He assumed upon Himself.” St. John Chrysostom sees in these words encouragement for a Christian man in his desire to please God, because when a person wants, then God will act, raising human desire to the level of the firmest determination. However, according to Chrysostom’s interpretation, this does not take away a person’s own will: this latter is only strengthened by divine assistance. You might be interested in: