Philippians 1: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

Paul and Timothy write to the Christians at Philippi, and Paul thanks God for their partnership in the gospel and prays that their love will grow in knowledge and discernment. He reports that his imprisonment has actually spread the message, and says he is glad Christ is preached even by those whose motives are rivalry. He describes being torn between dying to be with Christ and staying alive for the Philippians' sake, and concludes that he expects to remain with them. He urges them to live in a way that fits the gospel, stand firm together, and not be frightened by their opponents, since they have been granted both belief in Christ and suffering for him.

Claim by Claim

1. 1:1
   • Paul and Timothy are the senders of this letter.
   • Paul and Timothy are slaves of Christ Jesus.
   • The letter is addressed to all the holy ones in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi.
   • The letter is addressed also to the overseers and the deacons.
2. 1:2
   • Paul wishes grace and peace to the recipients.
   • The grace and peace come from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
3. 1:3
   • Paul thanks his God at every remembrance of them.
4. 1:4
   • Paul always makes his request in every prayer of his for them all.
   • Paul makes that request with joy.
5. 1:5
   • Paul gives thanks because of their partnership in the gospel.
   • That partnership has lasted from the first day until now.
6. 1:6
   • Paul is confident of this very thing.
   • The one who began a good work in them will bring it to completion.
   • He will complete it up to the day of Christ Jesus.
7. 1:7
   • It is right for Paul to think this about them all.
   • Paul has them in his heart.
   • Paul is in bonds.
   • Paul is engaged in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.
   • They all are sharers with Paul in grace.
8. 1:8
   • God is Paul's witness.
   • Paul longs for them all with the deep affection of Christ Jesus.
9. 1:9
   • Paul prays this: that their love may abound still more and more.
   • Their love is to abound in knowledge and in all discernment.
10. 1:10
    • The purpose is that they may test and approve the things that differ, that is, what is excellent.
    • The purpose is that they may be pure and without offense for the day of Christ.
11. 1:11
    • They are to be filled with the fruit of righteousness.
    • That fruit comes through Jesus Christ.
    • This is to the glory and praise of God.
12. 1:12
    • Paul wants the brothers to know something.
    • The things that happened to Paul have turned out rather for the advancement of the gospel.
13. 1:13
    • Paul's bonds in Christ have become known throughout the whole praetorium.
    • Paul's bonds have become known to all the rest, which may mean all other people or all other places.
14. 1:14
    • Most of the brothers in the Lord have become confident through Paul's bonds.
    • They are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
15. 1:15
    • Some preach Christ out of envy and strife.
    • Some preach Christ out of good will.
16. 1:16
    • The one group preach Christ out of contention.
    • That group does not preach sincerely.
    • That group supposes it will add affliction to Paul's bonds.
17. 1:17
    • The other group preach out of love.
    • That group knows that Paul is appointed for the defense of the gospel.
18. 1:18
    • Paul asks what then.
    • In every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed.
    • Paul rejoices in this.
    • Paul will also rejoice.
19. 1:19
    • Paul knows that this will turn out for his salvation.
    • It will do so through their prayer.
    • It will do so through the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
20. 1:20
    • Paul has an earnest expectation and hope.
    • Paul expects that he will be ashamed in nothing.
    • Paul expects that with all boldness, as always so now also, Christ will be magnified in his body.
    • This will happen whether by life or by death.
21. 1:21
    • For Paul, to live is Christ.
    • For Paul, to die is gain.
22. 1:22
    • If Paul lives on in the flesh, this means fruit from his labor.
    • Paul does not know what he will choose.
23. 1:23
    • Paul is pressed between the two.
    • Paul has a desire to depart and to be with Christ.
    • Being with Christ is far better.
24. 1:24
    • Remaining in the flesh is more necessary for their sake.
25. 1:25
    • Paul has this confidence.
    • Paul knows he will remain and continue with them all.
    • This is for their progress and joy in the faith.
26. 1:26
    • The purpose is that their boasting in Christ Jesus may abound because of Paul.
    • This will come about through Paul's coming to them again.
27. 1:27
    • Paul commands them to conduct their life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.
    • Paul may come and see them, or he may be absent.
    • In either case Paul wants to hear about their affairs.
    • He wants to hear that they stand firm in one spirit.
    • He wants to hear that with one soul they strive together for the faith of the gospel.
28. 1:28
    • They are to be terrified in nothing by those who oppose them.
    • Their fearlessness is to the opponents a clear sign of destruction.
    • It is a sign of the Philippians' salvation.
    • This is from God.
29. 1:29
    • It has been granted to them on behalf of Christ.
    • It is granted to them not only to believe in him.
    • It is granted to them also to suffer for his sake.
30. 1:30
    • They have the same conflict that they saw in Paul.
    • They now hear that this conflict is in Paul.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

1:1

Philippi was a city in Macedonia, in northern Greece, governed as a Roman colony: many residents were retired Roman soldiers and their descendants, and they prized their Roman citizenship. The KJV's "servants" translates the Greek word for slaves, people who belong to an owner. Its "bishops" translates episkopoi, overseers or supervisors, a word that carried no sense yet of the later church office of a bishop over a region. "Deacons" translates diakonoi, those who serve or see to practical needs. "Saints" here is not a special grade of holy person but Paul's ordinary term for every member of the congregation.

1:2

Ordinary Greek letters opened with the word chairein, "greetings." Paul replaces it with the similar-sounding charis, grace, and adds "peace," the standard Jewish greeting shalom. The opening is a deliberate reshaping of the usual formula, not a stray blessing.

1:5

"Fellowship" translates koinonia, which means partnership or a shared stake in an enterprise, including sharing its costs. The Philippians had repeatedly sent Paul money, and the word covers that concrete support as well as goodwill.

1:6

In 1611 "perform" meant to carry a thing through to completion, not to put on a performance. "The day of Jesus Christ" is a fixed phrase, modeled on the Hebrew prophets' "day of the LORD," for the final day when Christ appears and matters are settled.

1:7

"Meet" in 1611 English means fitting or proper. "Bonds" means chains: Paul is writing under arrest. The Greek of "I have you in my heart" is ambiguous and can equally mean "you have me in your heart"; translators must pick one, and either is grammatically possible.

1:8

"Bowels" is the KJV's literal rendering of splanchna, the inner organs. Greek and Hebrew speakers located strong feeling in the gut the way modern English locates it in the heart, so the word means deep, physically felt affection, not anything anatomical.

1:9

"Judgment" here translates aisthesis, perception or discernment: the trained ability to size up a situation and tell what it calls for. It does not mean passing judgment on people.

1:10

"Approve things that are excellent" renders a phrase that can be taken two ways, and both readings are current: test things and so choose what is best, or tell apart things that differ. "Sincere" translates eilikrines, meaning unmixed or pure. "Without offence" translates a word that can mean either not stumbling yourself or not tripping anyone else up.

1:11

"Fruits of righteousness" is a word picture. A healthy tree grows good fruit, and a life lived right grows good things you can see.

1:12

"Fallen out" is old English for "turned out." "Brethren" is the standard address to a whole congregation, women included.

1:13

"The palace" translates praitorion. It could mean the emperor's elite Praetorian Guard, the soldiers who would have taken turns chained to a prisoner like Paul, or the official residence of a provincial governor. Which one is meant depends on where Paul was imprisoned, which is disputed.

1:14

"Waxing" is old English for growing or becoming. "The word" is shorthand for the Christian message.

1:16

The KJV follows later Greek manuscripts, which put these two groups in the opposite order from the older manuscripts most modern versions use. In the KJV the rivals come in verse 16 and the friends in verse 17; elsewhere it is reversed. The content is the same either way. "Contention" translates eritheia, self-seeking rivalry, a word used of politicians canvassing for office.

1:17

"I am set for the defence" means appointed or posted to that duty, the way a soldier is stationed at a post. "Defence" translates apologia, the word for a formal legal defense in court, which is literally what Paul is facing.

1:18

"Pretence" means pretext: a motive put on for show, covering a different real one. It does not mean the preaching itself was fake.

1:19

"Salvation" translates soteria, which can mean rescue in the everyday sense of getting out of prison alive, or ultimate deliverance and vindication. Paul's wording here repeats a line from Job in the Greek Old Testament, where Job says his case will turn out for his vindication, and the ambiguity is left standing.

1:20

"Magnified" means made to look great, given honor and public size. It is not about physical enlargement.

1:22

"Wot" is old English for "know." "The flesh" here simply means the physical body and ordinary bodily life, with no suggestion of sinfulness.

1:23

"In a strait betwixt two" means hemmed in or pressed hard from both sides at once, the way a ship is squeezed in a narrow channel. "Depart" translates a word used for untying a ship from its moorings or striking camp to move on.

1:25

"Furtherance" means progress or advancement.

1:26

"Rejoicing" here translates kauchema, which means a boast or the grounds you have for boasting, something you can point to with pride.

1:27

"Conversation" in 1611 English meant a person's whole way of life and conduct, not talk. The Greek word underneath it, politeuesthe, literally means "live as citizens," and it would have landed pointedly in Philippi, a Roman colony whose residents took pride in their citizenship. "As it becometh" means as befits or is worthy of. "Striving together" translates a term drawn from athletes contending as a team or soldiers holding a line shoulder to shoulder.

1:28

"An evident token" means a clear sign or proof. "Perdition" means ruin or destruction, the opposite of being saved; the KJV word does not carry a separate technical meaning.

1:29

"It is given" translates a verb built on the word for grace, so it means granted as a favor or gift. The sentence treats both the believing and the suffering as things handed to them.

1:30

"Conflict" translates agon, the word for a contest in the athletic games or a fight in the arena. It is the same image as "striving together" in verse 27.