Philippians 4: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

Paul closes his letter to the church at Philippi. He urges two women, Euodias and Syntyche, to settle their disagreement, tells the whole church to rejoice, to bring their worries to God in prayer, and to fill their minds with what is true and good. He then thanks them for the gift they sent him through Epaphroditus, explains that he has learned to be content whether he has much or little, and ends with greetings and a blessing.

Claim by Claim

1. 4:1
   • Paul addresses his brothers.
   • Paul says he loves them.
   • Paul says he longs for them.
   • Paul calls them his joy.
   • Paul calls them his crown.
   • Paul tells them to stand firm in the Lord in this way.
   • Paul calls them beloved.
2. 4:2
   • Paul urges Euodia.
   • Paul urges Syntyche.
   • Paul urges them to be of the same mind in the Lord.
3. 4:3
   • Paul asks his true yokefellow as well.
   • Paul asks him to help these women.
   • These women labored alongside Paul in the gospel.
   • Clement also labored with Paul.
   • Paul's other fellow workers also labored with him.
   • The names of those fellow workers are in the book of life.
4. 4:4
   • Paul tells them to rejoice in the Lord always.
   • Paul says he will say it again.
   • Paul repeats the command to rejoice.
5. 4:5
   • Paul tells them to let their gentleness be known to all people.
   • The Lord is near.
6. 4:6
   • Paul tells them to be anxious about nothing.
   • Paul tells them to make their requests known to God in everything.
   • The requests are to be made by prayer and petition.
   • The requests are to be made with thanksgiving.
7. 4:7
   • God has a peace.
   • God's peace surpasses all understanding.
   • God's peace will guard their hearts.
   • God's peace will guard their minds.
   • The guarding is through Christ Jesus.
8. 4:8
   • Paul addresses the brothers as he concludes.
   • Paul tells them to think on whatever things are true.
   • Paul tells them to think on whatever things are honorable.
   • Paul tells them to think on whatever things are just.
   • Paul tells them to think on whatever things are pure.
   • Paul tells them to think on whatever things are lovely.
   • Paul tells them to think on whatever things are of good report.
   • If there is any virtue, they are to think on it.
   • If there is any praise, they are to think on it.
9. 4:9
   • They have learned certain things from Paul.
   • They have received certain things.
   • They have heard certain things.
   • They have seen certain things in Paul.
   • Paul tells them to do those things.
   • The God of peace will be with them.
10. 4:10
    • Paul rejoiced greatly in the Lord.
    • Paul rejoiced because their care for him has flourished again at last.
    • They were also concerned for him.
    • They lacked opportunity to show it.
11. 4:11
    • Paul says he does not speak out of want.
    • Paul has learned to be content in whatever state he is in.
12. 4:12
    • Paul knows how to be brought low.
    • Paul knows how to abound.
    • Paul has been instructed in every place and in all things.
    • Paul has been instructed to be full.
    • Paul has been instructed to be hungry.
    • Paul has been instructed to abound.
    • Paul has been instructed to suffer need.
13. 4:13
    • Paul can do all things through Christ.
    • Christ strengthens Paul.
14. 4:14
    • Paul says they have done well.
    • They shared in Paul's affliction.
15. 4:15
    • The Philippians themselves know this.
    • It was the beginning of the gospel.
    • Paul departed from Macedonia.
    • No church shared with Paul in the matter of giving and receiving.
    • The Philippians alone shared with him.
16. 4:16
    • Paul was in Thessalonica.
    • They sent to meet his need once and again.
17. 4:17
    • Paul says it is not that he desires the gift.
    • Paul desires fruit that abounds to their account.
18. 4:18
    • Paul has all.
    • Paul abounds.
    • Paul is full.
    • Paul received from Epaphroditus the things sent from them.
    • Their gift is a fragrant odor.
    • Their gift is an acceptable sacrifice.
    • Their gift is well-pleasing to God.
19. 4:19
    • Paul's God will supply all their need.
    • The supply is according to God's riches in glory.
    • The supply is through Christ Jesus.
20. 4:20
    • Glory belongs to God and their Father forever and ever.
    • Amen.
21. 4:21
    • Paul tells them to greet every saint in Christ Jesus.
    • The brothers who are with Paul greet them.
22. 4:22
    • All the saints greet them.
    • Those of Caesar's household especially greet them.
23. 4:23
    • Paul asks that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with them all.
    • Amen.

Words Worth Explaining

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

4:1

"Crown" translates stephanos, the wreath of leaves given to the winner of an athletic contest or to a guest of honor at a banquet. It is not a king's crown. Paul means the Philippians are the prize he has to show for his work.

4:2

Euodias and Syntyche are two women in the Philippian congregation; nothing more is known of them or of what they disagreed about. The woman's name is Euodia, and the KJV's "Euodias" reflects a variant form of the spelling.

4:3

"True yokefellow" renders syzygos, literally someone harnessed in the same yoke, like the second ox in a plow team. Some take the word as a man's proper name, Syzygus, in which case Paul is playing on its meaning: you who are truly named Partner. The "book of life" is the image of a city's citizen register, the official roll of those who belong.

4:4

"Alway" is simply the old spelling of always.

4:5

"Moderation" in 1611 did not mean doing things in moderation. The Greek word describes a person who does not insist on the last ounce of what is owed them: gentle, yielding, reasonable. "The Lord is at hand" can mean near in time, that is, he is coming soon, or near in place, that is, he is close by. The Greek allows both and the rendering leaves both open.

4:6

"Be careful for nothing" is not advice to be careless. In 1611 "careful" meant full of care, that is, anxious or worried. "Supplication" is a request made out of need.

4:7

"Keep" translates a military word for a garrison posted to guard a city; the peace stands sentry over heart and mind. In ancient usage the heart is the seat of thought and decision, not only of feeling.

4:8

"Honest" in 1611 meant honorable, worthy of respect, rather than merely truthful. "Of good report" means well spoken of by others. "Virtue" here is the ordinary Greek word for excellence of any kind. Most of the terms in this list are the stock vocabulary of Greek moral philosophy rather than distinctively biblical words.

4:10

"Hath flourished again" uses a word for plants putting out new shoots after a dormant season. "Wherein ye were also careful" again means concerned about me, not cautious.

4:11

"Want" means lack or poverty. "Content" translates autarkes, self-sufficient, a term Greek philosophers, especially the Stoics, used for the person whose wellbeing does not depend on circumstances. Paul borrows their word.

4:12

"Abased" means brought low, here in the sense of living with very little. "I am instructed" translates a word used for being initiated into the secrets of a mystery religion, hence "I have learned the secret."

4:13

"All things" means all these things: the situations he has just listed in verse 12, full or hungry, plenty or nothing. The sentence is about coping with whatever circumstances arrive, not about pulling off anything he decides to attempt.

4:14

"Communicate" in 1611 meant to share in something or go partners with someone, not to send a message. The same word appears in the next verse.

4:15

Macedonia was the Roman province covering northern Greece, and Philippi was one of its cities, so Paul means the support kept coming after he had left their region altogether. "Giving and receiving" was a set phrase from business accounts, roughly debit and credit. Paul describes the gifts in the language of a partnership ledger, and keeps that accounting image running through verse 18.

4:16

Thessalonica was the chief city of Macedonia, about a hundred miles west of Philippi on the main road. Paul worked there soon after leaving Philippi. "Once and again" means repeatedly, not exactly twice.

4:17

The accounting language continues. "Account" is the word for a financial ledger, and the "fruit" credited to it is something like accruing interest.

4:18

"I have all" translates apecho, the standard word written on ancient receipts meaning paid in full. "An odour of a sweet smell" is the phrase the Greek Old Testament uses for offerings burned on the altar, whose smoke rose as a pleasing smell to God. Paul applies the vocabulary of temple sacrifice to a gift of money and supplies.

4:20

"Amen" is a Hebrew word meaning roughly "that is true" or "let it be so". Listeners said it out loud to add their own agreement to what had just been said.

4:21

"Salute" simply means greet. "Saint" translates hagios, set apart or holy; in Paul's letters it is the ordinary word for every member of a congregation, not a title for exceptional individuals.

4:22

"Caesar's household" does not mean the emperor's family. It was the standard term for the large body of slaves and freed slaves who staffed the imperial administration, in Rome and in posts across the empire.

4:23

Most of the oldest manuscripts read "with your spirit" here rather than "with you all"; the KJV follows later copies. "Amen" is a Hebrew word carried over into Greek, meaning roughly "so let it be," used to endorse what has just been said.