Philippi was a Roman colony, and the chief city of one part of Macedonia, Acts 16:12, it is by Appianus called Datos which was its original name; and by Diodorus Siculus it is called Crenidae [[0]], from, the fountains about it; and it took its name Philippi, from Philip king of Macedon, father of…

Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ The apostle sets his own name first, as being not only superior to Timothy in age, in office, and in character, but the sole writer of this epistle.

Grace be unto you This form of salutation is used by the apostle in all his epistles; (See Gill on Rom. 1:7);

I thank my God After the inscription and salutation follows a thanksgiving, the object of which is God; to whom thanks is to be given at the remembrance of his name, and the perfections of his nature, and for all his mercies, temporal and spiritual.

Always in every prayer of mine for you all The apostle was a praying believer, and a praying minister: notwithstanding all his gifts, and graces, and high attainments, he was not above the work and duty of prayer, and in which he was sensible he stood in need of the assistance and direction of the…

For your fellowship in the Gospel Or “for your communication unto the Gospel”; that is, to the support of it. These Philippians were one of the churches of Macedonia the apostle so highly commends for their liberality in ; they had been very communicative to him, and those that were with him, from…

Being confident of this very thing The reason of his thanksgiving, and of his making request with joy continually on the behalf of this church, was the confidence and full persuasion he had of this same thing, of which he could be as much assured as of any thing in the world: that he which hath…

Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all Some connect these words with ; as if the apostle’s sense was, that it became him to be thus affected to them, and mindful of them in his prayers, to make request for them with joy, and give thanks for their fellowship in the Gospel, and…

For God is my record Which is all one as swearing by him; it is in form of an oath, being a solemn appeal to him as the searcher of hearts, for the uprightness of his mind, the sincerity of his expressions, and the strength of his affections: how greatly I long after you all; the common members, as…

And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more, &c.] As a proof of his great affection for them, he puts up this petition on their account; which supposes that they had love, as they must certainly have, since the good work of grace was begun in them; for wherever the work of the…

That ye may approve things that are excellent Or “try things that differ”. There are some things that differ one from other; as morality and grace, earthly things, and heavenly things, carnal and spiritual, temporal and eternal things, law and Gospel, the doctrines of men, and the doctrines of…

Being filled with the fruits of righteousness Good works. Some think alms deeds, or acts of liberality and bounty, are here particularly intended; and that respect is had to the generosity of these Philippians to the apostle, and others: and true it is, that these are sometimes so called, as in ,…

But I would ye should understand, brethren The church at Philippi having heard of the apostle’s troubles, he was very desirous that they should have a true and right understanding of them, and especially of the use they had been of, and were like to be of more and more; and that partly that such as…

So that my bonds in Christ What he had more darkly hinted before, he more clearly expresses here; the things that happened to him were his bonds; he was now a prisoner at Rome and in chains; though he had the liberty of dwelling alone in his own hired house, and of his friends coming to see him and…

And many of the brethren in the Lord This is another instance of the usefulness of the apostle’s sufferings, and another proof of their being for the furtherance of the Gospel; they were not only the means of the conversion of many that were without, but were very encouraging and strengthening to…

Some, indeed, preach Christ That is, some of them, as the Arabic version reads; some of the brethren, that were only so in profession; wherefore these could not be the unbelieving Jews, who preached the Messiah in general, but did not believe Jesus of Nazareth to be he, and opened the prophecies of…

The one preach Christ of contention That is, those that preached of envy and strife, an not of good will to Christ, to the Gospel, to the souls of men, or to the apostle; and though they preached Christ, yet not sincerely or “purely”; not but that they delivered the sincere milk of the word, and…

But the other of love Those that were truly brethren in the Lord, who had received the grace of God in truth, to whom the Gospel was come in power, and who had a spiritual and experimental knowledge of Christ, and of the mysteries of his grace; these preached Christ of love, “out of the love of…

What then? notwithstanding every way What follows from hence? what is to be concluded from all this? what is to be thought or said in this case? this, that notwithstanding these brethren acted on those different principles, and with those different views: whether in pretence: of love to Christ,…

For I know that this shall turn to my salvation Or “to salvation”, to the salvation of others; that is, the preaching of Christ by these men, though designed by them to the hurt of the apostle; yet he knew that by the power and grace of God it should be made useful to the conversion, and for the…

According to my earnest expectation and my hope These words are so placed as that they may refer both to what goes before and what follows after; and the sense be either that the apostle had earnest expectation and hope, even a strong confidence of his salvation, or deliverance from his…

For to me to live is Christ Christ was his life “efficiently”, the efficient cause and author of his spiritual life; he spoke it into him, produced it in him, and disciplined him with it: and he was his life, objectively, the matter and object of his life, that on which he lived; yea, it was not so…

But if I live in the flesh To be in the flesh sometimes signifies to be in a state of nature and unregeneracy, and to live in and after the flesh, to live according to the dictates of corrupt nature; but here it signifies living in the body, or the life which is in the flesh, as the Syriac version…

For I am in a strait betwixt two Life and death; or between these “two counsels”, as the Arabic version reads; two thoughts and desires of the mind, a desire to live for the reasons above, and a desire to die for a reason following.

Nevertheless to abide in the flesh To continue in the body, not always, but a little longer, is more needful for you; for their comfort, edification, and instruction, their further profiting: and increase in faith, and the joy of it.

And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide In the flesh, in the body, live a little longer in the world. These words must be understood either of a certain infallible knowledge, arising from a divine revelation, and a firm persuasion and confidence founded upon that which the apostle…

That your rejoicing may be more abundant They had rejoiced greatly on his account already, blessing God that ever they had seen his face, or heard his voice; as they had great reason to do, he being the happy instrument of first bringing the Gospel to them, and of their conversion; and now he hoped…

Only let your conversation be as it becometh the Gospel of Christ Or “behave as citizens worthy of the Gospel”; for not so much their outward conversation in the world is here intended, which ought to be in wisdom towards them that are without; so as to give no offence to any, and to put to,…

And in nothing terrified by your adversaries Not by Satan, though a roaring lion, for Christ is greater than he; nor by the world which Christ has overcome; nor by false teachers, though men of art and cunning; nor by violent persecutors, who can do no more than kill, the body; let not the power,…

For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ For the sake of his Gospel, for the good of his interest, and the glory of his name. The Alexandrian copy reads, “to us it is given” not only to believe in him; for faith in Christ, which is not merely believing that he is the Christ, and all that is…

Having the same conflict For it seems that the Philippians were now under persecution for the Gospel of Christ; but this was no new or strange thing; it was the same the apostle was under formerly, and at that time: which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me; when he and Silas were at Philippi,…