Philippians 2:23

Php_2:23-24

Him, therefore, I hope to send

The servant of God in affliction

I.

Cares for the Church.

II. Waits patiently the end.

III. Commits the future into the hands of the Lord.

IV. Anticipates deliverance in hope of further service. (J. Lyth, D. D.)

So soon as I shall see how it will go with me--

New years sermon

The first day of the new year is often a season of--

1. Peculiar transactions: balancing of accounts and commencing business.

2. Humanity and benevolence, family gatherings, gifts to the poor.

3. Thankfulness and joy for preservation of life, etc.

4. Seriousness and recollection.

5. Forecast. Let us confine ourselves to the latter view, and consider--

I. Our inability to determine our future circumstances. The endowments of the apostles were not absolute. In some cases Paul could foretell things to come, but in others he was left in ignorance, and could only reason from probabilities (Act_20:22). And when we look into futurity, all that meets the eye is a dark unknown.

1. Even prophecy is wrapped up in so much obscurity that the fulfilment and the explanation generally arrive together. How often has this been exemplified in the calculations of not very wise men, who, in addition to being drawn off from more useful duties, have frequently survived their laborious schemes.

2. Your own history testifies that God has led you by a way which you knew not, and you hardly know it now. Had all your changes been foretold, they would have appeared incredible?

3. Nor have you any information that can enable you to foresee things for a single year--how it will go with your health, circumstances, relations.

II. What use we should make of this ignorance. Let us--

1. Learn our littleness, and that God is all in all. Trust in the Lord with all thy heart.

2. Beware of presumption. The future is Gods, not thine. Never say I will without If the Lord will.

3. Never despair. Seeing we know not how it will go with us, why should we look only for evil?

4. Draw off our attention from future events to present duties. We are to cast, not our work, but our care, upon the Lord. Duty and means belong to us, but events are entirely His.

5. Seek after a preparation for all events. We shall find this in Divine grace. This drew prayer from Jacob when he went forth with a staff; this preserved Daniel in the court of Darius and in the lions den; this enabled Paul to say, I can do all things, etc. And seeing that we have neither the ordering of the weather, nor the choice of food, happy is the man whose constitution enables him to bear any weather, and whose appetite enables him to relish any food.

III. What there is to encourage us under all this darkness and uncertainty. You say, I see not how it will go with me, and--

1. It is well you do not. You know as much as is good for you. It is with the mind as with the senses. A greater degree of hearing would incommode us. If our eyes could see things microscopically we should be afraid to move. Were we informed of the blessings of providence beforehand, we should cease to enjoy those we have; or of adversities, what dismay would ensue.

2. God does; and He is your friend, and far more concerned for your happiness than you can be.

3. You know that it shall be well with them that fear God.

4. Your ignorance only regards time; all in eternity is sure. (W. Jay.)

The Providence of God

We should--

I. Express future purposes with a resignation to Gods will and guidance (Psa_21:1).

II. Observe that Gods providence extends to every particular thing--our incomings, outgoings, journeys, the very hairs of our head. This should teach us--

1. To set on our affairs with looking up to heaven for permission (Jam_4:13). Let us in all our affairs be holy, and not limit our holiness to coming to church.

2. That we ought Dot to set on anything wherein we cannot expect Gods guidance, and so consequently cannot trust in Him for a blessing.

3. To take nothing but that for which we can give God thanks. (R. Sibbes, D. D.)

Trust in the Lord

I. Implies--

1. Reliance on His providential care.

2. Because of His mercy and love.

II. Is necessary under all circumstances.

1. In joy and sorrow.

2. In all our plans and purposes.

3. In small matters as in great.

III. Is a source of unspeakable comfort.

1. It brings peace.

2. It assures that all will be well. (J. Lyth, D. D.)

Trust in God

The child at school is not to lean his elbow on the table, and vex himself by thinking how he shall find raiment, how he shall get home, how the expense of his education is to be defrayed. He is a learner; he is to mind his book--the father requires no more of him--he will provide. The farmer is not to muse from day to day about the weather: Perhaps it may not be a fine season--there may be a blight--and all my labour may be lost. No: but he is to act; he goes forth bearing precious seed, commits it to the ground, and then pursues his other business--and what can his anxiety do afterwards? The soldier is to learn his exercise, to obey the word of command, to keep his arms bright, to be always at the post assigned him; but he is not to neglect all this, by busying himself in drawing plans of the campaign, and describing the duties of the general. (W. Jay.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2:23 What is going to happen to me here possibly refers to the outcome of Paul’s trial.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Php 2:23. Ὡς ἂν ἀπίδω) ἀπιδεῖν,[26] to carry off or acquire, to obtain information.—ἐξαυτῆς, presently) The relative force implied in the αὐτῆς of the compound has regard to the phrase, I shall have obtained the information (of your state).

[26] Wahl, Clavis, translates, “Simulac cognovero rerum mearum eventum.”—ED.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Php_2:23. Μὲν οὖν] οὖν resumes Php_2:19, and to the μέν corresponds the δὲ in Php_2:24.

ὡς ἂν ἀπίδω κ.τ.λ.] when (of the time, see Klotz, ad Devar. p. 759, that is, as soon as, comp. on 1Co_11:34; Rom_15:24) I anyhow (by ἄν the matter is left to experience) shall have seen to the end (Jon_4:5). The latter, which expresses the perceiving from a distance (Herod. viii. 37; Dem. 1472. 15; Lucian, D. D. vi. 2), denotes the knowledge of the final course of matters to be expected,only after which could it be decided whether or not he could spare the faithful Timothy for a time. The form ἀφίδω (Lachmann and Tischendorf) in A B* D* F G א is, on account of this weighty evidence, to be considered not as a copyists error, but as the original, and to be derived from the pronunciation of ἰδεῖν (with the digamma). Comp. on Act_4:29, and see Winer, p. 44 [E. T. p. 48]; J. B. Lightfoot ad loc.; Buttmann, Neut. Gr. p. 7 [E. T. p. 7].

τὰ περὶ ἐμέ] the things about me, that is, the state of my affairs. Substantially not different from τὰ περὶ ἐμοῦ (Php_2:19 f.). See Kühner, ad Xen. Mem. i. 1. 20; Winer, p. 379 [E. T. p. 506].

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Phi 2:23 . μέν . He emphasises the coming of Timothy as distinct from his own. ὡς ἄν . Cf. Rom 15:24 , 1Co 11:34 . “As soon as I shall have thoroughly ascertained my position.” This temporal use of ὡς ἄν seems foreign to classical prose. It almost means “according as I shall”. ἄν marks the uncertainty which surrounds the whole prospect. (See Moulton’s Ed. of Winer’s Grammar , p. 387; Viteau, Le Verbe , p. 126.) ἀπίδω . On the form see the crit. note supr. ἀπό emphasises his turning away his attention from other things and concentrating it upon his own situation, i.e. , gaining a definite knowledge of how his affairs stand. Mynster ( Kleine Theolog. Schriften , p. 173) points out that this verse proves that the Epistle could not have been written at Cæsarea. ἐξαυτῆς . Chiefly in Acts in N.T. = Latin ilico. A Hellenistic word. See Phrynichus (ed. Lobeck), 47.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

so soon as I shall see--that is, so soon as I shall have known for certain.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 23. How it will go with me.] The apostle was now in captivity; his trial appears to have been approaching, and of its issue he was doubtful; though he seems to have had a general persuasion that he should be spared, see Phil 2:19; Phil 2:24.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

24 I trust that I myself. He adds this, too, lest they should imagine that anything had happened to change his intention as to the journey of which he had previously made mention. At the same time, he always speaks conditionally — If it shall please the Lord. For although he expected deliverance from the Lord, yet there having been, as we have observed, no express promise, this expectation was by no means settled, but was, as it were, suspended upon the secret purpose of God.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(23) How it will go with me.—An explanatory paraphrase, though probably correct, of the original, the things concerning me. Probably some crisis in the imprisonment was at hand, with which the expectation of release implied in the next verse was connected.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

23. presently] Better, with R.V., forthwith, promptly, on ascertaining the issue of his trial.

so soon as I shall see] He is sure, au fond, of the prospect of continued life (Php_1:25 and note); but this leaves him as much as ever obliged to wait the development of the Roman legal process. And it needs no very subtle psychology to see the possibility of the presence, in the same person, of certainties and uncertainties about the same event.—Observe that Divine inspiration is far from conveying universal prescience.

how it will go with me] A good paraphrase for the lit., “the things around me,” my circumstances.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But I trust in the Lord,.... The Syriac version reads, "in my Lord":

that I also myself shall come shortly: this he adds, partly to let them see, that he still retained a secret hope and persuasion in his own mind of a deliverance, though he could not be certain of it, how things would go with him; and partly, that he might not be thought to put them off with sending Timothy to them; for notwithstanding that, his intention still was, should he be released, to pay them a visit himself. The Alexandrian copy adds, "to you": so the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

23 Him therefore I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me.

Ver. 23. So soon as I shall see] For his life was now in suspense by reason of that roaring lion Nero, whom Tertullian wittily calleth Dedicatorem damnationis Christianorum, quippe qui orientem fidem primus Romae cruentavit.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

So soon as I shall see how it will go with me - Paul was a prisoner at Rome, and there was not a little uncertainty whether he would be condemned or acquitted. He was, it is commonly supposed, in fact released on the first trial; 2Ti 4:16. He now felt that he would soon be able to send Timothy to them at any rate. If he was condemned and put to death, he would, of course, have no further occasion for his services, and if he was released from his present troubles and dangers, he could spare him for a season to go and visit the churches.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Him therefore I hope to send presently; seeing the matter was thus, he thought not of any other to employ in the service of their faith, but hoped, i.e.

in the Lord Jesus as Phi 2:19, in a short time after his present writing, to send this excellent, humble, and approved young man, who would naturally care for their concerns, Phi 2:20.

So soon as I shall see how it will go with me; even without any delay, (though as yet, to accompany Epaphroditus, he could not spare him, who was so useful to him in his bonds, to take care for things necessary to the propagation of the gospel, in the ample city of Rome), from the hour he should come to a certainty what would be the issue of his present imprisonment, which if it should end in his being offered up, he had satisfied them before, as it would be for his own advantage, Phi 1:21, so, by the providence of God, no disservice to their faith, Phi 2:17,18; from which, with ready submission to God’s will, whatever occurred, it seems he had a greater inclination to conceive a good hope of freedom.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

23. Presently—Forthwith, after ascertaining Nero’s decision in his case.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Him therefore I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me. Presently; rather, forthwith, as R.V Dr. Farrar translates, "As soon as I get a glimpse." The oldest manuscripts here read afidw (remarkable for the aspirate) instead of apidw .

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

23. So soon as I shall see, etc. As soon as there is some decision in his case, showing whether he will be released, or what may be his fate, he will send Timothy.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

23. ἀφίδω. So אAB*D2*G2, 17. B3CD2cLP, most cursives, all Greek quotations ἀπίδω. Ltft says, “If any weight is to be attached to the agreement of the older MSS., the aspirated form (ἀφίδω for ἀπίδω) must be read here.” He collects from MSS. of the LXX. several instances of aspirates in compounds of εἷδον: εφιδων, αφειδη, καθιδε, &c. (εφειδε occurs in an inscription), and gives some such compounds with ἐλπίς: αφελπιζοντες, εφʼ ελπιδι. “The aspirates are doubtless to be explained as remnants of the digamma.” All recent editors (but Wordsw) ἀφίδω.

23. τοῦτον μὲν οὖν. “So him,” with a slight emphasis; he is about to speak of others too, himself and Epaphroditus.

ὡς ἂν … ἐξαυτῆς. “At once when” (Lightfoot). “For ὡς ἄν temporal, comp. Rom 15:24 [ὡς ἂν πορεύωμαι εἰς τὴν Σπανίαν], 1Co 11:34 [τὰ λοιπὰ, ὡς ἂν ἔλθω, διατάξομαι]” (Lightfoot).

ἀφίδω. “Get a view of,” as from a point of observation. Cp. Jon 4:5, ἕως οὗ ἀπίδῃ τί ἔσται τῇ πόλει.—On the form ἀφίδω here, see above, introductory notes to ch. 2

τὰ περὶ ἐμὲ. “My circumstances,” “my position.”

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

23.] But the approved worth (reff.) of him ye know (viz. by trial, when we were at Philippi together, Act 16:1, Act 16:3,—17:14),—viz.: that as a son (serves) a father, he served with me for (reff.) the Gospel. The construction is this: the Apostle would have written, ‘as a son a father, so he served me,’—but changes it to ‘so he served with me,’ from modesty and reverence, seeing that we are not servants one of another, but all of God, in the matter of the Gospel. We must not supply σύν before πατρί:—when, in case of several nouns governed by the same preposition, that preposition is omitted before any, it is not before the first, cf. Plato, Rep. iii. p. 414, δεῖ ὡς περὶ μητρὸς κ. τροφοῦ τῆς χώρας ἐν ᾗ εἰσι βουλεύεσθαι: and see Bernhardy, Syntax, p. 205. The examples cited by Ellicott to disprove this, do not seem to me to apply: viz. Æsch. Suppl. 313 (311), Eur. Hel. 872 (863): both are instances of local terms coupled by καί, and both occur in poetry, where the exigencies of metre come into play. Winer takes the construction as above, edn. 6, § 63, ii. 1 [see Moulton’s Translation, p. 722].

μέν answers to δέ, ver. 24: οὖν reassumes ver. 19.

ὡς ἂν ἀφίδω] as soon as I shall have ascertained. On the force of the preposition, see Heb 12:2, note.

ὡς ἄν, of time, implying uncertainty as to the event indicated: see reff. and Cebes, tab. p. 168, προστάττει δὲ τοῖς εἰσπορευομένοις, τί δεῖ αὐτοὺς ποιεῖν, ὡς ἂν εἰσέλθωσιν εἰς τὸν βίον. See also Klotz, Devar. pp. 759. 63. The form ἀφίδω is supposed by Meyer to be owing to the pronunciation of ἴδω with the digamma. The word signifies here, see clearly, as in Herod. viii. 37, ἐπεὶ δὲ ἀγχοῦ τε ἔσαν οἱ βάρβαροι ἐπιόντες καὶ ἀπώρεον τὸ ἱρὸν …: following the analogy of ἀπέχω and similar words: the preposition being not intensive (as Ellic. wrongly reports my view), but exhaustive.

τὰ περὶ ἐμέ, my matters.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

23. οὖν: Resuming vs. 19; he being thus qualified.

ὡς ἂν ἀφίδω: Whenever he shall have definite reports to send them concerning his own fate. The ἀπὸ implies looking away from the present circumstances to what is going to happen, which will decide the question of his sending Timothy.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I shall see [αφιδω] . The compounded preposition ajpo gives the sense of looking away from the present condition of affairs to what is going to turn out.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.