Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Philippians 2:23
Him therefore I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me.
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.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
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.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
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 Gods will, whatever occurred, it seems he had a greater inclination to conceive a good hope of freedom.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
23. so soon as I shall seethatis, so soon as I shall have known for certain.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Him therefore I hope to send presently,…. For the reasons now given:
so soon as I shall see how it will go with me; whether he should be released from his bonds or not; whether he should live or die; whether he should be set free, or be called to suffer martyrdom for the sake of Christ; for he expected, that the matter would be determined in a very short time, when, be it at it would, Timothy would be spared.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
So soon as I shall see ( ). Indefinite temporal clause with and the second aorist active subjunctive of . The oldest MSS. (Aleph A B D) have (old aspirated form) rather than .
How it will go with me ( ). On the force of with (look away) see Heb 12:2. “The things concerning me,” the outcome of the trial. Cf. 1Cor 4:17; 1Cor 4:19.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
I shall see [] . The compounded preposition ajpo gives the sense of looking away from the present condition of affairs to what is going to turn out.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Him therefore I hope to send presently,” (touton men oun elpizo pempsai) “Him (Timothy) therefore I hope to send, if he is pleased or willing,” not by (Gk. stello) authority to send but by (Gk. pempsai) influence of will. Only the Church has authority to “send forth” (Gk- stello) by authority Missionaries, Mat 28:18-20; Act 13:1-5.
2) “So soon as I shall see how it will go with me” (hos an aphid ta peri eme eksautes) “Immediately, whenever I see the outcome of the accusations against me,” what issues shall come from my position”; Timothy’s being sent to Philippi was to precede Paul’s longed for trip, in a certain and distinct trip from his own. Paul’s travels were more extensive than that of all other Missionaries, 2Co 11:23-28.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
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.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(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.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
23. Presently Forthwith, after ascertaining Nero’s decision in his case.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Him therefore I hope to send forthwith, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me.’
And it was because Timothy was in every way trustworthy that he hoped to send him in the near future, as soon as he knew how his own legal case would go, at which point Timothy would be able to tell them the result of the trial.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Phi 2:23 . ] resumes Phi 2:19 , and to the corresponds the in Phi 2:24 .
. . .] 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 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 (Lachmann and Tischendorf) in A B* D* F G is, on account of this weighty evidence, to be considered not as a copyist’s error, but as the original, and to be derived from the pronunciation of (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].
] the things about me, that is, the state of my affairs. Substantially not different from (Phi 2:19 f.). See Khner, ad Xen. Mem. i. 1. 20; Winer, p. 379 [E. T. p. 506].
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
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.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
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 , Act 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 before : 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, . : and see Bernhardy, Syntax, p. 205. The examples cited by Ellicott to disprove this, do not seem to me to apply: viz. sch. Suppl. 313 (311), Eur. Hel. 872 (863): both are instances of local terms coupled by , 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].
answers to , Phi 2:24 ; reassumes Phi 2:19 .
] as soon as I shall have ascertained . On the force of the preposition, see Heb 12:2 , note.
, of time, implying uncertainty as to the event indicated: see reff. and Cebes, tab. p. 168, , , . See also Klotz, Devar. pp. 759. 63. The form is supposed by Meyer to be owing to the pronunciation of with the digamma. The word signifies here, see clearly , as in Herod. viii. 37, : following the analogy of and similar words: the preposition being not intensive (as Ellic. wrongly reports my view), but exhaustive.
, my matters .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Phi 2:23 . . He emphasises the coming of Timothy as distinct from his own. . Cf. Rom 15:24 , 1Co 11:34 . “As soon as I shall have thoroughly ascertained my position.” This temporal use of seems foreign to classical prose. It almost means “according as I shall”. marks the uncertainty which surrounds the whole prospect. (See Moulton’s Ed. of Winer’s Grammar , p. 387; Viteau, Le Verbe , p. 126.) . On the form see the crit. note supr. 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 Csarea. . Chiefly in Acts in N.T. = Latin ilico. A Hellenistic word. See Phrynichus (ed. Lobeck), 47.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
hope. As trust, Php 2:19.
presently = forthwith.
see. Greek. apeidon, used as aorist of aphorao. App-133.
how . . . me = the things concerning me, as verses: Php 19:20.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
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,-Act 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 before :-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, . : and see Bernhardy, Syntax, p. 205. The examples cited by Ellicott to disprove this, do not seem to me to apply: viz. sch. Suppl. 313 (311), Eur. Hel. 872 (863): both are instances of local terms coupled by , 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 Moultons Translation, p. 722].
answers to , Php 2:24; reassumes Php 2:19.
] as soon as I shall have ascertained. On the force of the preposition, see Heb 12:2, note.
, of time, implying uncertainty as to the event indicated: see reff. and Cebes, tab. p. 168, , , . See also Klotz, Devar. pp. 759. 63. The form is supposed by Meyer to be owing to the pronunciation of with the digamma. The word signifies here, see clearly, as in Herod. viii. 37, : following the analogy of and similar words: the preposition being not intensive (as Ellic. wrongly reports my view), but exhaustive.
, my matters.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Php 2:23. ) ,[26] to carry off or acquire, to obtain information.-, presently) The relative force implied in the 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.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Php 2:23
Php 2:23
Him therefore I hope to send forthwith, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me:-At the time this epistle was written, Paul was awaiting the outcome of his trial, which he hoped would result in his acquittal. Just as soon as the verdict was rendered he would send Timothy with that information. If he should be condemned to death, he would of course have no further occasion for Timothys services, and if he should be acquitted, he could then spare Timothys services for a season to visit them and give them full information and encouragement.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
so: 1Sa 22:3
Reciprocal: Phi 2:19 – to send
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
(Php 2:23.) -Him, then, I hope to send immediately-. is placed emphatically – corresponding to of the following verse, and taking up again and repeating, after the break, what has been said in Php 2:19. , Mar 6:25; Act 10:33.
-whenever I shall have seen how it will go with me. The form is supposed to have arisen from the pronunciation of the word with the digamma (Winer, 5, 1), and is found in A, B1, D1, F, G; Jon 4:5. The seems to be local, as in many other verbs compounded with it-prospicere. The verb, used only here, is followed by the simple accusative, but sometimes by and . Herod. 4.22; Joseph. Antiq. 2.6, 1; 4Ma 17:23. See under Php 1:20. The phrase -the things about me-may have in it the idea of development. The idiom marks the writer’s uncertainty as to the time when the events which are the subject of shall take place. Chrysostom’s paraphrase is . The apostle, as long as his fate was undetermined, wished to keep Timothy with him. When there might be a decision he could not tell, only he hoped it would be soon; and as soon as he could ascertain the issue, he would at once despatch Timothy to Philippi. But he has, at the same time, a persuasion that he will speedily visit them himself.
Fuente: Commentary on the Greek Text of Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Phillipians
Php 2:23. Paul did not plan to send Timothy at once; not until he saw how It went with him. This means the case that was pending before the Roman authorities.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Php 2:23. Him therefore I hope to send forth-with. The adverb here implies that the prospect appeared very immediate. There must have been a constant fluctuation of mind for the apostle in this imprisonment, for he had arrived at Rome (Act 28:21) before any charge against him had been forwarded to the Jewish community, and yet the manner in which he had appealed was sufficient warrant for keeping him in custody in expectation of the charges which might be laid against him.
so soon as I shall see now it will go with me. Of course, if he could let Timothy go to them, it would be because he did not need his presence so much, and that would indicate that his cause was going on satisfactorily. Something of this is also intimated in the Greek verb, which has the sense of seeing both clearly and to some distance forward.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 23
How it will go with me; in respect to the result of his imprisonment.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
The verse begins "This one" in the Greek text, which draws attention to Timothy’s qualifications. Paul hoped, the Lord willing, to send Timothy to Philippi with a report of the apostle’s situation and plans as soon as he knew the result of his trial. Evidently Paul expected that a decision in his case would be forthcoming soon. Both for the love of the Philippian church and for the effectiveness of his ministry, Paul wanted his friends to know about his situation. In this he set us a good example.