Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Philippians 4:12
I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
12. to be abased ] “To be low,” in resources and comforts. The word is used in classical Greek of a river running low.
to abound ] as now, in the plenty the Philippians had provided. This experience, as well as the opposite, called for the skill of grace.
every where and in all things ] Lit., in everything and in all things; in the details and total of experience.
I am instructed ] I have been initiated; “ I have learned the secret ” (R.V.). The Greek verb is akin to the words, mysts, mystrion, and means to initiate a candidate into the hidden tenets and worship of the “Mysteries”; systems of religion in the Hellenic world derived perhaps from prehistoric times, and jealously guarded by their votaries. Admission to their arcana, as into Freemasonry now, was sought even by the most cultured; with the special hope, apparently, of a peculiar immunity from evil in this life and the next. See Smith’s Dict. of Greek and Roman Antiquities. It is evident that St Paul’s adoption of such a word for the discovery of the “open secrets” of the Gospel is beautifully suggestive. Lightfoot remarks that we have the same sort of adoption in his frequent use (and our Lord’s, Mat 13:11; Mar 4:11; Luk 8:10; and see Rev 1:20; Rev 10:7; Rev 17:5; Rev 17:7) of the word “ mystery ” for a revealed secret of doctrine or prophecy.
to be full ] R.V., to be filled. The Greek verb is the same as e.g. Mat 5:6; Mat 14:20. St Paul uses it only here. Its first meaning was “to give fodder to cattle,” but it lost this lower reference in later Greek (Lightfoot).
hungry ] No doubt often in stern reality. Cp. 1Co 4:11.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
I know both how to be abased – To be in circumstances of want.
And I know how to abound – To have an abundance. lie had been in circumstances where he had an ample supply for all his needs, and knew what it was to have enough. It requires as much grace to keep the heart right in prosperity, as it does in adversity, and perhaps more. Adversity, of itself, does something to keep the mind in a right state; prosperity does nothing.
Everywhere and in all things – In all my travels and imprisonments, and in reference to everything that occurs, I learn important lessons on these points.
I am instructed – The word used here – memuemai – is one that is commonly used in relation to mysteries, and denoted being instructed in the secret doctrines that were taught in the ancient mysteries – Passow. In those mysteries, it was only the initiated who were made acquainted with the lessons that were taught there. Paul says that he had been initiated into the lessons taught by trials and by prosperity. The secret and important lessons which these schools of adversity are fitted to teach, he had had an ample opportunity of learning; and he had faithfully embraced the doctrines thus taught.
Both to be full – That is, he had learned to have an ample supply of his needs, and yet to observe the laws of temperance and soberness, and to cherish gratitude for the mercies which he had enjoyed.
And to be hungry – That is, to be in circumstances of want, and yet not to murmur or complain. He had learned to bear all this without discontent. This was then, as it is now, no easy lesson to learn; and it is not improper to suppose that, when Paul says that he had been instructed in this, even he means to say that it was only by degrees that he had acquired it. It is a lesson which we slowly learn, not to complain at the allotments of Providence; not to be envious at the prosperity of others; not to repine when our comforts are removed. There may be another idea suggested here. The condition of Paul was not always the same. He passed through great reverses. At one time he had abundance; then he was reduced to want; now he was in a state which might be regarded as affluent; then he was brought down to extreme poverty. Yesterday, he was poor and hungry; today, all his necessities are supplied.
Now, it is in these sudden reverses that grace is most needed, and in these rapid changes of life that it is most difficult to learn the lessons of calm contentment. People get accustomed to an even tenor of life, no matter what it is, and learn to shape their temper and their calculations according to it. But these lessons of philosophy vanish when they pass suddenly from one extreme to another, and find their condition in life suddenly changed. The garment that was adapted to weather of an uniform temperature, whether of heat or cold, fails to be suited to our needs when these transitions rapidly succeed each other. Such changes are constantly occurring in life. God tries his people, not by a steady course of prosperity, or by long-continued and uniform adversity, but by transition from the one to the other; and it often happens that the grace which would have been sufficient for either continued prosperity or adversity, would fail in the transition from the one to the other.
Hence, new grace is imparted for this new form of trial, and new traits of Christian character are developed in these rapid transitions in life, as some of the most beautiful exhibitions of the laws of matter are brought out in the transitions produced in chemistry. The rapid changes from heat to cold, or from a solid to a gaseous state, develop properties before unknown, and acquaint us much more intimately with the wonderful works of God. The gold or the diamond, unsubjected to the action of intense heat, and to the changes produced by the powerful agents brought to bear on them, might have continued to shine with steady beauty and brilliancy; but we should never have witnessed the special beauty and brilliancy which may be produced in rapid chemical changes. And so there is many a beautiful trait of character which would never have been known by either continued prosperity or adversity. There might have been always a beautiful exhibition of virtue and piety, but not tidal special manifestation which is produced in the transitions from the one to the other.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Php 4:12
I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound
The Christian
I.
Expects vicissitude.
II. Knows how to adapt himself to all circumstances.
III. Is instructed by the spirit of God. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
How to be abased
During the periods between the paroxysms of the fever, Cromwell occupied the time with listening to passages from the sacred volume, or by a resigned or despairing reference to the death of his daughter. Read to me, he said to his wife, in one of these intervals, the Epistle to the Philippians. She read these words: I know both how to be abased, and–the reader paused. That verse, said the Protector, once saved my life when the death of my eldest born, the infant Oliver, pierced my heart like the sharp blade of a poignard. (Lamartine.)
The knowledge of properly using abundance
Paul had the double knowledge, How to be abased and how to abound. The two are not distinctly separable–each in some way conditions the other. There is far too little of the knowledge how to abound. Few men who abound come asking how to abound. Men think it hard enough to get rich, but a very easy thing to be rich. No man has a right to be anything unless he has the knowledge of how to be that thing. When Paul says, I know how to abound, he is thinking of anything which makes life pleasant and ample–of money, of scholarship, of friendship, of great spiritual hopes and experiences. Paul did not have all these, and yet he had the knowledge of how to use them. The power by which he could rob abundance of its dangers was the knowledge of the true perfection of a soul in serving Christ. All men do not know how to be rich. The generous, sympathetic, active, kind, rich man knows how to be rich. What is more pitiable than the blunderer who holds wealth and knows not how to use it? There is also needed a knowledge of how to know truth. Here is a scholar who can give you any information, and yet you feel no enrichment. He has no deep convictions, no faith. He has grown less human. He values his knowledge as a botanist his specimens, and not as a gardener his plants. The highest knowledge comes by reverence and devotedness to God. (Phillips Brooks, D. D.)
The difficulty of managing prosperity
Manton says: A garment which is too long trails in the mire and soon becomes a dirty rag; and it is easy for large estates to become much the same. It is a hard lesson to learn to abound (Php 4:12). We say such a one would do well to be a lord or a lady; but it is a harder thing than we think it to be. It is hard to carry a full cup with a steady hand. High places are dizzy places, and full many have fallen to their eternal ruin through climbing aloft without having grace to look up. The simile of the trailing garment used by Manton is simple, but instructive. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
I am instructed.
Initiation into the mysteries
Formerly rendered: I have been instructed, it is given in the Revised Version, I have been taught the secret; while Lightfoot still more adequately brings out the meaning: I have been initiated, I possess the secret. That is what the Greek word means. And here we have one of many examples where a word of strong heathen association is baptized afresh, and consecrated to signify a new and loftier range of thoughts. What these words meant for a serious and good man, from the heathen point of view, was that he had been admitted to communicate in the mysteries, as the great sacramental services of Paganism were called. He had taken part in solemn baptisms, expressing the need of the purification of the soul. He had listened to an awful proclamation from an officiating minister, warning off all murderers and all barbarians, and, in later times, perhaps, all atheists, and Epicureans, and Christians. For these secret sacred rites were intended only for men of Greek blood; and it was thought neither pleasing to the gods nor good for the State that strangers should intrude upon these solemnities. And then, in these ceremonies themselves, he had been made to pass through experiences which could never be forgotten as long as he lived. His imagination was appealed to both through eye and through ear. He saw the representation of wanderings through the darkness, as amidst some maze; shapes of horror were revealed, and his soul was filled with trembling and terror. He was made to pass through a kind of mental proof or purgatory. Then all was changed. There was a sudden illumination; the scenery of beautiful pastures was disclosed; there was music, and dancing, and joy; and he walked in sweet converse with the pious and the good. At the crowning point of the service he was rapt away in an ecstasy of beholding, a species of beatific vision. He seemed to see the meaning of life, its beginning and its end; he beheld the wicked wallowing in filth and the righteous in Paradise–a blessed climate, where all the conditions of spiritual and physical good were realized. On the whole, these sacramental services exerted a very wholesome effect upon the con sciences of the people. They learned to meditate on death and eternity, on the need of the soul being prepared for its future, on the punishment of the wicked and the blessedness of the just. One of the Athenian orators, in boasting to his fellow citizens of the glories of their native land, refers to the great mysteries as imparting good hopes for eternity. If we ask the question how it was that these institutions died away in course of time, the simple answer seems to be that, in part, they were overcome by the superior spirituality and energy of our own religion; partly that they had themselves waxed corrupt, and had become sources of corruption, though originally good. However, the rites of which we have been speaking went on for a long time, for several centuries after Paul. When this letter was read in the Church of Philippi many, possibly all, of the Gentile members were initiated persons. And when this solemn word: I have been initiated, fell upon their ear, it must have vibrated in all its power through their imagination. They must have felt that their beloved teacher was giving a quite new turn to the word. The old sacramental and pictorial associations had vanished; and in place of them there was a deep, central, spiritual truth spoken of as the secret of Paul. What was this secret? It is expressed again by a single word, content. (Professor E. Johnson.)
The secret of contentment
It was the beautiful expression of a Christian, who had been rich, when he was asked how he could bear his reduced state so happily, When I was rich, I had God in everything, and now I am poor I have everything in God.
The value of contentment
Contentment is the best food to preserve a sound man, and the best medicine to restore a sick man. It resembles the gilt on nauseous pills, which makes a man take them without tasting their bitterness. Contentment will make a cottage look as fair as a palace. He is not a poor man that hath but little, but he is a poor man that wants much. (William Seeker.)
The secret explained
Making a days excursion from Botzen, in the Tyrol, we went along the very narrowest of roads, mere alleys, to which our country lanes would be turnpike roads. Well, you may be sure that we did not engage an ordinary broad carriage, for that would have found the passage as difficult as the needles eye to the camel; but our landlord had a very narrow chaise for us–just the very thing for threading those four-feet passages. Now, I must make you hear the moral of it, you fretful little gentlemen. When you have a small estate, you must have small wants, and by contentment suit your carriage to your road. Not so easy, say you? Very necessary to a Christian, say I. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 12. I know – how to be abased] I have passed through all these states; I know how to conduct myself in each, and how to extract good from all. And he had passed through these things, especially the hardships, so that he had learned the lesson perfectly, as the word implies; he was thoroughly instructed; fully initiated into all the mysteries of poverty and want, and of the supporting hand of God in the whole. See here the state to which God permitted his chief apostle to be reduced! And see how powerfully the grace of Christ supported him under the whole! How few of those who are called Christian ministers or Christian men have learned this important lesson! When want or affliction comes, their complaints are loud and frequent; and they are soon at the end of their patience.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He explains the equality of his mind he had through grace attained to, in a free submission to God, either in the absence or affluence of external good things.
I know both how to be abased; in a mean and ignominious state, he had spiritual skill to exercise suitable graces without murmuring, or repining when trampled on, 1Co 4:11; 2Co 11:27; having entirely resigned his will to the will of God.
And I know how to abound; in a higher state, had in much esteem, and well accommodated.
Every where and in all things I am instructed; yea, in all circumstances religiously initiated and taught, fortified against temptations on all hands.
Both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need; when faring well, and having a large revenue, to be temperate, 1Co 9:25, humble, and communicative, 1Ti 6:18. When hungry and poor, not to be distressed, but confident our heavenly Father will provide enough in his season, Mat 6:32; 7:11; 2Co 4:8, giving an elixir at present that will turn all into gold.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. abasedin lowcircumstances (2Co 4:8; 2Co 6:9;2Co 6:10).
everywhererather, “ineach, and in all things” [ALFORD].
instructedin thesecret. Literally, “initiated” in a secret teaching, whichis a mystery unknown to the world.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
I know both how to be abased,…. Or “humbled”; to be treated with indignity and contempt, to be trampled upon by man, to suffer hardships and distress, to be in a very mean and low condition, to work with his own hands, and minister to his own and the necessities of others in that way; yea, to be in hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness, and have no certain dwelling place; and he knew how to behave under all this; not to be depressed and cast down, or to fret, repine, and murmur:
and I know how to abound; or “to excel”; to be in the esteem of men, and to have an affluence of the things of this world, and how to behave in the midst of plenty; so as not to be lifted up, to be proud and haughty, and injurious to fellow creatures; so as not to abuse the good things of life; and so as to use them to the honour of God, the interest of religion, and the good of fellow creatures, and fellow Christians:
every where; whether among Jews or Gentiles, at Jerusalem or at Rome, or at whatsoever place; or as the Arabic version renders it, “every time”: always, in every season, whether of adversity or prosperity:
and in all things; in all circumstances of life:
I am instructed; or “initiated”, as he was by the Gospel; and, ever since he embraced it, was taught this lesson of contentment, and inured to the exercise of it, and was trained up and instructed how to behave himself in the different changes and vicissitudes he came into:
both to be full, and to be hungry; to know what it was to have plenty and want, to have a full meal and to want one, and be almost starved and famished, and how to conduct under such different circumstances:
both to abound and to suffer need; which the apostle repeats for confirmation sake; and the whole of what he here says is an explanation of the lesson of contentment he had learned; and the knowledge he speaks of was not speculative but experimental, and lay not merely in theory, but in practice; and now lest he should be thought guilty of arrogance, and to ascribe too much to himself, he in Php 4:13 attributes all to the power and grace of Christ.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
I know how (). Followed by the infinitive has this sense. So here twice, with , to be humbled, from , and with , to overflow.
Have I learned the secret (). Perfect passive indicative of , old and common word from , to close (Latin mutus), and so to initiate with secret rites, here only in N.T. The common word (mystery) is from (one initiated) and this from , to initiate, to instruct in secrets. Paul draws this metaphor from the initiatory rites of the pagan mystery-religions.
To be filled (). Old verb from (grass, hay) and so to fatten like an animal.
To be hungry (). Old verb from (hunger) and kin to , poor man who has to work for his living ().
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
I am instructed [] . Rev., have I learned the secret. The metaphor is from the initiatory rites of the pagan mysteries. I have been initiated. See on Col 1:26.
To be full [] . See on Mt 5:6.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “I know both how to be abased” (oida kai tapeinousthai) “I know both (how), or what it is, to be humbled,” to be low in resources, material necessities and comforts. The term translated abased means “like a river running low.”
2) “And I know how to abound” (oida kai perisseuein) “And I know (what it is) to abound,” to go forward, be buoyed on and up, 2Co 1:5; 2Co 8:7; 2Co 9:8; 1Th 3:12; 1Th 4:1; 2Pe 1:8.
3) “Everywhere and in all things” (en panti kai en pasin) In everything and in all things,” Rom 3:7; Rom 5:15; Rom 5:20.
4) “I am instructed” (memuemai) “I have been initiated, have learned the secret, Act 20:33-34; Deu 8:11-12; Deu 8:14; Deu 8:17-18.
5) “Both to be full and to be hungry (kai chartazesthai kai peinan) “both to be filled and to hunger,” Job 31:24-28.
6) “Both to abound and to suffer need” (kai periseueln kai hustereisthai) “both to abound and to lack,” to be in need, how to deport myself in every condition, Pro 30:8-9.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
12 I know both how to be abased There follows here a distinction, with the view of intimating that he has a mind adapted to bear any kind of condition. (248) Prosperity is wont to puff up the mind beyond measure, and adversity, on the other hand, to depress. From both faults he declares himself to be free. I know, says he, to be abased — that is, to endure abasement with patience. Περισσεύειν is made use of twice, but in the former instance it is employed as meaning, to excel; in the second instance as meaning, to abound, so as to correspond with the things to which they are exposed. If a man knows to make use of present abundance in a sober and temperate manner, with thanksgiving, prepared to part with everything whenever it may be the good pleasure of the Lord, giving also a share to his brother, according to the measure of his ability, and is also not puffed up, that man has learned to excel, and to abound. This is a peculiarly excellent and rare virtue, and much superior to the endurance of poverty. Let all who wish to be Christ’s disciples exercise themselves in acquiring this knowledge which was possessed by Paul, but in the mean time let them accustom themselves to the endurance of poverty in such a manner that it will not be grievous and burdensome to them when they come to be deprived of their riches.
(248) “ Il fait yci vne diuision, disant qu’il est tellement dispose en son coeur qu’il scait se cornporter et en prosperite et en adversite;” — “He makes a distinction here, saying that he is prepared in his mind in such a manner, that he knows how to conduct himself both in prosperity and in adversity.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(12) Every where and in all things.The original has no such distinction of the two words. It is, in all and everything; in life as a whole, and in all its separate incidents.
I am instructed.The word again is a peculiar and almost technical word. It is, I have been instructed; I have learnt the secreta phrase properly applied to men admitted into such mysteries as the Eleusinian, enshrining a secret unknown except to the initiated; secondarily, as the context would seem to suggest, to those who entered the inner circle of an exclusive philosophy, learning there what the common herd could neither understand nor care for. A Stoic might well have used these words. There is even a touch of the Stoical contempt in the word to be full, which properly applies to cattle, though frequently used of men in the New Testament. Perhaps, like all ascetics, they mostly knew how to suffer need, better than how to abound. But a Marcus Aurelius might have boldly claimed the knowledge of both.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. I know As the result of having learned. He had been in poverty and want, and again in sufficiency and more, without murmuring in the one, or elation in the other. He knew the two extremes of fulness and hunger, of superfluity and necessity, and was fully initiated into both.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘I know how to be abased, and I know also how to abound. In everything and in all things I have learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in want. I can do all things in him who strengthens me.’
And he takes the opportunity to strengthen the resolve of the Philippians in terms of his own example. Let them learn from his own behaviour, for who could know when they might be called on to face something of what he had faced? So he points out that he knows how to be abased (how to be humbled – compare Php 2:8) without it affecting him unduly or upsetting him too much, and in contrast how to abound without it being a hindrance to his work. The latter indeed could have been more spiritually dangerous, for he would often have been feted and adulated by the churches that he visited. But he had learned to cope with it. Indeed he had learned to cope with whatever situation he had to face. He had ‘learned the secret’ (the word regularly means being initiated into something as a novitiate) of both being filled (well feasted by those who had provided him with hospitality) and being hungry (when no hospitality was available), without it making any difference to him. It was something that God had initiated him into. And thereby he had learned to cope with ‘abounding’ at times when there was no shortage of money, (money which he could have called on for himself, but would not), and with being in want, when money was lacking and he had to fend for himself. Neither situation affected him, because he was able to do ‘anything’ through Christ Who strengthened and provisioned him whatever the circumstances. (And the indication was that the same was true for them). In that indeed lay his secret. It was that he had the mind of Christ. And all that he did, he did as one who walked continually with the all-sufficient Christ, so that he could boldly say, ‘I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me’.
‘I have learned the secret.’ The word was used of the initiation of a novitiate into the mysteries. Others boasted of divine mysteries learned. His boast was that God had taught him not to be concerned about whatever situation he was in, because God was active in the world.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Php 4:12. I am instructed “I find myself initiated, as it were, into this great mystery.” This is well known to be the peculiar sense of the word ; and it seems as if the Apostle, by the choice of this peculiar word, meant to intimate to his Greek readers, how much he esteemed the good dispositions of mind here spoken of, beyond all their boasted instructions, whatever mysteries they might be supposed to contain. See Doddridge, Grotius, and Stockius.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Phi 4:12 . Paul now specifies this his (in Plat. Def . p. 412 B, termed ).
] I understand how (1Th 4:4 ; Col 4:6 ; 1Ti 3:5 ; Mat 7:11 ; Soph. Aj . 666 f.; Anth. Pal. vii. 440. 5 ff.); [190] result of the .
]. also to be abased , namely, by want, distress, and other allotted circumstances which place the person affected by them in the condition of abasement. Paul understands this, inasmuch as he knows how to bear himself in the right attitude to such allotted circumstances, namely, in such a way that, independently thereof, he finds his sufficiency in himself, and does not seek it in that which he lacks. We find a commentary on this in 2Co 4:8 ; 2Co 6:9-10 . is to be understood analogously, of the right attitude to the matter, so that one is not led away by abundance to find his satisfaction in the latter instead of in himself. Pelagius well says: “ut nec abundantia extollar , nec frangar inopia.”
The first adds to the general the special statement on the one side, to which thereupon the second “ also ” adds the counterpart. The contrast , however, is less adequate here than subsequently in , for is a more comprehensive idea than the counterpart of , and also contains a figurative conception. Some such expression as would have been adequate as the contrast of . (Mat 23:12 ; 2Co 11:7 ; Phi 2:8-9 ; Polyb. v. 26. 12). There is a lively versatility of conception, from not perceiving which some have given to this ( to have a superfluity ) the explanation excellere (Erasmus, Vatablus, Calvin), or to . the meaning to be poor, to be in pitiful plight , , Theophylact (Estius and others; comp. also Cornelius a Lapide, Grotius, Rheinwald, Matthies, Baumgarten-Crusius, de Wette, Hofmann), which even the LXX., Lev 25:39 , does not justify.
In what follows, . is not to be regarded as belonging to and (Hofmann), but is to be joined with . We are dissuaded from the former connection by the very repetition of the ; and the latter is recommended by the great emphasis, which rests upon . heading the last clause, as also by the correlative at the head of Phi 4:13 . Further, no comma is to be placed after , nor is to be explained as meaning: “ into everything I am initiated ,” and then . . . as elucidating the notion of “ everything ”: “cum re qualicunque omnibusque, tam saturitate et fame, quam abundantia et penuria, tantam contraxi familiaritatem, ut rationem teneam iis bene utendi,” van Hengel; comp. de Wette, Rilliet, Wiesinger; so also, on the whole, Chrysostom, Erasmus, Estius, and many others, but with different interpretations of and . This view is at variance with the fact, that has that into which one is initiated expressed not by means of , but and that most usually in the accusative (Herod, ii. 51; Plat. Gorg . p. 497 C, Symp . p. 209 E; Aristoph. Plut . 845 ( ); Lucian, Philop . 14), or in the dative (Lucian, Demon . 11), or genitive (Heliod. i. 17; Herodian, i. 13. 16); hence . , or . , or . must have been written (in 3Ma 2:30 it has with the accusative). No; Paul says that in everything and in all , that is, under every relation that may occur and in all circumstances, he is initiated into , that is, made completely familiar with, as well the being satisfied as the being hungry, as well the having superfluity as want; in all situations, without exception, he quite understands how to assume and maintain the right attitude to these different experiences, which in Phi 4:11 he characterizes by the words . . is accordingly to be taken after the analogy of , Phi 4:11 , and therefore as neuter . It was purely arbitrary to render : ubique (Vulgate, Castalio, Beza, Calvin, and many others), or to refer it to time (Chrysostom, Grotius), or to time and place (Theophylact, Erasmus, and others, also Matthies). Luther and Bengel explain correctly as neuter, but make (as in 2Co 11:6 ) masculine (Bengel: “respectu omnium hominum”). It is not necessary to supply anything to either of the two words; and as to the alternation of the singular and plural, which only indicates the total absence of any exception (comp. analogous expressions in Lobeck, Paral , p. 56 ff.), there is no occasion for artificial explanation.
In German we say: in Allem und Jedem [in all and each], Comp. on on Col 1:18 . With strange arbitrariness Hofmann makes . denote everything that is a necessary of life (in detail and in whole). In that case certainly the contrast of . and is unsuitable!
] the proper word for the various grades of initiation into the mysteries (Casaubon, Exerc. Baron , p. 390 ff.; Lobeck, Aglaoph . I. p. 38 ff.) is here used in a figurative sense, like initiatum esse , of a special, unusual, not by every one attainable, familiar acquaintance with something. See Munthe, Obss . p. 383; Jacobs, ad Anthol . III. p. 488. The opposite is .
The climax should here be noticed, . Phi 4:13 places beyond doubt to whom the apostle owes this lofty spiritual superiority over all outward circumstances. As to the later form instead of , see Lobeck, ad Phryn . p. 61; Jacobs, ad Ael . II. p. 261.
[190] It is the moral understanding, having its seat in the character. Comp. Ameis, Anh. z. Hom. Od. ix. 189.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
Ver. 12. I know both how, &c. ] Sound bodies can bear sudden alternations of heat and cold: so cannot distempered bodies.
Both how to be abased ] So Chilo (one of the seven wise men of Greece) said to his brother, who took it ill that he was not chosen to be one of the judges, I know how to be injuriously dealt with; but I hardly believe him. a Socrates also could tell Archelaus, that offered him large revenues, My mind and mine estate are matches. b But flesh and blood could never carry him so far, for all his saying so. It is God alone that fashioneth a man’s heart to his estate, Psa 33:15 , as a suit of clothes is fitted to the body.
I am instructed ] , I am initiated; I am a young scholar, newly entered in this high point of heavenly learning of Christian practice. I have entered into religion, as it were, I have consecrated myself (the word is wondrous significant) and am religiously taught it; I see it is a mystery, but I have got the mastery of it.
To suffer want ] Either patiently to wait for what I desire, or contentedly to lack what God denieth.
a . Laert.
b Arrian. apud Stobaeum.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
12 .] See above. I know (by this teaching) also (the first expresses that, besides the general finding of competence in all circumstances, he specially has been taught to suffer humiliation and to bear abundance. See Ellic.’s note) how to be brought low (generally: but here especially by need , in humiliation of circumstances.
Meyer remarks that 2Co 4:8 ; 2Co 6:9-10 , are a commentary on this), I know also ( as before, or as an addition to ) how to abound ( , as Wies. remarks, would be the proper general opposite: but he chooses the special one, which fits the matter of which he is treating): in every thing (not as vulg., E. V., all., ‘ every where ,’ nor ‘ at every time ,’ as Chrys., Grot., nor both, as Thl., &c.: but as usually in St. Paul: see ref. and note) and in all things (not, as Luth., Beng., ‘ respectu omnium hominum :’ , , . , c.: the expression conveys universality , as ‘ in each and all ,’ with us) I have been taught the lesson (‘ initiated :’ but no stress to be laid, as by Beng., ‘disciplina arcana imbutus sum, ignota mundo:’ see the last example below. Beware (against Wiesinger) of joining with . , initiated in, &c. ; the verb is (against Ellicott) not constructed with , but with an accusative of the person and the thing ( ), which last accusative remains with the passive: so , Anthol. ix. 162, , Plato, Symp. p. 209. The present construction, with an infinitive, occurs, Alciphr. ii. 4, ) both to be satiated and to hunger (the forms , , for – , seem to have come in with Macedonian influence: being found first in Aristotle; see Lobeck in Phryn. p. 61), both to abound and to be in need .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Phi 4:12 . . . . must be read with all good authorities. The one must be correlative to the other, unless he intended to continue the sentence without the second (see an excellent note on in N.T. in Ell [56] . ad loc. He defines somewhat too minutely). Examples of the infinitive after are to be found in classical Greek. . The best comment on this is 2Co 11:7 , . There it means, “keeping myself low” (in respect of the needs of daily life). Moule aptly quotes Diod., i., 36 (speaking of the Nile), = “runs low”. . . . A vague, general phrase = “in all circumstances of life”. It has no immediate connexion with ( Cf. a similar expression in Xen., Hell. , 7, 5, 12, and or in Thucyd., Soph., etc.). . The verb was originally used of one initiated into the Mysteries. It came (like our own “initiated”) to lose its technical sense. But the word probably implies a difficult process to be gone through. Cf. Psa 25:14 : “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and He will show them His covenant” (Vaughan), and Wis 8:4 , . In later ecclesiastical usage = a baptised Christian (an instructive hint as to the growth of dogma). See Anrich, Das Antike Mysterienwesen , p. 158. . goes closely with the infinitives following. Cf. Alciphron, 2, 4 ad fin. , . is a strong word, used originally of the feeding of animals, which gradually became colourless in the colloquial language (see Sources of N.T. Greek , p. 82). should be written without iota subscript . It is contracted here with as usually in later Greek. See Phrynichus (ed. Lobeck), 61, 204. So always in LXX. has the rare meaning “to be in want” (absol.), or rather (in middle), “to feel want”. Cf. 2Co 11:9 , and esp [57] . Sir 11:11 , , .
[56] Ellicott.
[57] especially.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
know. App-132.
be abased. See Php 2:8, and 2Co 11:7.
every where = in (App-104.) every (place),
am instructed. Literally have been initiated into the secret. Gr mueo, to initiate, whence is derived musterion,
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
12.] See above. I know (by this teaching) also (the first expresses that, besides the general finding of competence in all circumstances, he specially has been taught to suffer humiliation and to bear abundance. See Ellic.s note) how to be brought low (generally: but here especially by need, in humiliation of circumstances.
Meyer remarks that 2Co 4:8; 2Co 6:9-10, are a commentary on this), I know also ( as before, or as an addition to ) how to abound (, as Wies. remarks, would be the proper general opposite: but he chooses the special one, which fits the matter of which he is treating): in every thing (not as vulg., E. V., all., every where, nor at every time, as Chrys., Grot.,-nor both, as Thl., &c.:-but as usually in St. Paul: see ref. and note) and in all things (not, as Luth., Beng., respectu omnium hominum: , , . , c.: the expression conveys universality, as in each and all, with us) I have been taught the lesson (initiated: but no stress to be laid, as by Beng., disciplina arcana imbutus sum, ignota mundo: see the last example below. Beware (against Wiesinger) of joining with . , initiated in, &c.; the verb is (against Ellicott) not constructed with , but with an accusative of the person and the thing ( ), which last accusative remains with the passive: so , Anthol. ix. 162,- , Plato, Symp. p. 209. The present construction, with an infinitive, occurs, Alciphr. ii. 4, ) both to be satiated and to hunger (the forms , , for -, seem to have come in with Macedonian influence: being found first in Aristotle; see Lobeck in Phryn. p. 61), both to abound and to be in need.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Php 4:12. , to be abased) in dress and food.-, to abound) even in relieving others. The order of the words is presently inverted, so that the transition from few to many, and from many to few, may be marked.- , in everything [Engl. Ver. everywhere]) A Symperasma,[56] as all things, Php 4:13.- , in the case of all) in respect of all men [Engl. Ver. In all things].-) I am trained (initiated) in a secret discipline unknown to the world.- , both to be full) construed with I am initiated.- , to be full and to be hungry) for one day.- , to abound and to suffer need) for a longer time. The repeated mention of the abounding is consonant with the condition of Paul, who then abounded in consequence of the liberality of the Philippians. Abasement had preceded, and need would perhaps follow. He who can relieve others has ample means and high position (amplitudinem), to which abasement is opposed.
[56] See App. It is the comprehending in a brief summary what has been previously stated.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Php 4:12
Php 4:12
I know how to be abased,-He knew how to be brought low, to suffer need, to submit to straitened circumstances.
[This was the result of the lesson he had learned. The meaning attached to the word abased, is illustrated by what Paul said to the Corinthians: Or did I commit a sin in abasing myself that ye might be exalted, because I preached to you the gospel of God for nought? (2Co 11:7), where the sense of keeping myself low could have been made with reference to his working as a tent-maker, but more probably pointing to the comparative poverty which was the result of his self-denying action. So it comes to denote any form of adversity, a going down into reproach, poverty, or sorrow.]
and I know also how to abound:-[To overflow; the very antithesis of the thought in to be abased.] He had experienced both extremes, but had learned how to accommodate himself to both conditions and to be content with much or little. He had so exalted the spiritual and eternal interests and considerations in contrast with these temporal matters that they had become nothing to him. He bore it for the sake of Christ, and he found such spiritual riches in him that the hunger was nothing.
in everything and in all things-In every case individually, and in all cases collectively. [Every individual circumstance of life, and life as a whole.]
have I learned the secret-The original, from which our English word mystery is derived, denotes the act of initiation into the secrets and privileges of the Mystery Religions of Greece and the East. From its use in connection with the mysteries the term came to have the sense of to become familiar with, which is the meaning here-I have been initiated into, have become familiar with, the secret.
both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in want.-The word filled originally denoted the feeding of animals with grass from which it came to have the meaning of to be filled to repletion. Jesus said: Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. (Mat 5:6). Paul had known both lots, and was prepared for either, just as it pleased God to send.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
how to be: 1Co 4:9-13, 2Co 6:4-10, 2Co 10:1, 2Co 10:10, 2Co 11:7, 2Co 11:27, 2Co 12:7-10
I am: Deu 32:10, Neh 9:20, Isa 8:11, Jer 31:19, Mat 11:29, Mat 13:52, Eph 4:20, Eph 4:21
Reciprocal: Gen 33:11 – and because Exo 2:21 – content 1Ki 13:14 – sitting Est 5:13 – Yet all this Pro 19:23 – shall abide Luk 6:25 – full Act 28:10 – laded 1Co 4:11 – unto Phi 4:18 – abound Heb 13:5 – and be
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
(Php 4:12.) , -I know also to be abased, I know also to abound. The after the first is accepted on preponderant authority, instead of the of the common text. In the apostle speaks not of the results, but of the sources of . And that knowledge was not one-sided, or an acquaintance with only one aspect of life- . The first is also, connecting special instances with the previous general statement. Winer, 53, 3. The verb here refers to condition, not to mental state. Lev 25:39; Pro 13:7; 2Co 11:7. Its opposite is not employed, but another verb of a more general nature. For the apostle did not mean to mark such a narrow contrast as-I know also to be elevated; but he writes . This second , not in itself but from the sense, contrasts as it connects. The two verbs are not to be taken in any confined signification, but with a general sense as indicative of two opposite states; the one marking depression and want, and the other sufficiency and more. The repetition of exhibits the earnest fulness of his heart; and the rhetoric is even a proof of his uniform satisfaction and complacency, for he writes as equably of the one condition as of the other. He does not curse his poverty, nor sting with satirical epithets, but he verifies the remark . Nay, warming with his subject, he adds in higher emphasis-
-in everything and in all things I have been initiated. It seems a refinement on the part of many to define the two adjectives separately. Thus Luther takes the first as neuter, and the second as masculine; Conybeare renders, in all things, and among all men; while Chrysostom refers to time, and Beza and Calvin to place, following the reading of the Vulgate-ubique. To supply either or is too precise. 2Co 9:8; 2Co 11:6. The phrase, in its repetition, expresses the unlimited sphere of initiation. We cannot follow Meyer and Alford in connecting the phrase so closely with the two following infinitives. For if the infinitives stand as direct accusatives to , then we should almost expect the definite article to precede them. Khner, 643. It is true that this verb usually governs two accusatives of person and thing, and in the passive has the latter, and that the thing into which one is initiated is put in the accusative, and not in the dative preceded by . But we do not regard the phrase as pointing out that in which he was instructed, but as an adverbial formula showing the universality of the initiation, and not its objects. Nay, opposites or extremes are chosen to show the warrant he had for the sweeping assertion- . Nor do we, with Meyer, regard it as analogous to , but simply as qualifying ; while the infinitives are generally illustrative of the entire clause, as well of the objects of initiation as of the universality. The verb is borrowed from the nomenclature of the Grecian mysteries, and signifies the learning of something with preparatory toil and discipline. Hesychius defines by . There is no idea of secret training-disciplina arcana, as Bengel puts it. The Greek Fathers explain it by ; but it is more than this, for it is not simply to have experience, but to have profited, or to have been instructed by that experience. 3Ma 2:30; Mnthe, Observat. p. 383. I am instructed-
, -both to be filled and to be famished, both to abound and to be in want. , literally to feed with hay or grass, represents the Hebrew , H8425 in the Septuagint, and is a word of the later Greek in its application to persons. Sturz, De Dialecto Maced. pp. 200-202. It is used frequently in the Gospels. The peculiar form for also belongs to the later writers. Phryn. Lobeck, p. 61; A. Buttmann, p. 38; Winer, 13, 3. has its proper antithesis in . The apostle’s experience had led him to touch both extremes. It was not uniform penury under which he was content. The scene was checkered-shadow and sunshine-no unmanly depression in the one, no undue elation in the other. Equable, contented, patient, and hopeful was he in every condition. The verbs employed by the apostle are –, but they do not form a climax, as some suppose. The first is general, and looks to experiential result, or the lesson of contentment. How he came to that lesson he tells us in , and how he acquired this knowledge he says in . See Suicer, sub voce. There was first the initiation into the various states, then the consequent knowledge of their nature, and lastly, the great practical lesson of contentment which was learned under them. The apostle waxes yet bolder, and exclaims-
Fuente: Commentary on the Greek Text of Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Phillipians
Php 4:12. The apostle would not pretend to see something favorable where nothing of the kind existed. The terms abased and abound; full and hungry; abound and need, are sets of opposite terms that are used figuratively, intended to enlarge upon the thoughts of verse 11.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Php 4:12. I know how to be abased. This was his imitation of Christ, of whom, using the same word he has before said, He humbled Himself (Php 2:8), and be employs the same expression where he is speaking to the Corinthians (2Co 11:7) of preaching the Gospel without being chargeable unto them. Did I commit a sin in abasing myself. . . because I preached to you the Gospel of God for nought? In this sort of abasement he continually trained himself.
and I know also how to abound. In what way to use abundance, when it comes to me, as now, in such wise as to glorify God thereby. The abundance which the Philippians had supplied furnishes the apostle with many themes of joy and thanksgiving, and many words of edification for those who had shown their love to him.
in everything and in all things. In each particular state into which I may be brought, and the changes in my life have been so various that I may say I have known all states; in each and all I have learned the secret. The word is most commonly applied to the admission of persons into the heathen mysteries by an initiation. St. Paul takes the word which has much savour of the rites to which it has from of old belonged, and uses it (and so purifies it) for the expression of his own initiation. He would intimate thereby that there is a mystery, a paradox, in the Christian life, as he says elsewhere, having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in want. He had known both lots, and was prepared for either, just as it pleased God to send.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 12
To be abased,–in respect to his temporal condition; that is, to be in want.–I am instructed–to be; I am trained to be; that is, I am habituated to it.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
4:12 I know both how to be {l} abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am {m} instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
(l) He uses a general word, and yet he speaks but of one type of cross, which is poverty, for poverty commonly brings all types of discomforts with it.
(m) This is a metaphor taken from holy things or sacrifices, for our life is like a sacrifice.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Specifically, Paul could be equally content with little or with much materially because he was rich spiritually. Both poverty and wealth bring temptations with them (Pro 30:7-9). The apostle had learned how to handle both need and abundance in every individual situation (en panti) and in all situations (en pasin).
"His disinheritance would follow upon his becoming a Christian, and this is probably in view in iii. 7 (cf. I Cor. iv. 10-13; 2 Cor. vi. 10)." [Note: Martin, p. 176.]
"Prosperity has done more damage to believers than has adversity." [Note: Wiersbe, The Bible . . ., 2:97.]