Phi 4:15-19 . THEIR EARLIER AND LATER GENEROSITY AND ITS DIVINE REWARD.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Phi 4:15 . marks the transition to his first experience of their generosity. “But this is no new thing, for you have always been generous. You know this as well as I do” ( ). . (A Latin form, see Ramsay, Journal of Theol. Studies , i., 1, p. 116.) He singles them out from all the other Churches. . . . It is difficult to see (in spite of Haupt’s objections) how this could mean anything else than “at the time when the Gospel was first preached to you”. That had been about ten years previously. Cf. 1 Clem. 47, ; probably this is the gift referred to in 2Co 11:9 ( Cf. Act 18:5 ). He refused to take any pecuniary aid at Corinth lest the Judaising teachers should make it a ground for false charges. . This use (in N.T.) is apparently confined to the Epistles. A precise parallel ( . with dative and ) is found in Plat., Repub. , v., 453 A. . . . . Lit. = “No Church communicated with me so as to have an account of giving and receiving” (debit and credit). The whole of the context has a colouring of financial terms. Probably Paul uses them in a half-humorous manner. The combination of [58] . and . is frequent. Cf. Sir 42:7 , , and in Latin authors, Cic., Lael. , 16, ratio acceptorum et datorum . Numerous exx. are given by Wetst. Paul had bestowed on them priceless spiritual gifts. It was only squaring the account that he should receive material blessings from them. Their mutual relations are expressed by the Apostle very delicately, as throughout this paragraph. His manner here gives a luminous view of his refined sensibility.

[58] Codex Sangallensis

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Philippians

GIFTS GIVEN, SEED SOWN

Php 4:15-19 R.V..

Paul loved the Philippians too well and was too sure of their love to be conscious of any embarrassment in expressing his thanks for money help. His thanks are profuse and long drawn out. Our present text still strikes the note of grateful acknowledgment. It gives us a little glimpse into earlier instances of their liberality, and beautifully suggests that as they had done to him so God would do to them, and that their liberality was in a fashion a prophecy, because it was in some measure an imitation, of God’s liberality. He had just said ‘I am full, having received the things which were sent from you,’ and now he says, ‘My God shall fill full all your needs.’ The use of the same word in these two connections is a piece of what one would call the very ingenuity of graceful courtesy, if it were not something far deeper, even the utterance of a loving and self-forgetting heart.

I. We may note here Paul’s money relations with the churches.

We know that he habitually lived by his own labour. He could call to witness the assembled elders at Ephesus, when he declared that ‘these hands ministered unto my necessities,’ and could propose himself as an illustration of the words of the Lord Jesus, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ He firmly holds the right of Christian teachers to be supported by the churches, and vehemently insists upon it in the First Epistle to the Corinthians. But he waives the right in his own case, and passionately insists that it were better for him rather to die than that any man should make his glorying void. He will not use to the full his right in the Gospel ‘that he may make a Gospel without charge,’ but when needed he gladly accepted money gifts, as he did from the Philippians. In our text he points back to an earlier instance of this. The history of that instance we may briefly recall. After his indignities and imprisonment in Philippi he went straight to Thessalonica, stayed there a short time till a riot drove him to take refuge in Berea, whence again he had to flee, and guided by brethren reached Athens. There he was left alone, and his guides went back to Macedonia to send on Silas and Timothy. From Athens he went to Corinth, and there was rejoined by them. According to our text, ‘in the beginning of the Gospel,’ that is, of course, its beginning in Philippi, they relieved him twice in Thessalonica, and if the words in our text which date the Philippians’ gift may be read ‘when I had departed from Macedonia,’ we should have here another reference to the same incident mentioned in 2 Corinthians, chap. 11: 8-9, where he speaks of being in want there, and having ‘the measure of my want’ supplied by the brethren who came from Macedonia. The coincidence of these two incidental references hid away, as it were, confirms the historical truthfulness of both Epistles. And if we take into view the circumstances in which he was placed in Thessalonica and at the beginning of his stay in Corinth, his needing and receiving such aid is amply accounted for. Once again, after a long interval, when he was a prisoner in Rome, and probably unable to work for his maintenance, their care of him flourished again.

In the present circumstances of our churches, it seems necessary that the right which Paul so strongly asserted should, for the most part, not be waived, but the only true way of giving and receiving as between minister and people is when it is a matter not of payment but a gift. When it is an expression of sympathy and affection on both sides, the relationship is pleasant and may be blessed. When it comes to be a business transaction, and is to be measured by the rules applicable to such, it goes far to destroy some of the sweetest bonds, and to endanger a preacher’s best influence.

II. The lofty view here taken of such service.

It is ‘the fruit that increaseth to your account.’ Fruit, which as it were is put to their credit in the account-book of heaven, but it is called by Paul by a sacreder name as being an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God, in which metaphor all the sacred ideas of yielding up precious things to God and of the sacred fire that consumed the offering or brought to bear on the prosaic material gift.

The principle which the Apostle here lays down in reference to a money gift has, of course, a much wider application, and is as true about all Christian acts. We need not be staggered at the emphasis with which Paul states the truths of their acceptableness and rewardableness, but in order fully to understand the ground of his assurance we must remember that in his view the root of all such fruit increasing to our account, and of everything which can claim to be an odour of a sweet smell well pleasing to God, is love to Christ, and the renewal of our nature by the spirit of God dwelling in us. In us there dwells no good thing. It is only as we abide in Him and His words abide in us that we bear much fruit. Separate from Him we can do nothing. If our works are ever to smell sweet to God, they must be done for Christ, and in a very profound and real sense, done by Him.

The essential character of all work which has the right to be called good, and which is acceptable to God, is sacrifice. The one exhortation which takes the place and more than fills the place of all other commandments, and is enforced by the motive which takes the place, and more than takes the place of all other motives, is, ‘I beseech you by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice.’ It is works which in the intention of the doer are offered to Him, and in which therefore there is a surrender of our own wills, or tastes, or inclinations, or passions, or possessions, that yield to Him an odour of a sweet smell. The old condition which touched the chivalrous heart of David has to be repeated by us in regard to any work which we can ever hope to make well pleasing to God; ‘I will not offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God which cost me nothing.’

There is a spurious humility which treats all the works of good men as filthy rags, but such a false depreciation is contradicted by Christ’s ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’ It is true that all our deeds are stained and imperfect, but if they are offered on the altar which He provides, it will sanctify the giver and the gift. He is the great Aaron who makes atonement for the iniquity of our holy things. And whilst we are stricken silent with thankfulness for the wonderful mercy of His gracious allowance, we may humbly hope that His ‘Well done’ will be spoken of us, and may labour, not without a foretaste that we do not labour in vain, that ‘whether present or absent we may be well pleasing to Him.’

The fruit is here supposed to be growing, that is, of course, in another life. We need not insist that the service and sacrifice and work of earth, if the motive be right, tell in a man’s condition after death. It is not all the same how Christian men live; some gain ten talents, some five, and some two, and the difference between them is not always as the parable represents it, a difference in the original endowment. An entrance may be given into the eternal kingdom, and yet it may not be an abundant entrance.

III. The gift that supplies the givers.

Paul has nothing to bestow, but he serves a great God who will see to it that no man is the poorer by helping His servants. The king’s honour is concerned in not letting a poor man suffer by lodging and feeding his retainers. The words here suggest to us the source from which our need may be filled full, as an empty vessel might be charged to the brim with some precious liquid, the measure or limit of the fulness, and the channel by which we receive it.

Paul was so sure that the Philippians’ needs would all be satisfied, because he knew that his own had been; he is generalising from his own case, and that, I think, is at all events part of the reason why he says with much emphasis, ‘ My God. As He has done to me He will do to you,’ but even without the ‘my,’ the great name contains in itself a promise and its seal. ‘God will supply just because He is God’; that is what His name means–infinite fulness and infinite self-communicativeness and delight in giving. But is not so absolutely unlimited a promise as this convicted of complete unreality when contrasted with the facts of any life, even of the most truly Christian or the most outwardly happy? Its contradiction of the grim facts of experience is not to be slurred over by restricting it to religious needs only. The promise needs the eye of Faith to interpret the facts of experience, and to let nothing darken the clear vision that if any seeming need is left by God unfilled, it is not an indispensable need. If we do not get what we want we may be quite sure that we do not need it. The axiom of Christian faith is that whatever we do not obtain we do not require. Very desirable things may still not be necessary. Let us limit our notions of necessity by the facts of God’s giving, and then we, too, shall have learned, in whatsoever state we are, therein to be content. When the Apostle says that God shall fill all our need full up to the brim, was he contemplating only such necessities as God could supply through outward gifts? Surely not. God Himself is the filler and the only filler of a human heart, and it is by this impartation of Himself and by nothing else that He bestows upon us the supply of our needs.

Unless we have been initiated into this deepest and yet simplest secret of life, it will be full of gnawing pain and unfulfilled longings. Unless we have learned that our needs are like the cracks in the parched ground, cups to hold the rain from heaven, doors by which God Himself can come to us, we shall dwell for ever in a dry and thirsty land. God Himself is the only satisfier of the soul. ‘Whom have I in heaven but Thee, and there is none upon earth that’–if I am not a fool–’I desire side by side with Thee?’

But Paul here sets forth in very bold words the measure or limits of the divine supply of our need. It is ‘according to His riches in glory.’ Then, all of God belongs to me, and the whole wealth of His aggregated perfections is available for stopping the crannies of my heart and filling its emptiness. My emptiness corresponds with His fulness as some concavity does with the convexity that fits into it, and the whole that He is waits to fill and to satisfy me. There is no limit really to what a man may have of God except the limitless limit of the infinite divine nature, but on the other hand this great promise is not fulfilled all at once, and whilst the actual limit is the boundlessness of God, there is a working limit, so to speak, a variable one, but a very real one. The whole riches of God’s glory are available for us, but only so much of the boundless store as we desire and are at present capable of taking in will belong to us now. What is the use of owning half a continent if the owner lives on an acre of it and grows what he wants there, and has never seen the broad lands that yet belong to him? Nothing hinders a man from indefinitely increased possession of a growing measure of God, except his own arbitrarily narrowed measure of desire and capacity. Therefore it becomes a solemn question for each of us, Am I day by day becoming more and more fit to possess more of God, and enjoy more of the God whom I possess? In Him we have each ‘a potentiality of wealth beyond the dreams of avarice.’ Do we growingly realise that boundless possibility?

The channel by which that boundless supply is to reach us is distinctly set forth here. All these riches are stored up ‘in Christ Jesus.’ A deep lake may be hidden away in the bosom of the hills that would pour blessing and fertility over a barren land if it could find a channel down into the plains, but unless there be a river flowing out of it, its land-locked waters might as well be dried up. When Paul says ‘riches in glory,’ he puts them up high above our reach, but when he adds ‘in Christ Jesus,’ he brings them all down amongst us. In Him is ‘infinite riches in a narrow room.’ If we are in Him then we are beside our treasure, and have only to put out our hands and take the wealth that is lying there. All that we need is ‘in Christ,’ and if we are in Christ it is all close at our sides.

Then the question comes to be, ‘Am I thus near my wealth, and can I get at it whenever I want it, as I want it, and as much as I want of it?’ We can if we will. The path is easy to define, though our slothfulness find it hard to tread. That man is in Christ who dwells with Him by faith, whose heart is by love plunged in His love, who daily seeks to hold communion with Him amid the distractions of life, and who in practical submission obeys His will. If thus we trust, if thus we love, if thus we hold fast to Him, and if thus we link Him with all our activities in the world, need will cease to grow, and will only be an occasion for God’s gift. ‘Delight thyself in the Lord,’ and then the heart’s desires being set upon Him, ‘He will give thee the desire of thy heart.’

Paul says to us ‘My God shall supply all your need.’ Let us answer, ‘The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.’

Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Php 4:15-20

15You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone; 16for even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs. 17Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account. 18But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. 19And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Php 4:15-16 This has been understood to be a contradiction to 2Co 11:8-9, which implies that the other churches of Macedonia also helped Paul. However, the time element is significant. Paul is saying that at this particular time no other church besides this church at Philippi had helped him. Paul was very hesitant to accept financial contributions (cf. 1Co 9:4-18; 2Co 11:7-10; 2Co 12:13-18; 1Th 2:5-9; and 2Th 3:7-9).

Php 4:15 “You yourselves also know” This is an emphatic “you” and a perfect active indicative. Paul shared himself with this church and they reciprocated.

SPECIAL TOPIC: CHURCH (EKKLESIA)

NASB, NKJV,

NRSV”shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving”

TEV”shared my profits and losses”

NJB”made common account with me in the matter of expenditure and receipts”

There is a series of commercial terms in Php 4:15-18 which can be verified and defined from the Koine Greek papyri found in Egypt and the ostraca (broken pottery used as writing material). This first one was a banking term for an open account.

Paul was acutely aware of the problems caused by money. As a rabbi he was not allowed to take money for his teaching. The false accusations by the factions at Corinth reinforced his need to refuse monetary help from the churches. Paul must have felt uniquely comfortable with this congregation.

Php 4:17 “I seek. . .seek” This is a very strong Greek term used twice to show Paul’s ambiguous feelings about his thanksgiving for the gift and yet his not actively seeking their help. He realized that they would receive a blessing from God for their stewardship and generosity in the gospel. For this he was glad.

“the profit which increases to your account” This is another commercial metaphor which refers to the interest that accrued and was deposited in another’s account. Giving to gospel causes results in gospel blessings (cf. Php 4:19).

Php 4:18 “I have received everything in full,” This is another business term for a receipt of a payment in full. Paul felt this church had done everything expected and far more. (The use of the term “abound” or “abundance” and the prefect passive indicative “amply supplied”).

“Epaphroditus” He was the Philippian church’s representative sent to deliver the monetary gift and stay on to help Paul (cf. Php 2:25-30).

“a fragrant aroma; an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God” This came from an OT metaphor of an accepted sacrifice on the altar of burnt offerings (cf. Gen 8:21; Exo 29:18; Exo 29:25; Exo 29:41; Lev 1:9; Lev 1:13; Eze 20:41). This same type of metaphor is used by Paul in 2Co 2:15 and Eph 5:2.

The help given to Paul as a minister of the gospel is in reality given to God and will be repaid and blessed by Him!

Php 4:19 “My God shall supply all your needs” This is not a blank check from God! “Needs” must be defined. This must be seen in light of the principles of spiritual giving found in 2 Corinthians 8, 9, particularly 2Co 9:6-15. This is not a promise that can be taken out of context and be applied to every human desire. In this context it relates to Paul’s provision for ministry. God will always supply those who are generous givers with more to give. This does not mean that they will have more for personal use, but more to give to gospel causes!

“according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” It must be remembered that this whole chapter is motivated by the work of Christ and that all that is accomplished in the Christian life is by the help of the Lord, “in the Lord,” (cf. Php 4:1-2; Php 4:4). All of God’s blessings come through Christ.

Php 4:20 “to our God and Father be glory forever and ever” This is very similar to Paul’s closing prayer in other books. The term “forever and ever” is literally “to the ages of the ages,” which is a Greek idiom for “forever.” See Special Topic: Paul’s Praise, Prayer, and Thanksgiving at Eph 3:20.

The description of God as Father is one of the greatest truths of the Bible (cf. Hosea 11). The family metaphors used for God (Father, Son) help humans understand His nature and character. God accommodates Himself to human understanding by using human titles, human analogies, and negation. For fuller note on “glory” see Eph 1:6.

“Amen” is the Hebrew word for “faith” or “faithfulness” (cf. Hab 2:4). Originally this term was used to describe a stable stance, sure footing. It came to be used metaphorically of someone who was faithful, stable, steadfast, dependable, trustworthy. Later it came to be commonly used in the sense of an affirmation of a trustworthy statement. See Special Topic at Eph 3:20.

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

ye, &c. = ye also, O Philippians, know.

from. App-104.

no. Greek. oudeis.

church. App-186.

communicated, Greek. koinomeo. See Rom 12:13.

as concerning = for (App-104) taking account (App-121.)

giving. Greek. dosis. Only here, and Jam 1:17.

receiving. Greek. lepsis. Only here,

but = except Greek. ei me

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

15-17.] Honourable recollection of their former kindness to him.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Php 4:15. , ye know) He shows that he was mindful even of former kindnesses: you know signifies remembrance in respect of the Philippians; knowledge, in respect of other churches.-, Philippians) The proper name indicates an antithesis to the churches of other towns.- , in the beginning) of the Gospel preaching in your case. He had gone forth from them some time ago.-, when) Join this with the following words, no, etc.-, no) They might have said, We will do it, if others have done it: now their praise is greater on that account; that of the others, less.-, church) Therefore the church of Philippi sent to Paul in common.- , as far as concerns) This is a limitation.-, of giving, of what has been given) on your part.-, of receiving, of what has been received) on mine.-, alone) in a manner worthy of praise. He hereby shows his need.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Php 4:15

Php 4:15

And ye yourselves also know,-He reminds them of their former liberality to show his love for them; he was not unwilling to receive kindness from them.

ye Philippians,-[Paul occasionally addressed his readers directly by a general term that embraced them all and summed them up in one class. (2Co 6:11-12; Gal 3:1). It was always a mark of deep emotion when he was impelled to make this direct appeal so that every reader might feel that he was personally addressed. In all three cases where this direct appeal occurs it follows an autobiographical sketch in which he put prominently forward his own work and the spirit in which that work was done.] The mention by name does not mark merely, but specifies them, gratefully, and earnestly, as they were remembered and acknowledged doers of the good deed.

that in the beginning of the gospel,-At the beginning of the gospel to them at Philippi, and their churches in Macedonia. [This is one of the expressions which illustrates the very considerable importance which the apostle attached to the Macedonian mission as the very first definite step towards bringing the gospel to Rome, the very center of the Empire, and, therefore, toward the evangelizing of the world.]

when I departed from Macedonia,-[The time to which reference is here made is that of leaving Macedonia for Athens and Corinth. (Act 18:14). At Corinth we are informed that he received offerings from Macedonia: When I was present with you and was in want, I was not a burden on any man; for the brethren, when they came from Macedonia, supplied the measure of my want (2Co 11:9). His language to the Thessalonians which is as follows: For ye remember, brethren, our labor and travail: working night and day, that we might not burden any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God (1Th 2:9), neither did we eat bread for nought at any mans hand, but in labor and travail, working night and day, that we might not burden any of you (2Th 3:8), which precludes all idea that any part of this contribution was from Thessalonica.]

no church had fellowship with me in the matter of giving and receiving but ye only;-[At Thessalonica he met with little success or sympathy, as far as we see from the history. Yet to this church was sent the first of his epistles in order of time which we possess, and it was probably written before that second missionary journey, in which Paul first visited Europe, came to an end. There was, no doubt, formed the beginning of a congregation, which the labors of those left behind nursed into a greater strength. At Berea there was more sympathy exhibited for his teaching, but neither the Thessalonians nor Bereans contributed to his support.]

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

in the: 2Ki 5:16, 2Ki 5:20, 2Co 11:8-12, 2Co 12:11-15

I: Act 16:40, Act 17:1-5

Reciprocal: 2Sa 17:29 – for David Ecc 10:19 – but Mat 10:42 – he shall 2Co 6:11 – ye 2Co 11:9 – the brethren 1Jo 2:24 – which

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

(Php 4:15.) , , , , , – But you, Philippians, are also yourselves aware, that at the introduction of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me to account of gift and receipt, but you alone. is-you know as well as I, and by the apostle goes back in contrast to previous gifts and services. The phrase cannot have the meaning which Peile inclines to give it-of yourselves ye must remember. And in the fulness of his heart he names them. 2Co 6:11; Gal 3:1. The insertion of the name is a peculiar emphasis, but it is not my Philippians, as a term of endearment. The phrase is -in the beginning or introduction of the gospel-the period when they received it, as the following clause intimates.

The phrase has been variously understood. The peculiar use of in Php 4:17 points to a similar sense here. There it denotes to your account, or, to be included in such reckoning as belongs to you. Mat 18:23; Luk 16:2. It therefore signifies here more than in reference to, though Bengel, van Hengel, Lnemann, and Brckner so regard it. As to the words , the earliest opinion was, that in the first term the apostle alludes to the temporal remuneration which the Philippians gave him, and by the second to the spiritual instruction which they in return received. So Chrysostom, OEcumenius, and Theophylact, the first of whom calls this intercommunication , , , . The same exegesis is adopted by Pelagius and Calvin, Estius and a-Lapide, by Zanchius and Hammond, Wiesinger, Bisping, and Ellicott. It is true that the apostle in other places vindicates this reciprocal communication, affirms that the sowing of spiritual things warrants in equity the reaping of carnal things, and indicates the inferiority of a church that did not discharge this duty to its teachers-spiritualia dantes, temporalia accipientes. 1Co 9:1-15; 2Co 11:9; 2Co 12:13. But there does not seem to be any such allusion in the verse before us. The apostle is not conducting an argument as to the duty of the church, nor could the simple terms employed bear such a complex meaning. He alludes simply to the fact of communication, and not to its principles or obligation. Nor does he seem to hint at the spiritual good which he had effected among them.

The same objections apply to a second form of explanation, adopted by Meyer and Alford:-the Philippians kept an account of outlay to Paul and receipt by him; and so, on the other hand, the apostle kept an account of what was given to the Philippians and its receipt by them. But the idea of such reciprocity is not contained in the words; for the entire context seems to refer simply to what the apostle received from the church. Meyer is obliged to confess, that according to his theory the accounts were curiously kept-that in the Philippian account-book the column of receivings would be empty, and so in that of Paul would be the column of givings -an idea which virtually destroys that of reciprocity. Meyer’s explanation is well styled by Brckner, nimis artificiose. Nor, thirdly, should we look at the words so literally as to suppose to refer to the Philippians who gave, and to Paul who allowed himself to receive. Rheinwald reverses this order, and thinks while the Philippians gave the money, they also received from him similar gifts in return- gifts collected by the other churches. The Macedonian churches made liberal collections, but we do not read that any were ever made for them. Others, again, have this notion -No church gave me a sum so large as to be worth entering in an account-book, but you. Thus Hoog-tot tantaque erant, ut digna essent, quare in libro notarentur. Probably we may regard the phrase as idiomatic, and as expressing generally pecuniary transactions. Thus Sir 42:7 – ; or Cicero-ratio acceptorum et datorum. Lael. 16. See also Schoettgen, vol. i. p. 804. No church entered into pecuniary reckonings with me, but yourselves. The apostle means of course gifts for himself, and not as when some churches had entrusted him with funds on behalf of the poorer saints. He is anxious still to show that the gift sent to Rome was no novelty, but that such intercourse between him and the Philippian church is of an old date, though it had been suspended for a season. He refers back to the introduction of the gospel among them, and more specifically-

-when I departed from Macedonia. Many, like van Hengel, De Wette, and Wiesinger, are disposed to take the aorist as a pluperfect,-after I had taken my departure from Macedonia. The reference is then supposed to be to the monies received by him at Corinth, alluded to in 2Co 11:9. The aorist may have in some cases a pluperfect meaning. Winer, 40, 5; Jelf, 404. But we agree with Meyer that this supposition is needless. Wiesinger presents the difficulty-Wherefore does the apostle mention in the next verse what is earlier in point of time? We believe the apostle to refer to two points of time, close indeed on one another-the introduction of the gospel, and his departure from Macedonia. As he was leaving their province and going away from them, they helped him. It may have been the remissness of the Thessalonian church which impressed the benefaction more deeply on his mind, or it may have been the circumstance that he had got the gift as he was leaving the province; or it may be that the period of his departure is fixed upon, since it was the commencement of a correspondence with him as a labourer in foreign stations-the first of a series of contributions sent him on his distant missionary tours, and when he had no longer a personal claim for immediate service rendered. So long as he was in their province he might feel himself to be at home with them. But to justify the expression the apostle recurs to an earlier period, even before he had left Macedonia, and says-

Fuente: Commentary on the Greek Text of Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Phillipians

Php 4:15. Beginning of the Gospel refers to its beginning In Macedonia, recorded in Acts 16. Before leaving that province, some other churches were started, as may be seen in Acts 16, 17. Communicated means to have fellowship with another, and it could apply to any subject in which both were interested; hence Paul explains that he is applying it to the subject of financial support. Many churches think their obligation on this matter pertains to their own locality only. Here we see that none of the Macedonian churches supported Paul beyond their borders, but the Philippians.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Php 4:15. and ye yourselves also know. That he may more folly show how well he remembers their care of him, and that he meant no reproach by his words in Php 4:10, he proceeds to recall to them their former liberality in his need.

ye Philippians. The name stands emphatically in the original, and is inserted as a mark of deep regard, as he might say, the church of my special joy.

that in the beginning of the Gospel. When St. Paul first preached in Philippi was the beginning of the Gospel to them. He had visited Philippi at least twice afterwards (Act 20:1-2; Act 20:6), but at his first visit, when he was driven away to Thessalonica, his needs must naturally have been very great; for from prisoners treated as he and Silas had been, we may be very sure that the rude representatives of law had taken all they had.

when I departed from Macedonia. This seems to show, what we might almost have gathered from the Acts (Act 17:14), that the congregation of Philippi took charge of St. Paul in his whole journey through Macedonia, and were the brethren who sent him sway to the sea, and conducted him, and supplied the means for his journey to Athens.

no church had fellowship with me. At Thessalonica he met with little success or sympathy, as far as we see from the history. Yet to this church was sent the first of his Epistles in order of time which we possess, and it was probably written before that Second Missionary Journey, in which St. Paul first visited Europe, came to an end. There must therefore have teen formed the beginning of a congregation, which through the labours of those left behind was nursed into greater strength. At Bera there was more sympathy exhibited for the apostles teaching, but neither the Thessalonians nor Berceans helped him with their means.

in the matter of giving and receiving, but ye only. The phrase of the apostle is taken from the keeping of accounts. He pictures the transaction as a matter of debtor and creditor. They give, and he receives, and so there is an account on both sideson his of debt, on theirs of claim. And he is willing, nay glad, that it should stand so: he would not have it wiped out or lessened; for what they, of their free will, have given unto him, has been given unto God, and will receive its reward at His hands; and it is at the same time an outward sign of the work of grace and faith in their soulsgrace because they are conscious of how much they owe for the consolations of the Gospel; faith because they bestow, looking for nothing again, but giving unto the Lord.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Php 4:15-19. Ye know that in the beginning of the gospel When it was first preached at Philippi; no church No Christian society, as such; communicated with me In the matter of giving me money, and of my receiving money from them; but ye only I received money from no church but yours. Not because I desire a gift, &c. I would not have you think that I commend your liberality merely out of respect to myself; but I desire fruit, &c. I do it chiefly out of respect to you; that you may do that which may turn to your everlasting advantage. But l have all So also the Vulgate reads the clause; but the original expression, , according to Estius, may be translated, I have from you all things; that is, my wants are amply supplied by you; and I abound I have more than sufficient for my present state; having received of Epaphroditus the things sent from you Besides money, the Philippians may have sent to the apostle clothes and other necessaries: an odour of a sweet smell A service wherewith God is well pleased. See Heb 13:16. The same epithets were anciently given to all the kinds of sacrifices; not only in the peace and thank-offerings, but to the burnt-offerings and sin-offerings. See note on Eph 5:2. Here they are given to the present which the Philippians sent to the apostle; not because that present partook of the nature of any sacrifice or offering whatever, as is plain from this, that it was offered immediately to the apostle, and not to God; but merely to show how acceptable to God that work of charity was which the Philippians had performed to the suffering apostle of Christ. Macknight. But my God Whose ambassador I am; shall supply all your need As he has mine. He shall recompense you even in this life, as far as he knows will be for your good; according to his riches in glory And he is well able to do it, being gloriously rich in blessings of all kinds.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

4:15 {9} Now ye Philippians know also, that in the {n} beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only.

(9) He witnesses that he remembers also their former benefits, and again puts away sinister suspicion of greedy desire, in that that he received nothing from anyone else.

(n) At the beginning, when I preached the Gospel among you.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

B. The previous gifts 4:15-20

Paul seems to have intended the references in these verses to previous gifts that the Philippians had sent him to dispel any doubts they may have had about the genuineness of his gratitude.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

The Philippians had been very thoughtful and generous with Paul when he left their town after planting their church on his second missionary journey. He had traveled south from Philippi into the province of Achaia. Probably the gift to which he referred in this verse is the same one he mentioned in 2Co 11:8, the gift that reached Paul in Corinth.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)