Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Philippians 2:29
Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness; and hold such in reputation:
29. Receive him therefore ] “Therefore”: as the consequence of my sending him. The whole verse supports the suggestion that the internal friction among the Philippians had somehow made Epaphroditus unacceptable to some. See above on Php 2:26.
in the Lord ] See above on Php 1:8.
with all gladness ] The cloud in his own sky interferes not in the least with this holy soul’s interest in the joy of others.
in reputation ] R.V., in honour. The word occurs Luk 7:2, of the centurion’s “ highly-valued slave”; and 1Pe 2:4; 1Pe 2:6, of the “ precious stone.” There was a slight risk, we gather here (and see Php 3:17, and note), lest such unobtrusive and devoted holders of, and workers for, the Gospel should fall out of favour at Philippi. Cp. 1Th 5:12-13.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Receive him therefore in the Lord – As the servant of the Lord, or as now restored to you by the Lord, and therefore to be regarded as a fresh gift from God. Our friends restored to us after a long absence, we should receive as the gift of God, and as a proof of his mercy.
And hold such in reputation – Margin, honor such. This is a high commendation of Epaphroditus, and, at the same time, it enjoins an important duty in regard to the proper treatment of those who sustain such a character. It is a Christian duty to honor those who ought to be honored, to respect the virtuous and the pious, and especially to honor those who evince fidelity in the work of the Lord.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 29. Receive him therefore in the Lord] For the Lord’s sake receive him, and as the Lord’s servant; and hold such zealous, disinterested, and holy preachers in reputation – honour those whom ye perceive God hath honoured.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness: hereupon, having given his due character, he chargeth them all, officers and people, to entertain him as a servant of the Lord, (as Christ would have them receive his servants, Mat 10:40,41, even with all spiritual joy), as sometimes the Galatians had received him, Gal 4:14.
And hold such in reputation; yea, as it becometh saints, Rom 16:2, to have such in esteem very highly for their works sake, 1Th 5:13.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
29. Receive himThere seems tobe something behind respecting him. If extreme affection had been thesole ground of his “heaviness,” no such exhortation wouldhave been needed [ALFORD].
in reputation“inhonor.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Receive him therefore,…. Not only into their houses, where such as bring the doctrine of Christ should be admitted, and not others; but into their bosoms, into their hearts and affections, as he had reason to believe they would, and into their fellowship and communion, and to the exercise of his office among them, as their minister: and that
in the Lord; or “for the Lord”, as the Arabic version renders it; for his sake, because he was one that was put into the ministry by him, was called unto it, and qualified for it, and sent forth to minister in it by him; or in the name of the Lord, as an ambassador of his, as representing him, and as if he himself was present; for he that receives a minister of Christ, receives Christ himself; see
Lu 10:16;
with all gladness; with sincere affection, undissembled joy, perfect pleasure, and with all demonstrations of respect unto him, and delight in him at his return to them.
And hold such in reputation: account such as he precious and valuable; highly esteem of them for their works’ sake; reckon them worthy of double honour, and give it to them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
In honour (). Old compound adjective (, ), prized, precious (Luke 7:2; Luke 14:8; 1Pet 2:4; 1Pet 2:6). Predicate accusative. Noble plea in behalf of Christ’s minister.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “Receive him therefore” (prosdechesthe oun auton)”Receive ye him therefore.” This is an outcry of gratitude for Epaphroditus’ help brought from the church and seems to be an anxious appeal that he be received without harsh, unkind criticism, perhaps because of his delayed return to his home base. Mat 10:40.
2) “In the Lord with all gladness” (en kurio meta pases charas) “in (the) Lord with all manner of, or full joy;” to receive a servant of the Lord is reckoned as receiving the Lord; to turn away the servant of the Lord or treat him with disdain is to turn the Lord away, Mat 10:40-42; Mat 25:40; Mat 25:45.
3) “And hold such in reputation:” (kai tous toioutous entimos echete) “And you all hold such as honored ones, men of reputation” not in disdain as Diotrephes, who loved to have the preeminence, did, 3Jn 1:5-11. It is a mark of Christian and Ministerial maturity to uphold the reputation of other saints and ministers, except they be of very base moral, ethical, and/or doctrinal bearing, Rom 2:10; Rom 12:10; Rom 13:7; 1Ti 5:17.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
29 Receive him with all joy. He employs the word all to mean sincere and abundant. He also recommends him again to the Philippians; so intent is he upon this, that all that approve themselves as good and faithful pastors may be held in the highest estimation: for he does not speak merely of one, but exhorts that all such should be held in estimation; for they are precious pearls from God’s treasuries, and the rarer they are, they are so much the more worthy of esteem. Nor can it be doubted that God often punishes our ingratitude and proud disdain, by depriving us of good pastors, when he sees that the most eminent that are given by him are ordinarily despised. Let every one, then, who is desirous that the Church should be fortified against the stratagems and assaults of wolves, make it his care, after the example of Paul, that the authority of good pastors be established; (161) as, on the other hand, there is nothing upon which the instruments of the devil are more intent, than on undermining it by every means in their power.
(161) “ Soit establie et demeure entiere;” — “Be established, and remain entire.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
29. Receive him Give him a welcome warm with Christian love and manifestations of gladness. Such men as he, full of self-denial and labour, are worthy of the highest esteem of the Church. The apostle had cautioned them against overvaluing self: this is, perhaps, a caution against a tendency to undervalue others.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Receive him therefore in the Lord with all joy, and hold such in honour, because for the work of Christ he came nigh to death, hazarding his life to supply that which was lacking in your service toward me.’
So he calls on the Philippian church to receive Epaphroditus joyfully ‘in the Lord’ (i.e. because he is a true servant of the Lord, or because they are all one in the Lord), and hold him in honour on the grounds that, far from being a quitter, he had had a near death experience, willingly gambling his life his life for the work of Christ, in order that he might provide the service to Paul that they were unable to offer. It is doubtful if ‘lacking in your service towards me’ directly refers simply to their giving, for that was indeed a service that they had provided through Epaphroditus. It is far more likely that he is referring to the service that Epaphroditus had performed for him once he was in Rome, something which necessarily those who were far away could not provide however much they may have wished to do so.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Phi 2:29 f. ] Let, then, the reception which he meets with among you be in accordance with my purpose in accelerating his return ( . . .); receive him with all joy.
] denotes, as in Rom 16:2 , the Christian character of the , the nature and action of which have their distinctive quality in Christ, in whose fellowship Christians live and move.
. .] excludes every kind of sullen or indifferent temper and expression: “ with all joyfulness.”
. . .] and the people of such a sort , etc. , , Theophylact. But Epaphroditus is in his view , as in the given case, the person belonging to the class thus to be held in honour. [142]
[142] There is no ground for the reference, which Hofmann discovers here, to an assumed inclination, on the part of the Philippians, to hold in honour people of another sort (such as are described in chap. 3.) more than the . For this assumption there would, at the most, be occasion only if Paul had used the comparative instead of . Besides, the emphasis is not on (Hofmann), but on , correlative to the preceding . .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
29 Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness; and hold such in reputation:
Ver. 29. Hold such in reputation ] Or set a just price, a due estimate upon them. Horrible is the contempt that is now cast upon the ministry, by our novellers, as if they had learned of Campian to say, Ministris eorum nihil vilius. To your minister, nothing is vile.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
29 .] , as accomplishing the purpose just expressed. The stress is on , see ref. There certainly seems to be something behind respecting him, of which we are not informed. If extreme affection had been the sole ground of his , no such exhortation as this would have been needed.
] , Thl. Then there is an inaccuracy in expression, in reverting back to the [concrete] conduct of Epaphroditus as a reason why [abstract] should be held in honour.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Phi 2:29 . Behind these words must lie some unknown circumstances which affected the feelings of the Philippians towards Epaphrod. It is not sufficient to suppose (with Ws [13] . ) that they would be disappointed because he had not stayed long enough at Rome. The and surely point to some alienation on which we have no light.
[13] . Weiss.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
in reputation = as honourable. or esteemed. Greek. entirnos. Here, Luk 7:2; Luk 14:8. 1Pe 2:4, 1Pe 2:6,
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
29.] , as accomplishing the purpose just expressed. The stress is on , see ref. There certainly seems to be something behind respecting him, of which we are not informed. If extreme affection had been the sole ground of his , no such exhortation as this would have been needed.
] , Thl. Then there is an inaccuracy in expression, in reverting back to the [concrete] conduct of Epaphroditus as a reason why [abstract] should be held in honour.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Php 2:29
Php 2:29
Receive him therefore in the Lord with all joy;-Paul exhorts them because he had been zealous in sending him to them so soon as he was able to travel to receive him with joy. It would be joy of the whole church for the restoration to health and to them of the member whom they regarded so highly. It would be a joy with thanksgiving because they had in mind how gracious the Lord had been in saving his life.
and hold such in honor:-As there were not many such faithful brethren to be found, he exhorted them to set high store by Epaphroditus when he arrived.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Receive: Mat 10:40, Mat 10:41, Luk 9:5, Joh 13:20, Rom 16:2, 1Co 16:10, 2Co 7:2, Col 4:10, 3Jo 1:10
with: Isa 52:7, Luk 2:10, Luk 2:11, Act 2:46, Act 8:8, Rom 10:15, Eph 4:9-12
and: 2Co 10:18, 1Th 5:12, Heb 13:17
hold such in reputation: or, honour such, Act 28:10, 1Co 16:18, 1Ti 5:17
Reciprocal: Act 15:26 – hazarded Rom 14:1 – receive Gal 2:2 – which
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
(Php 2:29.) -Receive him, therefore, in the Lord with all joy. The refers to the statement of the apostle’s purpose in the previous verse. Such a reception has its element -a reception, therefore, Christian in its fervour and object. It was no cold welcome the apostle enjoined or anticipated, but one -with all joy, and no wonder that it should be so-
-and hold such in honour, that is, such as Epaphroditus. The more usual classic form of expression is, . Ast, Lexicon Platon. sub voce. The class of men , of whom Epaphroditus is a noted example, deserve the esteem and gratitude of the church for their self-denying and disinterested labours. And the apostle assigns a special reason in his case-
Fuente: Commentary on the Greek Text of Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Phillipians
Php 2:29. Receive him does not imply any doubt about their attitude toward this messenger, but rather it is a friendly recommendation from Paul, induced by his appreciation for the good services that the messenger had rendered to him while in Rome. Hold such in reputation means give him the honor that his faithful services deserved.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Php 2:29. Receive him, therefore, in the Lord with all joy. Therefore, that is, because I have been so zealous in sending him to you as soon as he was able to come, receive him joyfully. In the Lord marks what he would have the reception to be. It would be joy of the whole church for the restoration to health and to them of a member whom they so prized. It would be a joy with thanksgiving because they had in mind how gracious the Lord had been in saving the life of their friend.
and hold such in honour. There were not many such to find, and so he specially intends, though not expressly saying so, to bid them set high store by Epaphroditus when he reached. This is clear from the next verse, which does not speak generally, but particularly of the good deeds which he had done.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Paul wanted Epaphroditus’ homecoming to be a joyous occasion. He had carried out his mission successfully and had ministered to Paul with distinction. He urged the Philippians to regard him highly and to welcome him wholeheartedly.