Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Philippians 4:22
All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar’s household.
22. chiefly ] More exactly, but chiefly. There was something marked and emphatic about this message.
they of Cesar’s household ] “Probably slaves and freedmen attached to the palace” (Lightfoot). It has been sometimes assumed that these persons, on the other hand, were members of the imperial family, and this has been used either to prove the remarkable advance of the Gospel in the highest Roman society during St Paul’s first captivity, and incidentally to evidence a late date in that captivity for the Epistle, or to support a theory of the spuriousness of the Epistle. Bp Lightfoot, in an “additional note,” or rather essay ( Philippians, pp. 171 178), has shewn with great fulness of proof that the “household of Csar” was a term embracing a vast number of persons, not only in Rome but in the provinces, all of whom were either actual or former slaves of the Emperor, filling every possible description of office more or less domestic. The Bishop illustrates his statements from the very numerous burial inscriptions of members of the “Household” found within the last 170 years near Rome, most of them of the period of the Julian and Claudian Emperors. And the names of persons in these inscriptions afford a curiously large number of coincidences with the list in Romans 16; among them being Amplias, Urbanus, Apelles, Tryphna, Tryphosa, Patrobas, Philologus. And it appears by the way to be very probable that both Aristobulus’ and Narcissus’ “households” (Rom 16:10-11) were in fact the slave-establishments of the son of Herod the Great, and of the favourite of Claudius, respectively, transferred to the possession of the Emperor. Bp Lightfoot infers from this whole evidence the great probability that the “saints” greeted in Romans 16 were, on the whole, the same “saints” who send greeting here from Rome. Various as no doubt were their occupations, and their native lands, the members of the Household of Csar as such must have had an esprit de corps, and, for their rank in society, a prestige, which made it humanly speaking likely that a powerful influence, like that of the Gospel, if felt among them at all, would be felt widely, and that they would be in the way to make a distinctive expression of their faith and love, when occasion offered.
The view thus given of the saints here mentioned, their associations and functions, not only in the age of Nero but in the precincts of his court, and probably for many of them within the chambers of his palace, gives a noble view in passing of the power of grace to triumph over circumstances, and to transfigure life where it seems most impossible.
A certain parallel to the Household of Csar appears in the vast Maison du Roy of the later French monarchy. But the Maison was for the noblesse alone.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
All the saints salute you – All in Rome, where this Epistle was written. No individuals are specified, perhaps because none of the Christians at Rome wore personally known to the church at Philippi. They would, however, feel a deep interest in a church which had thus the confidence and affection of Paul. There is reason to believe that the bonds of affection among the churches then were much stronger than they are now. There was a generous warmth in the newness of the Christian affection – the first ardor of love; and the common trials to which they were exposed would serve to bind them closely together.
Chiefly they that are of Caesars household – That is, of Nero, who was at that time the reigning emperor. The name Caesar was given to all the emperors after the time of Julius Caesar, as the name Pharaoh was the common name of the kings of Egypt. The phrase used here – the household of Caesar – may refer to the relatives of the emperor; and it is certainly possible that some of them may have been converted to Christianity. But it does not of necessity refer to those related to him, but may be applied to his domestics, or to some of the officers of the court that were more particularly employed around his person; and as it is more probable that some of them would be converted than his own relatives, it is more safe to suppose that they were intended; see the notes at Phi 1:13.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Php 4:22
Chiefly they that are of Caesars household
These words
I.
Remind us of the adaptation of the gospel to men everywhere.
1. It is no part of Gods purpose in redemption to limit its blessings to a nation or class. Hence the provisions of the gospel are suited to the circumstances of man as man. It knows nothing of the distinctions of rich and poor, noble and ignoble, learned and ignorant, bond and free. It knows them only as sinners, and offers salvation to all on equal terms. Hence in the early Churches we find slaves like Onesimus, fishermen like Peter, physicians like Luke, lawyers like Zenas, soldiers like Cornelius, and saints in Caesars household.
2. The gospel is still of universal adaptation. Christ is still the Saviour of sinners, and has disciples in every country and amidst all circumstances and conditions.
II. Teaches us the possibility of serving God in positions of temptation and difficulty.
1. Caesars household was the last place where one would have expected to find saints. Under any circumstances it could not be favourable to conversions and Christian growth; and it was now at about its worst. It illustrates the sovereignty of Divine grace that out of these circumstances there should arise witnesses for the gospel. It must have required great courage; but the grace that called them sustained them.
2. So it is always. There are some positions in which a man cannot serve God because they are wrong. There are others lawful enough, yet encompassed by temptation, e.g., the position of the sailor shut up for months with ungodly shipmates, that of the pious soldier in barracks with ungodly comrades, that of a godly citizen among scoffing fellow workmen. In all such cases God is able to make all grace abound to His servants. Faint not. God by placing you in a post of trial has assigned to you a post of honour. Never try to effect a compromise between right and wrong.
III. Tells how the Spirit of Christ animates all his followers. That spirit is love and sympathy. See how it breathes through these brotherly salutations. The age wants more of this spirit. What Christ requires is not so much uniformity of belief and worship as union of heart.
IV. Illustrates the way in which Christians may comfort and help one another.
1. The Philippians needed comfort. They had adversaries and were in danger of being terrified by this. The letter itself would afford deep consolation, this postscript especially so. The salutation was not much, but it showed that they were not forgotten at the throne of grace.
2. In many ways comfort and help may be afforded if there be only a little thoughtfulness. A truly sympathetic heart can give help with a look and a grasp of the hand. A too common sin is thoughtlessness. Evil is wrought by want of thought, as well as want of heart. The youth in the midst of scoffing companions, the young girl in an ungodly house, the poor man battling with poverty, the discouraged Christian worker–what might not be done by a timely and kind word.
V. A suggestion of the way in which our conduct becomes example and influence to others. Little did the Roman saints think that their salutations would be preserved and handed down through the centuries for the use of the Church. Kind words can never die. Neither can kind actions. Our names may perish but we shall live. Who these saints were we cannot tell. Nevertheless their power is felt today. (W. Walters.)
The saints in Caesars household
The throne of the Caesars was at this time occupied by Nero, a monster rather than a man. Certainly if ever there was an atmosphere uncongenial to Christianity it may be supposed to have been that of the court and palace of this bloody debauchee. Yet so true is it that gospel weapons are mighty to the casting down of strongholds that there were here Christians of the highest type willing to give their profession all publicity by sending greetings to Christians in distant cities.
I. The agency which brought round so unlikely a result. The mind naturally turns to Pauls miraculous gifts, and remembers how with noble intrepidity Paul rose up before the sages of Greece, and that as he spoke to Felix, the slave of base lusts, the haughty Roman trembled. It is easy to imagine, therefore, Paul working some great miracle to command the attention of the emperor and the court, and then reasoning of temperance, righteousness, and judgment to come. But this fancy would be incorrect. Paul was now a prisoner, and could not go like Moses, rod in hand, and compel by his miracles the attention of the profligate king, and yet it was at this time of seeming impotence that the great victory was won. Nay, it appears actually to have been in consequence of his imprisonment. Php 1:12-14 shows the two ways in which his bonds gave enlargement to Christianity. His patience and meekness witnessed for the truth of the gospel for which he suffered, and nerved the Christians to greater energy.
II. We have here a lesson as to Gods power of overruling evil for good. We are apt to imagine when a man is withdrawn from active duty that his usefulness is gone. But a minister can preach from a sick bed as well as from a pulpit. The report which goes forth of his patience and fortitude will do as much and perhaps more towards overcoming resistance to the gospel than his active ministrations. The martyrs did most for God and truth when actually in the clutches of their persecutors. A true Christian is never laid by. The influence that he exerts when suffering or reduced to poverty is often greater than when he led a benevolent enterprise. Let no one then be discouraged.
III. A man cannot be placed in circumstances which put it out of his power to give heed to the duties of religion. The instance of saints in Caesars household takes away the excuse that temptations, hindrances, opposition render piety impossible. Where are any so circumstanced as these people? It is true that more appears to be done for one man than for another, and that some circumstances are conducive and others hindering to religion. But under every possible disadvantage there may be a striving with evil and a following after good. The excuse assumes that God has put it out of some mens power to provide for their souls safety, and to assume this is to contradict the Divine word, and to throw scorn on the Divine attributes. Take a case like the one before us, that of servants in an irreligious family. Their superiors set them a bad example, give them few opportunities for public or private devotion, and would frown on or ridicule any indication of piety. Let this be granted. Yet these difficulties would disappear before earnest resolve. They have but to begin and obstacles would be gradually lowered and strength would grow by exercise. The Spirit of the living God fails no man who is not false to himself.
IV. These saints not only belonged to Caesars household at the time of their conversion, but remained after their conversion. They did not feel it their duty to abandon their stations and seek others apparently more favourable to religion. So that it does not follow that a man is to withdraw from circumstances of danger and difficulty, and place himself where there is less temptation and opposition. It is true a converted man is not justified in seeking employment where it would be specially difficult to cultivate religion; but to desert it because it made religion difficult would be to declare that the grace which had converted him in spite of disadvantages would not suffice to establish him, and to mark distrust of Gods Spirit. If the employment were sinful, there would be no room for debate; but if only dangerous, and simply required a greater amount of vigilance and boldness, to forsake it would prove timidity rather than prudence. For, e.g., a Christian nobleman in a corrupt court, or servant in an ungodly family, may find it unlawful to leave, inasmuch as distinct opportunity may be afforded of doing honour to God and promoting Christs cause. They are placed by God as leaven in the midst of an unsound mass. Not that a servant has to travel beyond the duties of his station; he has simply to carry his Christianity into all his occupations, and to distinguish himself from others by closer attention to his masters interests, stricter adherence to truth, etc. Let an irreligious master perceive all this, and he will scarcely fail to receive an impression favourable to religion. There are families to which the preacher can gain no access. God forbid that pious domestics should hastily withdraw from such.
V. Wheresoever God makes it a mans duty, there he will make it his interest to remain. If He employ one of His servants in turning others from sin, He will cause the employment to conduce to that servants holiness. Notice the chiefly of our text. Of all the Roman Christians the foremost in love were these saints who probably remained in Caesars service for the express purpose of furthering the gospel. Nor need we feel any surprise at this. Absence of trial is not the most favourable thing to religious growth. Neros palace may be a far better place for the development of personal piety than the cell of the monk; in the one the Christian has his graces put continually to the proof, and this serves both to discover and strengthen them; in the other there may be comparatively nothing to exercise them. And then the God of all grace, who has promised that His people shall not be tempted above that they are able, will bestow assistance proportioned to their wants. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
Saints in Caesars household
I. It is possible to be a Christian anywhere.
1. Christianity is not a thing of locality but of character. There are plants which will bloom in some latitudes and die in others, but Christianity can live where man can live, because it consists in the loyalty of the heart and life to Christ. Obadiah kept his conscience in the house of Ahab, Daniel his in the court of Babylon, Nehemiah his in the Persian palace. As Jonathan Edwards says, The grace of God can live where neither you nor I can. In the abodes of poverty humble Christians are living as near to God as Enoch. Even yet, if we care to look for it, we may find the lily among thorns.
2. What is true of places is true of occupations. Unless a mans business is sinful he may serve God in any profession. The Roman army was a very poor school of morals, yet all the centurions mentioned in the New Testament were good men. The sailor is proverbially rough, yet some of the best Christians have been sailors. What heroic godliness has been manifested by miners?
3. Now, if this be so it follows–
(1) That we must not be prejudiced against a man because of the locality he comes from. What peril Nathaniel nearly incurred because he thought Jesus came from Nazareth. Test a man by what he is, not by what he comes from.
(2) That we ought not to excuse ourselves for our lack of Christianity by pleading the force of circumstances. How often do we hear one saying, It is no use trying to be a Christian where I am. But it is never necessary to do wrong. Sin is a voluntary thing, and no external force can constrain a man to commit it. One comes home intoxicated and pleads that he met some friends and had to go with them; another excuses his extravagance on the plea that he must keep up appearances; a third excuses his dishonourable practices because he is in danger of bankruptcy. But if you cannot help doing wrong it is not wrong, but it is the consciousness of being able to help it that makes you so eager to use the excuse.
II. It is harder to be a Christian in some places than in others. There are households in which it seems most natural for a child to grow up in the beauty of holiness, and others where loyalty to Christ is met with opposition. The surroundings of some occupations are more trying to piety than others. When the lymphatic Dutchman, who took things easily, said to his excited minister, Dominic, restrain your temper, he was met with the pertinent reply, Restrain my temper, sir! I restrain more temper in the course of a single day than you do in a year. That was a difference of temperament. What then?
1. The Lord knows that this is so, and He will estimate our work by our opportunity. We may be sure that if we are in a hard place He will give us strength according to our need. Each gets his own grace. Ilka blade of grass has its ain drap o dew, and grace is suited to the place in which one dwells.
2. We ought to be charitable in our judgment of each other. While we hold ourselves to a rigid reckoning in all circumstances, let us make allowance for the circumstances of others. The flower in the window of a poor mans cottage may be far from a perfect specimen, but it is a greater marvel than the superb specimen in a rich mans conservatory. There may be more honour to one man for the Christianity he has maintained in the face of great obstacles, though it may be marked with blemishes, than there is to another who has no such blemishes, but who has had no such conflict.
III. The harder the place in which we are we should be the more earnest to maintain our Christianity. Here, however, it is needful to know what the hardest place is. It is not always that where there is the greatest external resistance to Christianity. An avowed antagonist the Christian meets as such; he prepares himself for the encounter, and is not taken unawares; but when the ungodly meet him as friends, then he is in real peril. The worlds attentions are more deadly than its antagonisms. The Church is in the world as a boat is in the sea; it can float only by being kept above it; and if we let it become waterlogged it will be swamped.
IV. The greater the difficulty we overcome in the maintenance of our Christianity the greater will be our reward. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
Sainthood in Neros household
1. This incidental allusion informs us that already Jesus was confessed before emperors; men that in irresponsible power and savage cruelty had almost lost the nature of men. Faith has won its greatest conquests on straitened and sorrowful fields.
2. If the strength and joy of believing are proportioned to the weight of the crosses born for it, then in some such post as this we must look for the bravest witnesses to the truth.
3. We eulogize virtues that flourish only in a favourite soil and climate. We palliate and excuse the deficiency, when honesty is missing in the household of Caesar. We forget that the piety of the Church and of society dwindles inevitably unless it is replenished by the energy of those valiant examples which will dare to be true in the palaces of power, and fashion, and mammon.
4. There are yet saints in Caesars household, and there is as good cause to venerate them as when beasts licked up their blood from the sand. For the substance of all sainthood which has vitality enough to live in Caesars household is this, that its virtue is so built on interior foundations, and its faith so rooted in its Divine Master, that no outward opposition can break it down.
5. There are special traits essential to sainthood in Caesars household.
I. Courage Christianity has favour for every noble sentiment; and so she offers to the veteran soldier, and to the enthusiastic youth, a field for bravery grander than any battle, in the resistance of moral invasion. Accordingly, we find that, very soon, Christianity seized on rough warriors, and some of these believers about the person of Nero must probably have been guards of his palace. On one of the early Christian monuments at Rome there is an epitaph of a young military officer, who lived long enough when he shed his blood for Christ. But Christs religion courts no consideration from armies. Its courage is of another kind–the courage that bears wrong, but will not commit it–that saves life, rather than destroys it; that springs from an unspotted conscience; that goes into and out of all companies, counting houses, caucuses, and churches, with an uprightness not to be bent, whether you bring threats, or sneers, or golden baits to tempt it; that lifts up an unblenched face in the most formidable array of difficulties, satisfied to stand on Gods side, to listen to the encouragement of the beatitudes and to hold to the breastplate of righteousness. Wherever such Christian courage in duty is there will be saints of Caesars household.
II. Modesty. They did not call themselves saints; Paul called them so. They did not boast of their religion; there was too much solemn sincerity in it. They did not lurk about the temples to mock the soothsayers, and to disseminate slanders about the priesthood. They knew the joy of their communion with Jesus, and cared more for that than for the admiration of the citizens. That was their Christian modesty. Disjoined from their fortitude, it might haw degenerated into timidity. And that is often our danger. There are persons of a diffident disposition, that err in not mixing enough boldness of resistance with their good nature. They remain inefficient disciples because they shrink from public notice. This is to turn the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit into a deformity, and to rob the Master of the testimony that is His due. This is the danger of all threatened minorities, but they will get strength for the fiery trial by going back to see how the inmates of a palace full of gluttony, licentiousness, and all royal vices, held their allegiance fast.
III. But to imitate that successful blending of modesty and courage, they will want a third quality, namely, independence. The question of duty once settled, all gates but that which leads to acting it out must be shut. And beyond that point, all arguments from custom, from the general expectation, from popular applause, from public or private gratification, are impertinent. Remember, these saints were living in the centre of the great worlds energy and splendour, and in the very focus of its intelligence. Independence was a virtue quite indispensable to them; but not a whit more so than to us. For, every day, Providence, through our own instincts, pushes us into some crisis of moral peril, where, if we do not act simply of ourselves, and take our direction at first hand from the Spirit, our integrity itself is gone.
IV. And superadded to independence and modesty and courage is constancy. There must have been many days when it would have been easy and convenient for these saints to slip round into the old comfortable heathenism. Inducements were not wanting. For the ignorant there was personal safety. For the cultivated Seneca was alive. But they held fast. They might be hunted out, and see their teachers slaughtered; but they gathered again the next evening, and other hands, willing to be mangled by the same martyrdom, broke to them the bread of life. The emperor might send them out to build his baths; they raised no civil rebellion, but while they bent to their slavery they knelt and prayed to their Father. Arrows might pierce their bodies, but they believed the Lord Jesus would receive their spirits. God is asking constancy of us. Our Nero is self-love. The senses are the Caesars of all ages. Fashion is a Rome that commissions its legions and spreads its silent empire wider than the Praetorian eagles. The reigning temper of the world is the imperishable persecutor and tyrant of the faithful soul. And so, in every home and street there are chances for the reappearing of saints in Caesars household. (Bishop Huntington.)
The religion of charity compatible with all callings
Notice that the chief salutations came from the unlikeliest place. It is a rebuke to some who think that Christianity pervades one state of life more than another. At times men have thought that the Christian religion was peculiarly suitable to the poor, and had nothing to do with the officers of Caesars household. Christ preached at first to the lowly, yet wise and rich were also called. If saints are found in Caesars household where shall they not be found? But men go sighing to find the proper soil for religion, and go to the desert to be religious, and think that when a man is a beggar he must be nearest heaven.
I. Christianity has affinity with all callings.
1. With riches, because the great grace of charity can be exercised thereby. Whose has charity in his heart and wealth in his hand has the finest gift of God.
2. With statesmanship, although it is common to say that that is a very uncongenial atmosphere for a Christian. But a statesman can put an end to the foul obstructions that hinder truth; he can make laws that men shall be no longer housed in conditions that make righteousness impossible.
3. With the soldier, though some think not. Though the day will come when war shall be at an end, nevertheless he who goes forth in a good cause stirred by the spirit of verity to do righteousness in the spirit of order, obedience, and self sacrifice, between him and the Christian faith are strong affinities.
4. With retirement. Christianity has much to say about the blessings of quiet existence, in deepening the wells of life.
5. With business. The merchant may be the most eminent missionary.
6. With art. The artist who gives relief to the tired eye and brain, who preaches the God of eternal beauty, and the spirit which underlies all visible things, is in harmony with our faith.
II. Wherein consists this unity by which the spirit of Christ has an affinity with extremely opposite characteristics?
1. Let us wander seemingly for a time and answer this question by asking another. It is not whether this or that calling or characteristic be holy or not, but what is that holiness which justifies us in calling it holy? A man may be a sweeper of chimneys or the holder of a sceptre; but the sceptre may be swayed in righteousness, and so may the besom. The righteousness of each depends on the degree to which each embodies in his calling that which constitutes righteousness.
2. To do a good action three things are essential.
(1) That you know what you are doing.
(2) That you do it from choice.
(3) That you have firmness and perseverance to do the like at all times.
3. Having knowledge, intention, and persistence in the performance of that which is just and wise, the question becomes this–What is that which, put into voice or action, constitutes it an act in accord with the Christian faith? Christianity pronounces it to be charity. Charity means the large, loving, constant doing of all things great and small. It is the universal spirit to which there is nothing great or small. A king through charity may sway the sceptre, and a room may be swept to the glory of God. So in Caesars household and Peters fishing hut, it is possible to be filled with that which constitutes the spirit of religion. Therefore it is a matter of indifference what your calling may be. If you are scandal mongers, indeed, it is impossible to be charitable, because you violate the first principles of charity. When one lives not in constant piety one goes back to Caesars household and thinks who they were. (G. Dawson, M. A.)
Christianity
I. Is holy–it makes men saints.
II. Might–it enters the palace.
III. Fearless–it stands before Nero.
IV. Kind–it teaches love. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
The composition of Caesars household
The household of the emperor consisted mainly of troops and of slaves who ministered to his wants and caprices as the wealthiest and most luxurious of Roman magnates. But senators and knights were also in close attendance upon him, equally in his hours of business and relaxation. These, indeed, were probably masters of households of their own; thus Seneca, the most intimate of his ministers, enjoyed a private residence in his gardens; Burrus, the prefect of the Praetorians, whose duty brought him, no doubt, daily into the imperial presence, occupied his own lodging in the Praetorian camp. The affairs of government were transacted chiefly by the emperors freedmen, some of them notorious for their riches and influence, court favourites who had been enfranchised by himself or his predecessors. These also had each his own palace and gardens, in which he vied with the proudest of the ancient aristocracy. Nevertheless these, too, were so closely attached to the emperors person that they might claim to form a part of Caesars household, and any one of them may have come in contact with Paul. A man of Pauls power of thought and language, speaking with the academic tone of a scholar of Tarsus, and the natural fervour of a Hebrew prophet, could hardly fail to command the attention of the feverish students of moral truth who abounded in the ranks of the Roman aristocracy. But if such turned away he could not fail to be received among the lower class of the emperors household attendants, both male and female, who filled a thousand menial offices about his person, and that of his consort. The ministers to the luxury of Poppaea were certainly not less numerous than those who discharged similar functions for Livia before her. Among them were servants of the chamber and the ante-chamber, servants who waited at the doors, who attended at the bath, who assisted at the toilet, who kept the jewels, who read at the empresss couch, who sat at her feet, who followed her in her walks, who lulled her to sleep and watched over her slumbers, who had charge of her purse, and distributed the tasks of the whole household. The persons in waiting on the emperor were probably even more multitudinous, and while many of their functions were merely manual, there were not a few entrusted with affairs which required high intellectual training. The emperor was surrounded with numerous members of the learned classes such as could discharge the duties of secretaries, physicians, professors of every art and accomplishment and teachers in philosophy. To have access to Caesars household was to be put into communication with the most intelligent people of the day. Over Pauls intercourse with these people a cloud rests, but it so happens that recent excavations have discovered the names of various persons connected with the court of Claudius which are identical with those which the apostle mentions in his Epistle to the Romans. We find among these names those of Amphas, Urbanus, Stachys, Apella, Tryphena, Tryphosa, Rufus, Hermas, Potrobius (Patrobas), Philologus, and Nerens. Some of these, no doubt, are very common appellatives; but the occurrence of so many coincidences can hardly be accidental. And the easy and familiar way in which the apostle introduces the mention of the saints in Caesars household, seems to imply that he stood on an easy footing with them. It is the style of one who went in and out among them, of a man who dwelt close at hand; accessible daily as they passed by on their ordinary avocations. (Dean Merivale.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 22. All the saints] All the Christians now at Rome.
They that are of Caesar’s household.] Nero was at this time emperor of Rome: a more worthless, cruel, and diabolic wretch never disgraced the name or form of man; yet in his family there were Christians: but whether this relates to the members of the imperial family, or to guards, or courtiers, or to servants, we cannot tell. If even some of his slaves were converted to Christianity, it would he sufficiently marvellous. Converts to Christianity in this family there certainly were; and this shows how powerfully the Divine word had been preached and spread. That the Empress Poppaea may have been favourably inclined to Christianity is possible; for Josephus relates of her, Antiq., lib. xx. cap. 7: . She was a worshipper of the true God; it is not likely, therefore, that she threw any hinderances in the way of her servants who might wish to embrace the Christian faith. St. Jerome, in Philemon, states that St. Paul had converted many in Caesar’s family; A Caesare missus in carcerem, notior familiae ejus factus, persecutoris Christi domum fecit ecclesiam. “Being by the emperor cast into prison, he became the more known to his family, and he turned the house of Christ’s persecutor into a church.” Some imagine that Seneca, the preceptor of Nero and the poet Lucan, were converted by St. Paul; and there are still extant, and in a MS. now before me, letters which profess to have passed between Paul and Seneca; but they are worthy of neither. They have been printed in some editions of Seneca’s works. See the remarks below.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The rest of the Christians at Rome do the same; more especially they of Nero the emperors own family and court, his domestics, Phi 1:13. It seems there were some there truly pious and Christian: but however some conceit, there is no real evidence that Seneca was of that number; he being not a courtier, but a senator, who left no real token (we know of) that he was a Christian.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
22. they that are of Csar’shouseholdthe slaves and dependents of Nero who had beenprobably converted through Paul’s teaching while he was a prisoner inthe Prtorian barrack attached to the palace. Philippi was a Roman”colony,” hence there might arise a tie between thecitizens of the mother city and those of the colony; especiallybetween those of both cities who were Christians, converted as manyof them were by the same apostle, and under like circumstances, hehaving been imprisoned at Philippi, as he now is at Rome.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
All the saints salute you,…. The members of the church at Rome,
chiefly they that are of Caesar’s household; for by means of the apostle’s bonds, which were made manifest in the emperor’s palace, Christ was made known to some there likewise; though Nero, the then reigning emperor, was a very wicked prince, and his court a very debauched one, yet the grace of God reached some there: who these were cannot be said; as for the conjecture that Seneca the philosopher, Nero’s master, was one of them, it is without foundation; the eight letters of his to the Apostle Paul, and the six letters of the apostle to him, are spurious, though of ancient date, being made mention of by Austin and Jerom g: a like groundless conjecture is that, that Lucan the poet, Seneca’s brother’s son, was another; for there is nothing in his writings, or in any account of him, any more than in the former, that shows him to be a Christian. Torpes, a man in great favour and dignity in Nero’s court, and Evellius his counsellor, who both suffered martyrdom under him, according to the Roman martyrology, are also mentioned.
g Vid. Fabricii Bibliothec. Latin, p. 69.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Of Caesar’s household. Probably the slaves and freedmen attached to the palace.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “All the saints salute you (aspazontai humas pantes hoi hagioi; “All the saints (holy ones) greet you all;” This evidently refers to the Church body of saints at Rome, Rom 16:23, those who had helped Paul often.
2) Chiefly they that are Caesar’s household” (malista de hoi ek tes Kaisaros oikias) “But most of all the ones of the household of Caesar.” Some of the household of the Emperor had become Christian and especially requested Paul to send their greetings to the brethren of the Church at Philippi, 1Co 1:26; 1Co 7:20-22; Php_1:13; Rom 16:1-27.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
22 The brethren that are with me salute you In these salutations he names first of all his intimate associates, (260) afterwards all the saints in general, that is, the whole Church at Rome, but chiefly those of the household of Nero — a thing well deserving to be noticed; for it is no common evidence of divine mercy, that the gospel had made its way into that sink of all crimes and iniquities. It is also the more to be admired, in proportion as it is a rare thing for holiness to reign in the courts of sovereigns. The conjecture formed by some, that Seneca is here referred to among others, has no appearance of foundation; for he never gave any evidence, even the smallest, of his being a Christian; nor did he belong to the household of Caesar, but was a senator, and had at one time held the office of praetor. (261)
END OF THE COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS.
(260) “ Les compagnons, qui demeuroyent auec luy;” — “His associates who lived with him.”
(261) “Some imagine,” says Dr. A. Clarke, “that Seneca, the preceptor of Nero, and the poet Lucan, were converted by St. Paul; and there are still extant, and in a MS. now before me, letters which profess to have passed between Paul and Seneca; but they are worthy of neither. They have been printed in some editions of Seneca’s works.” — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(22) of Csars household.The household of Csar included a multitude of persons of all ages and ranks and occupations. Dr. Lightfoot, in a very interesting excursus on this verse, remarking that these Christians of Csars household are alluded to as if well known to the Philippians, has examined the various names mentioned in Romans 16. (three years before this time), and finds many of them identical with names actually found in sepulchral inscriptions, as belonging to members of the domus Augusta, or imperial household. These were earlier converts; but, wherever St. Pauls prison was, he can hardly have failed to gain through the prtorians some communication with the household of the emperor, whose body-guard they were; and the allusion here seems to show that for some reason these Christians of Caesars household were in an especial familiarity of intercourse with him. Probably, therefore, he had added from that household new converts to Christ; and he mentions this here, as he had before spoken of his bonds being made manifest in the prtorium (Php. 1:13), in order to show the Philippians that his very imprisonment had given special opportunity for the spread of the gospel.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘All the saints salute you, especially those who are of Caesar’s household.’
The greeting then widens to encompass the whole church in the city from which he was writing, probably Rome. ‘All the saints (true believers) salute you.’ It is noteworthy that no ‘notable’ is separated out. There was no separate hierarchy. They were all ‘brothers and sisters’ in Christ. And he then adds, ‘especially those of Caesar’s household’. This was a bold declaration that even in the wider household of Caesar there were those who acknowledged Jesus Christ. This description would be a wide one and would include soldiers, servants and slaves who directly served Caesar, and wore his ‘uniform’. There would be such in many large cities throughout the empire. It was a reminder that the Kingly Rule of God had even extended over many in Caesar’s household. God was active at the very heart of the empire, and wooing even Caesar’s servants to Himself.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
22 All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar’s household.
Ver. 22. All the saints salute you ] Christianity is no enemy to courtesy. God’s scholars are taught better manners than to neglect so much as salutations.
They that are of Caesar’s household ] When Caesar himself lived and died an unconverted caitiff (wretch) and a castaway. So did Seneca, for aught we can find by his writings, though some would have him to be here designed among the rest. See Trapp on “ Rom 1:18 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
22 .] , all the Christians here.
] These perhaps were slaves belonging to the familia of Nero, who had been converted by intercourse with St. Paul, probably at this time a prisoner in the prtorian barracks (see ch. Php 1:13 note) attached to the palace. This is much more likely, than that any of the actual family of Nero should have embraced Christianity. The hint which Chrys., al., find here, , , is alien from the simplicity of the close of an Epistle. The reason of these being specified is not plain: the connexion perhaps between a colonia , and some of the imperial household, might account for it.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Phi 4:22 . . If by this time, as is probable (see Introduction ), Paul had been removed from his lodging to one of the state prisons near the palace, it is plain that Christians of the Imperial household would have special opportunities of close intercourse with him. . . See esp [73] . SH [74] . , Romans , pp. 418 423, as supplementary to Lightfoot’s important discussion; and also, Riggenbach, Neue Jahrb. f. deutsche Th. , 1892, pp. 498 525, Mommsen, Handbuch d. rm. Alterth. , ii., 2 (Exo 3 ), pp. 833 839. SH [75] . point out that a number of the names mentioned for salutation in Rom 16 . occur in the Corpus of Latin Inscriptions as members of the Imperial household, which seems to have been one of the chief centres of the Christian community at Rome. In the first century A.D. most of the Emperor’s household servants came from the East. Under Claudius and Nero they were people of real importance. And we find, from history, that Christian slaves had great influence over their masters. See Friedlnder, Sittengeschichte Roms , i., pp. 70 ff., 74, 110 112.
[73] especially.
[74] . Sanday and Headlam ( Romans ).
[75] . Sanday and Headlam ( Romans ).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
chiefly = specially.
of. App-104.
household. Literally house. Greek. oikia.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
22.] , all the Christians here.
] These perhaps were slaves belonging to the familia of Nero, who had been converted by intercourse with St. Paul, probably at this time a prisoner in the prtorian barracks (see ch. Php 1:13 note) attached to the palace. This is much more likely, than that any of the actual family of Nero should have embraced Christianity. The hint which Chrys., al., find here, , , is alien from the simplicity of the close of an Epistle. The reason of these being specified is not plain: the connexion perhaps between a colonia, and some of the imperial household, might account for it.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Php 4:22
Php 4:22
All the saints salute you,-The church members in Rome generally, as distinguished from the smaller circle just mentioned.
especially they that are of Caesars household.-The saints of Caesars household could hardly be his own family. But he kept, as emperors did, a large number of servants, guards, and retainers. Any servant or guard would be called of his household. Some of these had become Christians, and sent brotherly salutations to the church at Philippi.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
the: Rom 16:16, 2Co 13:13, Heb 13:24, 1Pe 5:13, 3Jo 1:14
they: Phi 1:13
Caesar’s: The cruel, worthless, and diabolical Nero was at this time emperor of Rome; but it is not improbable that the empress Poppaea was favourably inclined to Christianity, as Josephus relates that [Strong’s G2318], [Strong’s G1063], [Strong’s G2258], “she was a worshipper of the true God.” Jerome states (in Philemon) that St. Paul had converted many in Caesar’s family; for “being by the emperor cast into prison, he became more known to his family, and turned the house of Christ’s persecutor into a church.”
Reciprocal: Luk 2:1 – Caesar Luk 8:3 – Herod’s Luk 20:24 – Caesar’s Act 13:1 – Herod Act 17:34 – the Areopagite 1Co 1:26 – not many mighty 1Co 16:20 – the brethren 2Ti 4:21 – and all
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
SAINTS IN THE HOUSEHOLD OF CSAR
All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Csars household.
Php 4:22
Who are these of whom the text speaks, saints of Csars household? We do not know. The Bible is silent. The history of the world has passed them over, the history of the Church knows them not. By chance, indeed, in the dark recesses of the Catacombs, amid the quaint symbols of the hope of immortality, their names may even now be deciphered, but beyond that we know them not.
I. Christians under adverse circumstances.It is about them that I would fain say to you just two words. One is that if we can conceive of any place in the world more unlikely than another at that day in which to find a Christian man it was Neros palace. The encouragement to us is this, that, if there, then anywhere it is possible to be a follower of our Blessed Lord. The encouragement is, that there must surely be no difficulties of life, no post of duty, no situation of temptation, in which a Christian man, by the grace of God, may not work his life unharmed.
II. Our real danger.The world in which we live, our domestic, professional, social, political world, it is to us Csars household. We have to live there, work there, wait there for our Blessed Master, and though of course superficially the world has changed, there is no arena, there is no garment of flaming pitch, there is no fierce cry of Christians to the lions! nothing that could tempt to apostasy in our case, or offer excuse to weak human nature to compromise with sin and infidelity, yet our dangers are no less real. The world is, after all, though softer and gentler, no less dangerous to Christian men, because day by day they are brought in contact with those who neither serve nor know our Divine Master, and then zeal in duty brings its own temptation, earthly labour has its own peril.
III. Never despair of finding good men anywhere.Moreover, I think that from these unknown saints in Csars household we may all of us, men and women, learn a lesson of charity, never to despair of finding good men anywhere. God sees not as we see, sufficient if He knows His own, and will one day bring them into the light. Depend upon it there will be many in heaven whom we did not expect to meet. For Gods servants are often hidden, sometimes from pure unobtrusiveness, sometimes from a shrinking fear lest they should after profession fall and bring dishonour on the cause, sometimes again from circumstances which have not brought out their character before those with whom they live. But let us comfort ourselves with the assurance that God knows them and will declare them one day.
Rev. Dr. H. G. Woods.
Illustration
There are few contrasts so startling as that which is suggested by this Epistle to the Philippians. We read our pagan history and we read our Bible, but it is not often that the two come so close together and that the lines of both histories touch for one moment to separate again. Here we have for the first time that union of sacred and profane history. Here seems to commence that long struggle between the religion of Christ and the Empire of Rome which ended by establishing the Gospel upon the ruins of the Eternal City. Here we read of Philippi, the advanced guard of the ambition of Macedonian kings, but now the seat of a Christian Church. Philippi, on whose battlefield the future of the world was decided just a hundred years before, now sending Epaphroditus to bear comfort and help to the Apostle in his Roman prison. Everything seems to point to the same contrast between the inspired word of Christian advice as written in this Epistle and the Roman Prtorian command, between the purity and piety of the writer and that golden palace of sin and shame outside the walls of which he wrote.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
(Php 4:22.) -All the saints salute you. Of course the brethren are saints, but all the saints are not brethren in the very same sense. The apostle refers to two circles of Christians about him; those bound by some nearer and more special tie to him, and named brethren; and those beyond them having no such familiar relationship with him, the saints. Who composed this inner circle we know not. He may refer to the brethren spoken of in Php 1:14, or principally to those mentioned by him in the epistles written at this period to the church in Colosse, and to Philemon. Chrysostom alludes to a difficulty. The apostle has said, in Php 2:20-21, that none with him were like-minded with Timothy, and that all sought their own, and his solution is, that he did not refuse to call even them brethren. Nor might all these brethren be qualified for such a mission as Timothy’s. See p. 149. A special class are subjoined-
-but chiefly they of Caesar’s household. A special prominence is attached to their salutation. The very source of it must have excited wonder and gratitude. Calvin remarks-ac eo quidem admirabilius, quo rarius est exemplum, sanctitatem in aulis regnare. They of Caesar’s household must have taken a deep interest in the apostle, and might have been converted by him during his imprisonment. They must also, so far as permitted to them, have ministered to his comfort, and they could not but feel a special sympathy for a church which had sent Epaphroditus to do a similar service. Who they were, has been keenly disputed.
The term is not the same with , but refers to the imperial residence. Matthies indeed says-so ist dieses am natrlichsten hier zu verstehen, und an solche aus der Kaiserlichen Leibwache zu denken. But the statement is unsupported. It has been supposed to mean:-
1. The emperor’s family or relatives. So van Hengel and many others, including Baur, for a sinister purpose of his own. The words may bear such a signification-1Co 16:15, ; Luk 1:27; Luk 2:4, .
2. The word is used in an inferior sense to signify domestics generally. So in Josephus, Antiq. 17.5. 8- . Also Philo- , and in a yet more honourable sense- -if he had not been king, but only one of Caesar’s household, ought he not to have had some precedence and honour? In Flaccum, vol. ii. p. 522. Or Tacitus, Hist. 2.92-quidam in domum Caesaris transgressi, atque ipsis dominis potentiores. Nero, as has been often remarked, had but few relations, and the probability is, that domestics, either slaves or freedmen, are here intended. The persons referred to are not named, as Epaphroditus could give the Philippians the requisite information. It is almost needless to allude to any hypothesis on this subject; yet out of this reference arose the fiction of Paul’s correspondence with Seneca, Nero’s preceptor. Lucan the poet, Seneca’s nephew, has also been included. Estius refers to two names, Evellius and Torpetes, as being Neronis familiares, and as occupying a place in the Roman martyrology of this period. But this is all uncertainty. Witsius gives Pomponia Graecina, a name occurring in Tacitus. Meletem. Leid. p. 212. Some have fixed on Poppaea Sabina, Nero’s wife. These domestics were, in all probability, brought into contact with the apostle during his confinement in the praetorium. For the opinions of those who think that this epistle was written at Caesarea the reader may turn to the Introduction.
Fuente: Commentary on the Greek Text of Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Phillipians
Php 4:22. This is the same kind of salutation as in the preceding verse, but is more general in its source. It comes from the saints (Christians) throughout the area where Paul was located since coming to Rome, and is based upon expressions he had heard from them in various conversations. He was especially impressed with what he had heard from the group he calls Caesar’s household. The last word is so general that it could mean either the immediate members of Caesar’s family, or his servants or attendants. In any case, it means persons closely connected with the emperor of Rome. It indicates the good influence and standing Paul had, in spite of his humiliating situation.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Php 4:22. All the saints salute you. The greeting of the one church to the other. Though unknown, they were now brethren in Christ, and so could not be without interest in one another. There may have been some considerable degree of connection between the Roman colony and the metropolis, and the earliest members of the churches may have been from the same classes of society, but we have here the salutation of the whole Christian body sent because they had heard of the sister church and her zeal.
especially they that are of Csars household. We have nothing to guide us to a decision on what persons are here specially meant. The apostle may have been brought into converse with the highest as well as the lowest of the members of the imperial household. Yet it seems likely that the slaves and freedmen would be brought most within his influence, and those of whom he speaks have embraced Christianity. The reason why they specially send a salutation may be that they, more than any others, had heard of all the love which the Philippians felt toward the apostle, and had beheld, in the zeal and affection of Epaphroditus, a manifestation of the regard in which be was held by them. And these converts, brought into closest communion with St. Paul, would have special desire to show their sense of what had been done to give consolation to an affliction, which themselves would see, but could do little to lighten.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
4:22 All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of {p} Caesar’s household.
(p) Those who belong to the emperor Nero.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
"All the saints" probably refers to the Christians at Rome. Of these, some were employees of the imperial government. [Note: Cf. Robertson, 4:463.] Paul had already referred to the praetorian guards, some of whom had evidently become believers (Php 1:13). Since Philippi as a colony had close ties with Rome, it is likely that some of the Roman Christians had friends in the Philippian church.