Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Philippians 4:3
And I entreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and [with] other my fellow laborers, whose names [are] in the book of life.
3. And I entreat ] Better, Yea, I request, or beg (as in our polite use of that word).
also ] Paul was doing what he could to “help” his two converts; his friend at Philippi must “help” too.
true yokefellow ] This person can only be conjecturally identified. He may have been a leading episcopus (Php 1:1) at Philippi. He may have been Epaphroditus, as Bp Lightfoot well suggests; charged with this commission by St Paul not only orally, but thus in writing, as a sort of credential. One curious conjecture, as old as St Clement of Alexandria (cent. 2) is that it was St Paul’s wife [26] ; and it is curious that the older Latin version has dilectissime conjux, “ dearest partner.” But the word conjux, like “partner,” is elastic and ambiguous, and the adjective is masculine. Both the form of the Greek adjective here, and the plain statement in 1 Corinthians 7. of St Paul’s celibacy a few years before, not to speak of the unlikelihood, had he been married, of his wife’s residence at Philippi, are fatal to this explanation. Another guess is that the word rendered “yokefellow,” syzygus, or synzygus is a proper name, and that we should render “ Syzygus, truly so called.” But this, though possible, is unlikely; no such name is found in inscriptions or elsewhere.
[26] Renan translates the words here ( Saint Paul, p. 148), ma chre pouse. See Salmon, Introduction to N. T., p. 465, note.
Wyclif’s rendering, “the german felowe,” looks strange to modern eyes; it means “thee, germane (genuine) comrade.”
help those women] Lit., help them (feminine). “ Them.” means Euodia and Syntyche. The help would come in the way of personal conference and exhortation, with prayer.
which ] The Greek is well represented in R.V., for they.
laboured with me ] Lit., “ strove along with me.” The verb is the same as that Php 1:27, where see note. Euodia and Syntyche had aided devotedly in the missionary work in their town, perhaps as sharers of special “gifts” (see Act 21:9), or simply as exhorters and instructors of their female neighbours, probably also in loving labours of mercy for the temporal needs of poor converts. Like Phbe of Cenchre (Rom 16:1) they were perhaps deaconesses. See Appendix C.
in the gospel ] Cp. Php 1:5, Php 2:22; and below, on Php 4:15.
with Clement ] Does this mean, “Help them, and let Clement and others help also,” or, “They strove along with me in the gospel, and Clement and others strove also”? The grammar is neutral in the question. On the whole, the first explanation seems best to suit the context, for it keeps the subject of the difference between Euodia and Syntyche still in view, which the second explanation scarcely does; and that difference was evidently an important and anxious fact, not to be lightly dismissed.
“ Clement,” Greek, Clms: we have no certain knowledge of his identity. The name was common. It is asserted by Origen (cent. 3) that he is the Clement who was at a later time bishop of Rome, and author of an Epistle to the Corinthians, probably the earliest of extant patristic writings. Eusebius (cent. 4) implies the same belief. There is nothing impossible in this, for a Philippian Christian, migrating to the all-receiving Capital, might very possibly become Chief Pastor there in course of time. But the chronology of the life and work of Clement of Rome is obscure in detail, and some evidence makes him survive till quite a.d. 120, more than half a century later than this: a length of labour likely to be noticed by church historians, if it were the fact. In his Epistle (c. 47) he makes special and reverent mention of St Paul; and this is perhaps the strongest point in favour of the identity; but certainly not decisive. See Lightfoot, Philippians, p. 168.
the book of life ] Cp. Rev 3:5; Rev 13:8; Rev 17:8; Rev 20:12; Rev 20:15; Rev 21:27; and Luk 10:20. And see Exo 32:32-33; Psa 69:28; Psa 87:6; Isa 4:3; Eze 13:9; Dan 12:1. The result of comparison of these passages with this seems to be that St Paul here refers to the Lord’s “knowledge of them that are His” (2Ti 2:19; cp. Joh 10:27-28), for time and eternity. All the passages in the Revelation, save Rev 3:5, are clearly in favour of a reference of the phrase to the certainty of the ultimate salvation of true saints; particularly Rev 13:8, Rev 17:8; and so too Dan 12:1, and Luk 10:20. Rev 3:5 appears to point in another direction (see Trench on that passage). But in view of the other mentions of the “Book” in the Revelation, the language of Php 3:5 may well be only a vivid assertion that the name in question shall be found in an indelible register. Exodus 32. and Psalms 69 are of course definite witnesses for a possible blotting out from “a book written” by God. But it is at least uncertain whether the book there in view is not the register of life temporal, not eternal. Practically, the Apostle here speaks of Clement and the rest as having given illustrious proof of their part and lot in that “life eternal” which is “to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent” (Joh 17:3). The word “ names.” powerfully suggests the individuality and speciality of Divine love.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And I entreat thee also, true yoke-fellow – It is not known to whom the apostle refers here. No name is mentioned, and conjecture is useless. All that is known is, that it was someone whom Paul regarded as associated with himself in labor, and one who was so prominent at Philippi that it would be understood who was referred to, without more particularly mentioning him. The presumption, therefore. is, that it was one of the ministers, or bishops (see the notes at Phi 1:1) of Philippi, who had been particularly associated with Paul when he was there. The Epistle was addressed to the church with the bishops and deacons Phi 1:1; and the fact that this one had been particularly associated with Paul, would serve to designate him with sufficient particularity. Whether he was related to the women referred to, is wholly unknown. Doddridge supposes that he might be the husband of one of these women; but of that there is no evidence. The term yoke-fellow – suzugos – some have understood as a proper name (Syzygus); but the proper import of the word is yoke-fellow, and there is no reason to believe that it is used here to denote a proper name. If it had been, it is probable that some other word than that used here and rendered true – gnesios – would have been employed. The word true – gnesios – means that he was sincere, faithful, worthy of confidence. Paul had had evidence of his sincerity and fidelity; and he was a proper person, therefore, to whom to entrust a delicate and important business.
Help those women – The common opinion is, tidal the women here referred to were Euodias and Syntyche, and that the office which the friend of Paul was asked to perform was, to secure a reconciliation between them. There is, however, no certain evidence of this The reference seems rather to be to influential females who had rendered important assistance to Paul when he was there. The kind of help which was to be imparted was probably by counsel, and friendly cooperation in the duties which they were called to perform, There is no evidence that it refers to pecuniary aid; and, had it referred to a reconciliation of those who were at variance, it is probable that some other word would have been used than that rendered here as help – sullambanou.
Which laboured with me in the gospel – As Paul did not permit women to preach (see 1Ti 2:12; compare the notes at 1Co 10:5), he must have referred here to some other services which they had rendered. There were deaconesses in the primitive churches (see the Rom 16:1 note; 1Ti 5:9., note), to whom was probably entrusted particularly the care of the female members of a church. In the custom which prevailed in the oriental world, of excluding females from the public gaze, and of confining them to their houses, it would not be practicable for the apostles to have access to them. The duties of instructing and exhorting them were then probably entrusted chiefly to pious females; and in this way important aid would be rendered in the gospel. Paul could regard such as laboring with him, though they were not engaged in preaching.
With Clement also – That is, they were associated with Clement, and with the other fellow-laborers of Paul, in aiding him in the gospel. Clement as doubtless someone who was well known among them; and the apostle felt that, by associating them with him, as having been real helpers in the gospel, their claim to respectful attention would be better appreciated. Who Clement was, is unknown. Most of the ancients say it was Clement of Rome, one of the primitive fathers. But there is no evidence of this. The name Clement was common, and there is no improbability in supposing that there might have been a preacher of this name in the church at Philippi.
Whose names are in the book of life – see the notes at Isa 4:3. The phrase, the book of life, which occurs here, and in Rev 3:5; Rev 13:8; Rev 20:12, Rev 20:15; Rev 21:27; Rev 22:19, is a Jewish phrase, and refers originally to a record or catalogue of names, as the roll of an army. It then means to be among the living, as the name of an individual would be erased from a catalog when he was deceased. The word life here refers to eternal life; and the whole phrase refers to those who were enrolled among the true friends of God, or who would certainly be saved. The use of this phrase here implies the belief of Paul that these persons were true Christians. Names that are written in the book of life will not be blotted out. If the hand of God records them there who can obliterate them?
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Php 4:3
I intreat thee also, true yokefellow
The faithful colleague
I.
His character.
II. His work.
III. His reward. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
Lay help
We have here a lively picture of lay help as it was in apostolic times. Of all the actors in this busy scene there is no proof that anyone was ordained. Who St. Pauls yokefellow was we know not. If Epaphroditus, there is nothing to show that he was in the ministry as we understand the term. As apostle (Php 2:25) of the Philippians he was simply a messenger, and the other expressions in the same verse do not imply office. There is nothing to prove that Clement was the illustrious bishop of Rome. He is only mentioned as one of Pauls many fellow labourers, whom it is quite gratuitous to confound with the bishops and deacons.
2. But the clear words of the text carry us a step further. Women are among the fellow toilers. And here, too, it would be a narrowing idea to suppose that they were deaconesses. It is simply as fellow Christians that they are fellow labourers.
3. There the particular help invited has nothing clerical in its nature. The original bids these friends join in the reconciliation of Euodia and Syntyche. The persons addressed, the persons described, and the help asked for, enforce to one duty, that of laymen consecrating themselves to Divine service. The idea that all the offices of piety and charity are to be heaped upon the clergy; that it is unnecessary and presumptuous for an unordained man to put his hand to the plough of Christian labour, is so directly opposed to every principle of the gospel, that it would have received St. Pauls heaviest condemnation. Christ has called us to a corporate life, a body having many members, each with its office, and all equally helpful and essential (Rom 12:4-5).
I. Note the advantages of association in stimulating, directing, and economizing labor. Multitudes of men and women stand idle in the Churchs market place and give as their excuse, No man hath hired us. That excuse never, indeed, had any truth in it. Creation, Redemption, Conscience, the Gospel, the Spirit, are enough to silence the plea that God hath no call for us. But how many converted souls have asked themselves, a minister, or a friend, What shall I do? without meeting with a response. The principle of association meets this want, giving assurance of sympathy, direction, and help. Loneliness in feeling is melancholy, in working paralysis. United effort prevents superfluous labour upon a spot already cultivated, and directs it on neglected spheres.
II. The variety of agencies offered to the Christian workman. There is nothing too small to be reckoned, too secular to be consecrated when it has to do with Christs Church, whether instruction of the young in Sunday or night school, visiting the sick, joining the choir, or placing the worshippers in order and quietness, or bringing the Church by decorations into unison with the joys of Christmas, Easter, etc. All are not bidden to rush into one kind of service, but each is asked to do what is most suitable to his gifts heartily as unto Christ.
III. The reward of the worker (Pro 11:25). There is a reaction of good, not least, upon him. It is a great thing to see for ourselves things of which we have idly read in books; want and sorrow so light in the abstract, so heavy in the enduring; to be shamed out of our luxury, loitering, listless, dreamy, self-indulgent intellectualism; to be enabled to see that in our little part of our day we are decidedly on the side of good, which is the side of Christ. (Dean Vaughan.)
Women in the Church
I. Their ministers.
1. Prayer.
2. Sympathy.
3. Private effort.
4. Words of love.
II. Their claims.
1. To encouragement.
2. To protection.
3. To help. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
Help the women
The service of women to the cause of truth has been invaluable in all ages. The old Testament is full of it, and the Christian Church has always been blest with it. Women ministered to the wants of the Saviour, succoured the apostles, and contributed to the spread of the gospel in many ways.
I. Women nobly engaged. By both nature and position, woman has facilities and opportunities for work that men do not possess.
1. In the work of teaching. In the home, in the Sunday School, and in the mission hall, the services of pious women are conspicuous. Timothy was instructed in the Scriptures by his mother and his grandmother.
2. In works of benevolence. Charity is almost natural to woman. We read of Dorcas, who made garments for the poor.
3. In visiting the sick. Woman is the best visitor in the sick room. Her tenderness, and often her helpfulness, prove her fitness for the work. The life of Elizabeth Fry could not be written of any man. Nightingale, the songstress of mercy at the head of the ambulance corps, was another, whose ministry helped forward the gospel.
4. Mission work abroad. The missionarys wife is the mother of the tribe among whom she labours. In many parts of the world–for example, in India–the seclusion to which all women are banished precludes access to them except by woman.
II. Such work must be encouraged. Like all workers, they need the heart and hand of the Church to support them.
1. Help them by sympathy and tenderness. Let them see that they share our full confidence. A word of cheer is helpful to those toilers. St. Paul was careful to greet them, and to acknowledge their services.
2. Supply them with the means of doing good. They often want relief for the poor, which they cannot supply.
3. Pray for them.
4. Bear your share of their burden. Take upon you the heaviest end of the work. (Weekly Pulpit.)
Fellow labourers
1. Sympathy was a strong characteristic of St. Paul, an instance of which is his fondness for the word fellowship; Fellow heirs, citizens, prisoners, servants, soldiers, workers, labourers.
2. Fellowship was the first necessity of our creation. It is not good for man to be alone. It is a high part of our religion, a preparation for the society, unity, and choruses of heaven.
3. Fellowship of labour stands in immediate connection with the book of life. Are we then enrolled together as labourers? Will none be there who have not laboured? Is the communion of saints a communion of workers for God? Will it be so forever in heaven? What an argument for the united labours in the Church?
I. The whole genius of Christianity is work. Go work. Work while it is day. Let men see your good works. The end of all work is the extension of the Kingdom of God. Christianity, unlike other religions, is essentially propagating. It is, therefore, compared to that which emits and cannot but emit; leaven, light. The test of all at the last day will be what we have done.
II. This is a different conception of religion to that which is held by many religious people. There is a spiritual as well as a natural selfishness. It is not selfish to pray the prayers which are all for ourselves, to take an interest only in our own souls, to know the greatest of all happiness, and not impart it to others?
III. In this work ministers and people must cooperate. All the commands to extend the kingdom of Christ are binding on clergy and laity alike.
IV. The safety of anyone who is not a labourer in the vineyard is very doubtful. The condition of going into the vineyard was a wish to work. None are to simply go into the grounds, to pick flowers, to eat the fruit, but all to work. And the reckoning at the end was of the work done.
V. It is a wonderful arrangement that God has committed this work to sinners, not to the heavenly hosts. But our weakness is our strength; our sinfulness is our argument. For who can sympathize with sinners but a sinner?
VI. No one can undertake this work who has not a love for Christ and sinners. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
The book of life
I. Its author.
II. Its publication; at the last day.
III. Its contents: the names of the faithful.
IV. Its effect: life. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
Names in the book
There is pathos in a human name, for it always represents a life, an experience, a history, a destiny. Sometimes in the Scriptures names mean souls (Act 1:15).
I. Some observations.
1. It is a great thing to have a name in the New Testament. Think of the roll call in the sixteenth of Romans and the eleventh of Hebrews!
2. It is a great thing now to have a name in the family Bible; for that generally signifies Christian training and parental prayers.
3. It is a great thing to have a name upon the pages of a Church register. How affecting are these old manuals, with their lists of pious men and women, many of whom have passed into the skies!
4. It is the greatest thing of all to have a name in the Lambs Book of Life. Beyond all fame (Mat 11:11). Beyond all power (Luk 10:20).
II. Some questions.
1. In how many books is your name written now?
2. How can a human name be written securely in the Lambs Book of Life?
3. To backsliders: Are you going to return to your name, or do you want it to come back to you?
4. To Christian workers: How many names have you helped to write in the Book of Life?
5. Is there any cheer in thinking how our names will sound when the books are opened in the white light of the throne? (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
Names
I. Whose names are written there? Those of–
1. The faithful labourer.
2. The patient sufferer.
3. The victorious combatant.
4. The despised saint.
II. How they came to be written there?
1. Through grace.
2. By the blood of Jesus.
3. The Spirit of God.
III. Why are they written there? Because–
1. Citizens of heaven.
2. Heirs of the promises.
3. Precious in the sight of God. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
Christian cooperation
Union is power. The most attenuated thread when, sufficiently multiplied will form the strongest cable. A single drop of water is a powerless thing, but an infinite number of drops united by the force of attraction will form a stream, and many streams combined will form a river, till rivers pour their water into the mighty ocean, whose proud waves, defying the power of man, none can stay but He who formed them. And thus for us, which, acting singly, are utterly impotent, are, when acting in combination, resistless. (G. H. Slater.)
Womans work
A woman may labour with an apostle in the gospel, without departing one step from the propriety of her position, or the delicacy of her character; she can work a good work for Christ, and for the performance or neglect of it she must hereafter give account. By example, by influence, by meek endurance, by active sympathy, she can do all that a man cannot do, in the society of her equals, and in the homes of the suffering. (Dean Vaughan.)
Womans work
Women, you can give and serve and pray. You can give self-denyingly, serve lovingly, pray conqueringly. The best examples of self-denying liberality, of loving service, of conquering prayer are recorded of woman. It was no great gift, service, prayer. The gift was a widows mite. The service was the anointing of Jesus with a box of ointment. The prayer was a mothers prayer for a daughter possessed with a devil. But the gift and service and prayer were in self-denial and love and faith. And so in the sight of God they were of great price. (H. Johnson.)
Unknown workers
Who has not heard of John Wesley? Yet how few are acquainted with Peter Bohler, who brought him to Christ. (J. F. B. Tinling, B. A.)
One womans work
An American paper tells the story of a woman who, because tired of a life mainly employed in eating and dressing, resolved to devote herself and her money to a nobler purpose. At the close of the war she went to a sandy island off the Atlantic coast, where about two hundred persons were living in poverty and ignorance, and established her home there, with the intention of benefiting the inhabitants. She began with teaching, by example, how to cultivate the land lucratively, and was soon imitated. Next she established a school for the children, and afterwards a church. Now the island is a thriving region, with an industrious and moral population, the change being the work of one woman. (Christian Age.)
The early Christian women
What women these Christians have! exclaimed the heathen rhetorician Libanius, on learning about Anthusa, the mother of John Chrysostom, the famous golden-mouthed preacher of the gospel at Constantinople in the fourth century. Anthusa, at the early age of twenty, lost her husband, and thenceforward devoted herself wholly to the education of her son, refusing all offers of further marriage. Her intelligence and piety moulded the boys character, and shaped the destiny of the man, who, in his subsequent position of eminence, never forgot what he owed to maternal influence. Hence, it would be no overstrained assertion to say that we owe those rich homilies of Chrysostom, of which interpreters of Scripture still make great use, to the mind and heart of Anthusa. (W. Baxendale.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 3. Help those women which laboured with me] Both in the Grecian and Asiatic countries women were kept much secluded, and is was not likely that even the apostles had much opportunity of conversing with them; it was therefore necessary that they should have some experienced Christian women with them, who could have access to families, and preach Jesus to the female part of them. The apostle tells us that certain women laboured with him in the Gospel, and were assistants to others also who had assisted him.
Some think the women here were Euodias and Syntyche; but I rather incline to the opinion that Syntyche was a male, and Euodias his wife. EUODIAS signifies a pleasant scent; SYNTYCHE, fortunate. There have been a number of conjectures who these persons were, and who is meant by the true yokefellow; but as there is nothing certain known on the subject, it is useless to propagate conjecture.
With Clement also] Supposed to be the same who was afterwards bishop of Rome, and who wrote an epistle to the Corinthians, which is still extant.
Whose names are in the book of life.] Who are genuine Christians; who are enlisted or enrolled in the armies of the Lord, and have received a title to eternal glory. The reader is requested to refer to the note on Ex 32:32-33, and the concluding observations at the end of that chapter, “Ex 32:35“ where the writing in and blotting out of the book of life are particularly considered, and the difficulties on the subject removed. See Clarke on Lu 10:20.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And I entreat thee also, true yoke-fellow; he subjoins his most importunate request to some eminent person who did faithfully and sincerely draw in the same yoke of Christ with him, even such another in that church at Philippi, (whom they well knew from the freedom he used when he planted the gospel amongst them, or might more distinctly know from Epaphroditus), as he had represented Timothy to be, Phi 2:20. Some, both ancient and modern, would have this to be Pauls own wife, whom he left behind; but seeing it doth not appear that when he wrote this Epistle he had ever staid above two months at Philippi, he elsewhere reckons himself amongst the unmarried, 1Co 7:8, and wished those who had the gift of continency to continue so, under the sharp persecution of the church, for which he was frequent in journeying, labours, and prisons, 2Co 11:23, there is no cogent argument to evince that he was then married, however he had liberty to have had a wife, as well as Peter and others: see Mat 19:29; 22:28, with 1Co 9:5. Some conceive by
yoke-fellow here is meant the lawful husband of one of the forenamed honourable matrons: others, one called by that proper name in Greek; but the epithet annexed doth not so well suit. It may suffice to say it was an intimate colleague and sincere companion of Pauls, who was alike affected with him, drawing in the same yoke, for the furtherance of the gospel, his genuine helper; whose special aid, by advice, prayer, and otherwise, he solicited on the behalf of those pious women, who aforetime (though not by public preaching in the church, which he elsewhere disallowed, 1Co 14:34,35; 1Ti 2:12, but privately) had not only wrought, but earnestly striven together with him, by teaching youth, and other women, good things, Tit 2:3,4 putting themselves in hazard with him, in that difficult work he had amongst them, and enduring troubles with him for the propagation of the gospel, Phi 1:27; Act 16:13; as Phebe, and Priscilla, and Mary, elsewhere, Act 18:2,3,26; Ro 16:1-3; 1Ti 5:10; 2Ti 4:19; in offices proper to their sex.
Clement, probably, was some church officer of Roman extract in that colony at Philippi; whether he, about whose order in the catalogue of Roman bishops historians dispute, there is no certainty.
And with other my fellow labourers; the rest, whom he doth not name, but only describe by the assistance they gave him in the holy work of the gospel, probably were other church officers.
Whose names are in the book of life; whose names he did in charity apprehend to be enrolled in heaven, as our Saviour speaks to the rejoicing of his seventy disciples, Luk 10:20. We are not to think there is any material book wherein their names were written, but that he useth it as a borrowed speech, intimating his persuasion of them, (as of the election of others, 1Th 1:4, with 1Pe 1:2), that their life was as certainly sealed up with God, as if their names had been written in a book for that purpose; looking upon them by their fruit as truly gracious persons, whom God had effectually called according to his purpose, Rom 8:28,29,33; which is a book written, Exo 32:32; Isa 4:3; Eze 13:9; Dan 12:1; Rev 3:5; 13:8; 20:12; 21:27; wherein the Lord knows who are his, 2Ti 2:19.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. AndGreek, “Yea.”
true yoke-fellowyokedwith me in the same Gospel yoke (Mat 11:29;Mat 11:30; compare 1Ti 5:17;1Ti 5:18). Either Timothy, Silas(Act 15:40; Act 16:19,at Philippi), or the chief bishop of Philippi. Or else theGreek, “Sunzugus,” or “Synzygus,“is a proper name: “Who art truly, as thy name means, ayoke-fellow.” Certainly not Paul’s wife, as 1Co9:5 implies he had none.
help those womenrather,as Greek, “help them,” namely, Euodia andSyntyche. “Co-operate with them” [BIRKS];or as ALFORD, “Helpin the work of their reconciliation.”
which laboured withme“inasmuch as they labored with me.” AtPhilippi, women were the first hearers of the Gospel, and Lydia thefirst convert. It is a coincidence which marks genuineness, that inthis Epistle alone, special instructions are given to women wholabored with Paul in the Gospel. In selecting the first teachers,those first converted would naturally be fixed on. Euodia andSyntyche were doubtless two of “the women who resorted to theriverside, where prayer was wont to be made” (Ac16:13), and being early converted, would naturally take an activepart in teaching other women called at a later period; of course notin public preaching, but in a less prominent sphere (1Ti 2:11;1Ti 2:12).
Clementbishop of Romeshortly after the death of Peter and Paul. His Epistle from theChurch of Rome to the Church of Corinth is extant. It makes nomention of the supremacy of the See of Peter. He was the most eminentof the apostolical fathers. ALFORDthinks that the Clement here was a Philippian, and notnecessarily Clement, bishop of Rome. But ORIGEN[Commentary, John 1:29] identifies the Clement here with thebishop of Rome.
in the book of lifetheregister-book of those whose “citizenship is in heaven”(Luk 10:20; Phi 3:20).Anciently, free cities had a roll book containing the names of allthose having the right of citizenship (compare Exo 32:32;Psa 69:28; Eze 13:9;Dan 12:1; Rev 20:12;Rev 21:27).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And I entreat thee also, true yoke fellow,…. Not his wife, as some think d, for he had none, as appears from 1Co 7:7, at the writing of which epistle he was at Ephesus, where he stayed some little time, and then went to Jerusalem; where he was quickly apprehended, and sent a prisoner to Rome, and where he now was as such; and therefore it is not likely that he should marry a wife within this compass of time, and much less that he should have one at Philippi; besides, the word used is of the masculine gender, and designs a man and not a woman: some think it is the proper name of a man, who was called “Syzygus”, and so the Arabic interpreter seems to understand it; and by the apostle, true “Syzygus”, signifying that as was his name, so was he, really and in truth, a companion and fellow labourer, that drew in the same yoke with him; the Syriac version renders it, “the son of my yoke”, and the Ethiopic version, “my brother and my companion”: some think this person was the husband or brother of one of the above women; and therefore is entreated to use his interest, and compose the difference between them, or endeavour to reconcile them to the church; and others that it was the jailer, that was converted by the apostle: but it seems most likely to have been one that was under the same yoke of the Gospel, and who had been employed with him in preaching of it, a fellow labourer; such an one as Barnabas, Silas, and Timothy, and might be one of those; or rather Epaphroditus, who was minister in this church, and by whom the apostle sent this letter, and whom he might address and importune in this manner; the word may very well be thought to answer to the Hebrew word , often used in Jewish writings, for an associate, a colleague, and a disciple of the wise men, to which the apostle may allude; see Php 2:25;
help those women; Euodias and Syntyche. The Syriac and Ethiopic versions read “them”, referring to the above women; and the Arabic version reads, “help both”; that is, both those women; not by relieving their temporal wants, which it does not appear they were in; but either by composing their differences, or by assisting them with good counsel and advice; and giving them proper instructions in the doctrines of the Gospel, that they might be brought to think the same things the church did: and the rather such pains should be taken with them, since they were such, says the apostle,
which laboured with me in the Gospel; not in preaching it, for he suffered not a woman to teach in the church, 1Ti 2:12; but by professing it, and bearing reproach and persecution for it; and by supporting and encouraging, and spreading it with their worldly substance:
with Clement also; which some think is the same with Clemens Romanus, who was afterwards bishop of Rome, and whose epistle to the Corinthians is still extant; other writings are ascribed to him, but are spurious; however, by his name he seems to be a Roman; and from his being joined with the apostle, as one with whom these women also laboured in the Gospel, he appears to be a preacher of it at Philippi:
and [with] other my fellow labourers; in the work of the ministry, as Timothy, who was with him at Philippi, when he first preached the Gospel there, Ac 16:1, and some others:
whose names [are] in the book of life; the book of God’s eternal purposes and decrees, divine predestination to eternal life; and this being called a “book”, and the names of persons being said to be in it, denote the love of God to his elect, his care of them, his value for them, his remembrance of them, and the exact knowledge which he has of them; as well as imply, that his eternal election of them is personal and particular, is well known to him, and is sure and unchangeable; being more so than the writing of Pilate on the cross, who said, what I have written, I have written, Joh 19:22; and is called the “book of life”, because those whose names are written in it, have a spiritual life here, and an eternal one hereafter; to both which they are afore written in this book, or pre-ordained in God’s counsels, and certainly and infallibly enjoy it: now the apostle’s knowledge of these persons being written in this book, did not arise from any special revelation, as being shown the book of life, and the names of the elect in it, when he was caught up into the third heaven, 2Co 12:2; nor was his knowledge of this matter peculiar and limited to these persons only, but common to all that he had reason to hope and believe had received the grace of God in truth, and walked worthy of the calling wherewith they were called, Eph 4:1; such persons in a judgment of charity, which hopes and believes all things, he concluded were in this book of life; and the same judgment, faith, and hope, ought all believers to form and entertain one of another, nothing appearing contrary to it, in their faith and conversation.
d Vid. Euseb. Eccl. Hist. l. 3. c. 30.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
True yokefellow ( ). All sorts of suggestions have been made here, one that it was Lydia who is termed Paul’s wife by the word . Unfortunately for that view is masculine vocative singular. Some have suggested it as a proper name though it is not found in the inscriptions, but the word does occur as an appellative in one. Lightfoot even proposes Epaphroditus, the bearer of the Epistle, certainly a curious turn to take to address him. After all it matters little that we do not know who the peacemaker was.
Help these women ( ). Present middle imperative of , to seize (Mt 26:55), to conceive (Lu 1:24), then to take hold together with one (associative instrumental case), to help as here (Lu 5:7). “Take hold with them.”
They laboured with me ( ). First aorist active indicative of (for which see 1:27) with associative instrumental case ().
With Clement also ( ). There is no evidence that he was Clement of Rome as the name is common.
In the book of life ( ). The only instance of this expression in the N.T. outside of the Apocalypse (Phil 3:5; Phil 13:8; Phil 17:8, etc.). Hence real Christians in spite of their bickerings.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
True yoke – fellow [ ] . For true, see on naturally, ch. 2 20. It is supposed by some that the word rendered yoke – fellow is a proper name, Synzygus, and that true is to be explained as rightly so called. This explanation would be favored by the play upon the name Onesimus in the Epistle to Philemon, and is not improbably correct. The name has not been found in inscriptions, as is the case with many of the names in these epistles, as, for instance, Euodia and Syntyche. Some suppose that the chief of the bishops or superintendents at Philippi is thus addressed; but, in that case, the word would probably appear elsewhere in the New Testament. Clement of Alexandria, assuming that Paul was married, thinks that he addresses his wife. Others suppose that Lydia is addressed. 183 Help [] . Lit., take hold with. Compare Luk 5:7. The verb is used of conception, Luk 1:24; arrest, Mt 26:55; Act 12:3; catching, as fish, Luk 5:9. Compare the compound sunantilambanomai help, Luk 10:40 (note); Rom 8:26.
Which labored with me [ ] . The double relative explains and classifies : for they belonged to the number of those who labored. Rev., for they labored. Labored, lit., strove as athletes, as ch. 1 27. Compare Sophocles : “These girls preserve me, these my nurses, these who are men, not women, in laboring with me” (” Oedipus at Colonus, ” 1367 – 8).
Clement. Supposed by some to be Clement the Bishop of Rome. Origen identifies them, saying : “Clement to whom Paul bears Testimony in Phi 4:3.” So also Eusebius, Epiphanius, and Jerome. Chrysostom speaks of Clement as the constant companion of Paul in all his travels. Irenaeus, on the contrary, who mentions him as the pupil of an apostle, says nothing of his connection with Paul, by name, and would not have been likely to pass over this identity in silence had he been aware of it. Clement was a member of the Roman church, and the name was a very common one. A Roman consul, Flavius Clemens, was sentenced to death by Domitian on account of atheism, which was the common pagan designation of Christianity. The Roman catacombs furnish evidence that Christianity had penetrated into the Flavian family, so that there may have been two prominent Christians in Rome of the same name. The identity of Clement of Rome with the Clement of this epistle has been very generally abandoned. The latter was probably a Philippian.
Other [ ] . Rev., correctly, the rest.
Book of life. The phrase occurs seven times in Revelation. Compare Luk 10:20; Heb 12:23, and see on Rev 3:5. The figure is founded on the register of the covenant people. Isa 4:3; Eze 13:9; Exo 32:32; Psa 69:28; Dan 12:1. The phrase was also used by the Rabbins. Thus in the Targum 184 on Eze 13:9 : “In the book of eternal life which has been written for the just of the house of Israel, they shall not be written.” God is described as “the king, sitting upon the judgment – seat, with the books of the living and the books of the dead open before Him.”
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And I intreat thee also” (vai eroto kai se)”Yes, I also ask thee,” or request thee, a matter of personal favor or personal appeal.
2) “True yokefellow,” (gnesie suzuge) “genuine yoke-fellow,” thought to be Epaphroditus, Php_4:18, one who delivered the letter to the brethren at Philippi.
3) “Help those women which laboured with me in the gospel” (sullambanou autais aitines en to evangelio sunethlesan moi) “Help those (women) who struggled with me in the gospel;” apparently this is a call for Epaphroditus to help the two godly spatting women, Euodias and Syntyche, to a reconciliation of their differences, Php_2:25. These women had formerly labored with Paul in the ministry of the gospel.
4) “With Clement also, and with other my fellow-labourers,” Geta kai Klementos kai ton loipon sunergon mou) “who struggled (in labors) with both Clement and the remaining fellow-workers of me,” these women had also worked with and helped Clement and other Missionary helpers of Paul. Thus, Paul appealed for their restoration to harmony and usefulness in the Church, Gal 6:1; Eph 4:30-32; Mat 6:14-15.
5) “Whose names are in the book of life” (hon ta onomata en Biblo zoes) “whose names (exist) in the book of life.” Their records of life were in a book of glory greater than merely an Who’s Who of historical renown, Dan 12:1; Rev 3:5.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
3 I entreat thee, also, true yokefellow I am not inclined to dispute as to the gender of the noun, and shall, accordingly, leave it undetermined (213), whether he addresses here a man or a woman. At the same time there is excessive weakness in the argument of Erasmus, who infers that it is a woman from the circumstance, that mention is made here of other women — as though he did not immediately subjoin the name of Clement in the same connection. I refrain, however, from that dispute: only I maintain that it is not Paul’s wife that is designated by this appellation. Those who maintain this, quote Clement and Ignatius as their authorities. If they quoted correctly, I would not certainly despise men of such eminence. But as writings are brought forward from Eusebius (214) which are spurious, and were contrived by ignorant monks (215), they are not deserving of much credit among readers of sound judgment (216)
Let us, therefore, inquire as to the thing itself, without taking any false impression from the opinions of men. When Paul wrote the First Epistle to the Corinthians, he was, as he mentions, at that time unmarried.
“
To the unmarried,” says he, “and widows, I say it is good that they should continue even as I am” (1Co 7:8.)
He wrote that Epistle at Ephesus (217) when he was prepared to leave it. Not long after, he proceeded to Jerusalem, where he was put in prison, and sent to Rome. Every one must perceive how unsuitable a period of time it would have been for marrying a wife, spent by him partly in journeying, and partly in prison. In addition to this, he was even at that time prepared to endure imprisonment and persecutions, as he himself testifies, according to Luke. (Act 21:13.) I am, at the same time, well aware what objection is usually brought forward in opposition to this — that Paul, though married, refrained from conjugal intercourse. The words, however, convey another meaning, for he is desirous that unmarried persons may have it in their power to remain in the same condition with himself. Now, what is that condition but celibacy? As to their bringing forward that passage —
Is it not lawful for me to lead about a wife (1Co 9:5,)
for the purpose of proving he had a wife, it is too silly to require any refutation (218). But granting that Paul was married, how came his wife to be at Philippi — a city which we do not read of his entering on more than two occasions, and in which it is probable he never remained so much as two whole months? In fine, nothing is more unlikely than that he speaks here of his wife; and to me it does not seem probable that he speaks of any female. I leave it, however, to the judgment of my readers. The word which Paul makes use of here ( συλλάμβανεσθαι ) means, to take hold of a thing and embrace it along with another person, with the view of giving help (219)
Whose names are in the book of life The book of life is the roll of the righteous, who are predestinated to life, as in the writings of Moses. (Exo 32:32.) God has this roll beside himself in safekeeping. Hence the book is nothing else than His eternal counsel, fixed in His own breast. In place of this term, Ezekiel employs this expression — the writing of the house of Israel. With the same view it is said in
Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and let them not be written among the righteous; (Psa 69:28)
that is, let them not be numbered among the elect of God, whom he receives within the limits of his Church and kingdom (220).
Should any one allege, that Paul therefore acts rashly in usurping to himself the right of pronouncing as to the secrets of God, I answer, that we may in some measure form a judgment from the token by which God manifests his election, but only in so far as our capacity admits. In all those, therefore, in whom we see the marks of adoption shine forth, let us in the mean time reckon those to be the sons of God until the books are opened, (Rev 20:12,) which will thoroughly bring all things to view. It belongs, it is true, to God alone now to know them that are his, (2Ti 2:19,) and to separate at least the lambs from the kids; (221) but it is our part to reckon in charity all to be lambs who, in a spirit of obedience, submit themselves to Christ as their Shepherd (222), who betake themselves to his fold, and remain there constantly. It is our part to set so high a value upon the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which he confers peculiarly on his elect, that they shall be to us the seals, as it were, of an election which is hid from us.
(213) “ Je le laisse a disputer aux autres;” —”I leave it to others to dispute as to this.”
(214) “ Comme ainsi soit qu’on metre en auant ie ne scay quels faux escrits sous le nom d’Eusebe;” — “As they set forth I know not what spurious writings under the name of Eusebius.”
(215) “ Et adioustez a son histoire;” — “And added to his history.”
(216) “ Ils ne meritent point enuers les lecteurs de bon iugement, qu’on y adiouste grande foy;” — “They do not deserve, as to readers of good judgment, that much credit should be attached to them.”
(217) See Calvin on the Corinthians, vol. 2, pp. 70, 72, 78.
(218) See Calvin on the Corinthians, vol. 1, p. 234, 235, 292.
(219) It is defined by Wahl, in his Clavis N. T. Philologica, as follows. Una manaum admoveo, i.e. opitulor,opem fero, iuvo ; (I lend a helping hand; that is, I assist, I bring assistance, I aid.) — Ed.
(220) See Calvin on the Psalms, vol. 3, pp. 73, 74.
(221) “ Les agneux des boucs;” — “The lambs from the goats.”
(222) “ Christ vray Pastuer;” — “Christ the true Shepherd.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(3) I intreat.This rendering is too strong. It is, I ask, or request. The word means properly, to ask a question; secondarily, to make a request on equal terms, as of right. Hence never used (except, perhaps, in 1Jn. 5:16) of prayer from us to God.
True yokefellow,This obscure phrase has greatly exercised conjecture. (1) It is curious historically to note the opinion, as old as Clement of Alexandria, that St. Paul referred to his own wife; but the opinion is clearly untenable in the face of 1Co. 7:8; 1Co. 9:5. (2) The word is never elsewhere applied by St. Paul to a fellow-Christian, and must denote some peculiar fellowship. Many guesses as to its meaning have been made. Some refer it to St. Luke, who seems to be in the history closely connected with Philippi; others to Lydia, the first-fruits of the gospel in that city. Perhaps the most likely supposition is that it may refer to Epaphroditus, the bearer, perhaps the amanuensis, of the Epistle, who had certainly come to help St. Paul to bear his yoke of suffering, and in whose case the sudden address in the second person would cause no ambiguity. (3) But a not improbable conjecture is that the word is a proper nameSyzygusaname, it is true, not actually knownand that the word true (properly, genuine) means Syzygus, rightly so-called. It is obvious to compare the play on the name Onesimus, in Phm. 1:11.
Those women . . .It should be, help them (Euodia and Syntyche), inasmuch as they laboured with me. The word laboured signifies joined with me in my struggle, and probably refers to something more than ordinary labour, in the critical times of suffering at Philippi.
Clement.From the time of Origen downwards this Clement has been identified with the famous Clement, bishop of Rome, and author of the well-known Epistle to the Church at Corinth, of whom Irenus expressly says that he had seen and been in company with the blessed Apostles, and who in his Epistle refers emphatically to the examples both of St. Peter and St. Paul, as belonging to the times very near at hand; but dwells especially on St. Paul, as seven times a prisoner in chains, exiled, stoned, a herald of the gospel in the East and the West, a teacher of righteousness to the whole world, and one who penetrated to the farthest border of the West. (See his Epistle, Php. 5)
The fact that he was at this time working at Philippiconsidering that Philippi, as a Roman colony, was virtually a part of Romeis no objection to this identification; nor is the chronology decisive against it, though it would make Clement an old man when he wrote his Epistle. The identification may stand as not improbable, while the commonness of the name Clemens makes it far from certain.
Whose names are in the book of life.For the Book of Life, see Dan. 12:1; Rev. 3:5; Rev. 13:8; Rev. 17:8; Rev. 20:12; Rev. 21:27. From that Book the name may be blotted out now (Rev. 3:5; comp. Exo. 32:33) till the end fixes it for ever. There is (as has been always noticed) a peculiar beauty in the allusion here. The Apostle does not mention his fellow-labourers by name, but it matters not; the names are written before God in the Book of Life. If they continue in His service, those names shall shine out hereafter, when the great names of the earth fade into nothingness.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. Yokefellow Probably the chief elder or bishop of the Church is meant, who is asked to help the women named in Php 4:2 to a reconciliation. The apostle’s heart was deeply stirred by the knowledge of the variance of two who had been so actively engaged with himself, Clement, and others, in labours to advance the gospel. It was both a sin and a scandal.
Clement Resident at Philippi at the time referred to, and probably the Clemens Romanus who was afterward bishop of Rome.
Book of life A more honourable memorial than a mention by name in this epistle. Note on Luk 10:20.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Yes, I ask you also, true yoke-fellow, help these women, for they laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow-workers, whose names are in the book of life.’
Paul now seeks a mediator in one whom he calls ‘a true yoke-fellow ’ (gnesie sunzuge) or alternatively one whom he names as Syzygos, (but if so the name is not witnessed anywhere else in the Greek world). We do not know who this was. Perhaps Luke had gone to them again. He was certainly Paul’s yoke-fellow. In this regard note how the ‘we’ passage in Acts 16 becomes ‘they’ in chapter 17, returning to ‘we’ when Paul returned to Philippi (Act 20:6), possibly suggesting that Luke remained at Philippi for a time assisting the infant church, although we should note that he joined Paul again later. However, he may well have been a native of the area, and thus now labouring among them again. But however that may be, the important thing for us to note is that Paul expected a true yoke-fellow to strive for the unity of the church. This is one test of a true yoke-fellow of Christ. And Paul’s plea was that he would help these women who had laboured with him in the Gospel, labouring alongside Clement (otherwise unknown. It was a very common name) and ‘the rest of my fellow-workers’. This possibly refers to the whole church of believers, for they are identified as those whose names are in the book of life. This is the book of life in which the names of all true believers were written from the foundation of the world (Rev 17:8, compare Rev 13:8). Compare how the disciples were to rejoice because their names were ‘written in Heaven’ (Luk 10:20).
The appeal does not appear to suggest a serious situation, only one that could have developed into one if left to fester. It is one of concern for the unity of the church.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Php 4:3. True yoke-fellow, My genuine associate. Doddridge. Heylin reads the clause, I beseech thee also, my faithful partner, to assist them both, for they assisted me, &c. Some have supposed that by the word , St. Paul means his wife; but as the word in the original is masculine, waving all other arguments, it cannot be taken in that sense. It is probable that this was an officer of considerable dignity and authority in the church at Philippi, perhaps husband to one of the pious women here mentioned. As women’s preaching was so expressly forbidden by St. Paul, we must conclude, that it was in some other way that these good women were helpful to him in the gospel; not so much by ministering to his person, though that, no doubt, they were ready to do as they had opportunity; but by such services as suited their sex and station, and bythe intelligence which they might give him of the state of religion among their female acquaintance, their children, and other branches of their families.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Phi 4:3 . Indeed, I entreat thee also , etc. This bringing in of a third party is a confirmation of the previous admonition as regards its necessity and urgency; hence the ; comp. Phm 1:20 . See also on Mat 15:27 .
is erroneously understood by Clemens Alexandrinus, Isidorus, Erasmus, Musculus, Cajetanus, Flacius, and others, as referring to the wife of the apostle; an idea which, according to 1Co 7:8 , compared with 1Co 9:5 , is at variance with history (see, already, Chrysostom, Theodoret, Oecumenius, Theophylact), and at the same time at variance with grammar, as the adjective must in that case have stood in the feminine ( Test. XII. Patr . p. 526; Eur. Alc . 314, 342, 385). Others understand the husband of one of the two women (so, although with hesitation, Chrysostom, also Theophylact, according to whom, however, he might have been a brother , and Camerarius; not disapproved by Beza); but what a strangely artificial designation would “genuine conjux ” be! Weiss prefers to leave undecided the nature of the bond which connected the individual in question with the two women. But if, in general, a relation to the women were intended, and that apart from the bond of matrimony, by the term Paul would have expressed himself very awkwardly; for the current use of the word , and also of ( 3Ma 4:8 ) and (Eur. Alc . 924), in the sense of conjux (comp. , Xen. Oec . 7. 30; Herodian, iii. 10. 14), must have been well known to the reader. The usual mode of interpreting this passage (so Flatt, Rheinwald, Hoelemann, Matthies, de Wette, following Pelagius and Theodoret) has been to refer it to some distinguished fellow-labourer of the apostle , well known, as a matter of course, to the readers of the epistle, who had his abode in Philippi and deserved well of the church there by special services. Some have arbitrarily fixed on Silas (Bengel), and others quite unsuitably on Timothy (Estius), and even on Epaphroditus (Vatablus, Grotius, Calovius, Michaelis, van Hengel, and Baumgarten-Crusius), whom Hofmann also would have us understand as referred to, inasmuch as he regards him as the amanuensis of the epistle, who had therefore heard it dictated by the apostle, and then heard it again when it came to be read in the church, so that he knew himself to be the person addressed . What accumulated invention, in order to fasten upon Epaphroditus the, after all, unsuitable confession before the church that he was himself the person thus distinguished by the apostle! According to Luther’s gloss, Paul means “ the most distinguished bishop in Philippi.” Comp. also Ewald, who compares , 1Pe 5:1 . But how strange would such a nameless designation be in itself! How easily might the preferential designation by have seemed even to slight other fellow-labourers in Philippi! Besides, Paul, in describing his official colleagues, never makes use of this term, , which does not occur elsewhere in the N.T., and which would involve the assumption that the unknown individual stood in quite a special relation to the apostle corresponding to this purposely-chosen predicate. Laying aside arbitrariness, and seeing that this address is surrounded by proper names (Phi 4:2-3 ), we can only find in a proper name , in which case the attribute corresponds in a delicate and winning way to the appellative sense of the name (comp. Phm 1:11 ); genuine Syzygus , that is, thou who art in reality and substantially that which thy name expresses: “ fellow-in-yoke,” i.e. yoke-fellow , fellow-labourer. We may assume that Syzygus had rendered considerable services to Christianity in Philippi in joint labour with the apostle, and that Paul, in his appellative interpretation of the name, followed the figurative conception of animals in the yoke ploughing or thrashing (1Co 9:9 ; 1Ti 5:18 ), a conception which was suggested to him by the very name itself . The opposite of would be: (comp. Plat. Polit . p. 293 E), so that the man with his name Syzygus would not be (Eur. Phoen . 1500; Soph. Aj . 430), Jacobs, ad Del. Epigr . p. 272 f. He bore this his name, however, as ( Del. Epigr . v. 42). This view of the word being a proper name to which Wiesinger inclines, which Laurent decidedly defends [178] in his Neut. Stud . p. 134 ff. and Grimm approves of in his Lexicon , and which Hofmann, without reason, rejects [179] simply on account of the usus loquendi of not being proved was already held by in Chrysostom; comp. Niceph. Call. ii. p. 212 D; Oecumenius permits a choice between it and the explanation in the sense of the husband of one of the two women. It is true that the name is not preserved elsewhere; but with how many names is that the case? Hence it was unwarranted to assume (Storr) a translation of the name (Joseph. Bell . vii. 3. 4), in connection with which, moreover, it would be hard to see why Paul should have chosen the word elsewhere not used by him, and not , or the like. [180] To refer the word to Christ , who helps every one to bear his yoke (Wieseler), was a mistake.
. ] lay hold along with them , that is, assist them (Luk 5:7 ; Herod, vi. 125; Xen. Ages . 2. 31; Wunder, ad Soph. Phil . 280; Lex. Plat . III. p. 294), namely, for their reconciliation and for restoring their harmonious action.
] utpote quae , giving the motive, comp. Phi 1:28 ; see on Rom 1:25 ; Rom 2:15 ; Rom 6:2 , et al .
.] the domain, in which they , etc. Comp. Rom 1:9 ; 1Th 3:2 . It was among women that the gospel had first struck root in Philippi (Act 16:13 ), and it is to be assumed that the two women named had rendered special service in the spread and confirmation of Christianity among their sex, and therein had shared the conflict of affliction and persecution with Paul (1Th 2:2 ). On , comp. Phi 1:27 .
. . . ] and in what fellowship, so honourable to them , have they shared my conflict for Christ’s sake? in association also with Clement and , etc. The reference of the is to ; their joint-striving with Paul had been a fellowship in striving also with Clement, etc.; they had therein stood side by side with these men also . On , the first meaning also , comp. Ellendt, Lex. Soph . I. p. 891; on its rarer position, however, between preposition and noun, see Schaefer, Ind. ad Gregor. Cor . p. 1064; Hartung, Partikell . I. p. 143; Khner, II. 1, p. 480 f. The connection of . . . . . with . (Coccejus, Michaelis, Storr, Flatt, J. B. Lightfoot, Hofmann) is opposed by the facts, that Paul has committed the service of mediation to an individual , with which the general impress now given to this commission is not in keeping, and that the subsequent . . ., in the absence of any specification of the churches, would neither be based on any motive nor intelligible to the readers, and would be strangest of all in the event of Paul’s having intended, as Hofmann thinks, to indicate here the presbyters and deacons mentioned in Phi 1:1 . The , as well as generally the more special circumstances of which Paul here reminds his readers, were if . . . be joined with , beside which it stands historically known to these readers, although unknown to us.
That Clement was a teacher in Philippi (so most modern expositors; according to Grotius, a presbyter in Philippi, but “Romanus aliquis in Macedonia negotians”), must be maintained in accordance with the context, seeing that with him those two Philippian women laboured as sharing the conflict of the apostle; and of a travelling companion of this name, who had laboured with the apostle in Macedonia, there is no trace to be found; and seeing that the also are to be regarded as Philippians , because thus only does the laudatory expression . . . appear in its vivid and direct set purpose of bespeaking for the two women the esteem of the church . The more frequent, however, in general the name of Clement was, the more arbitrary is the old view, although not yet known to Irenaeus (3:3. 3), that Clement of Rome is the person meant. [181] So most Catholic expositors (not Dllinger), following Origen, ad Joh . i. 29; Eusebius, H. E . iii. 15; Epiphanius, Haer . xxvii. 6; Jerome, Pelagius, and others; so also Francke, in the Zeitschr. f. Luth. Theol . 1841, iii. p. 73 ff., and van Hengel, who conjectures Euodia and Syntyche to have been Roman women who had assisted the apostle in Rome , and had travelled with Epaphroditus to Philippi. See generally, besides Lnemann and Brckner, Lipsius, de Clem. Rom. ep . p. 167 ff.; J. B. Lightfoot, p. 166 ff.; and Hilgenfeld, Apost. Vter , p. 92 ff.
. . . .] refers merely to . . ., whom Paul does not adduce by name , but instead of this affirms of their names something so great and honourable. God has recorded their names in His book, in which are written down the future partakers of the everlasting Messianic life; so surely and irrevocably is this life assigned to them . What Paul thus expresses by this solemn figure, he knew from their whole Christian character and action, in which he recognised by experience “ quasi electionis [182] absconditae sigilla ” (Calvin). See, moreover, on Luk 10:20 , and Wetstein on our passage; it is different in Heb 12:23 (see Lnemann in loc ). must be supplied, not the optative , as Bengel thinks; and it must remain an open question, whether the persons referred to (among whom Ewald reckons Clement) are to be regarded as already dead (Bengel, Ewald), which is not to be inferred from . . .; see Luk 10:20 ; Hermas, Pastor i. 1. 3. It is at all events certain that this predicate, which Paul nowhere else uses, is an especially honourable one, and does not simply convey what holds true of all Christians (so Hofmann in connection with his erroneous reference of . . .). At Luk 10:20 , and Rev 13:8 also, it is a mark of distinction .
[178] In doing so, Laurent takes the reference of contained in the name as general: “helper of all labour in the vineyard of the Lord.” More thoughtful, however, is the reference to the apostle himself, whose true yoke-fellow is to supply his place with his former female fellow-strivers ( . ) ; comp. also subsequently .
[179] According to our view, is, in fact, taken in no other sense than that which is current in all Greek authors, viz. , verus, as Hofmann himself takes it. Whether we refer it thus to as an appellative word, or as the appellative contents of a name is a matter which leaves the linguistic use of altogether untouched. As is well known, has the same general linguistic usage in the opposite sense (see e.g. Plat. Rep. p. 536 A; Jacobs, ad Del. Epigr. i. 103. 3).
[180] This holds at the same time against the view of Pelagius: “Germanus dictus est nomine, qui erat compar officii.” He is followed by Lyra.
[181] Nevertheless, upon this hypothesis Baur builds up a whole fabric of combinations, which are intended to transfer the date of our epistle to the post-apostolic age, when the Flavius Clemens known in Roman history, who was a patruelis of Domitian (Suet. Deu 15Deu 15 ), and a Christian (Lami, de erud. apost. p. 104; Baur, II. p. 68), had already become the well-known Clement of Roman tradition. Comp. Volkmar in the Theolog. Jahrb. 1856, p. 309, according to whom the Roman Clement is to be here already assumed as a martyr. Indeed, according to Schwegler and Hitzig, z. Krit. paulin. Br. p. 13, a first attempt is made here to connect this Clement also with Peter (for no other in their view is the ). Thus, no doubt, the way is readily prepared for bringing down our epistle to the days of Trajan. Round the welcome name of Clement all possible fictions crystallize.
[182] The detailed discussion of the question as to the ground of the divine electio here portrayed (the Reformed theologians, “the decretum absolutum;” the Lutherans, “the praevisa fides;” the Catholics, “the praevisa opera”) is out of place here. Flacius, Clav. s. v. “liber,” justly observes that it is not fatalis quaedam electio which is pointed to, but ob veram justitiam, qualis Christi est, credentes eo referri et inscribi.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
3 And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.
Ver. 3. And I entreat thee also ] All men should contribute their help to the composing of differences, and bring their buckets, as it were, to quench this unnatural fire, when once kindled.
True yokefellow ] Not Paul’s wife (for he had none, 1Co 7:7 ), but either the husband of one of the afore mentioned women, or some special and principal pastor at Philippi.
Which laboured with me in the gospel ] Not by preaching, but by partaking of the combats and difficulties that I there underwent, with masculine spirits. Significatur certamen, quale est athletarum, saith Estius. In these good women, besides their sex, there was nothing woman-like or weak.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
3 .] assumes the granting of the request just made, and carries on farther the same matter, see Phm 1:20 and note; but does not conjure , as Grot., al.
] true (‘ genuine :’ true, as distinguished from counterfeit: lit. of legitimate worth ( )) yoke-fellow . Who is intended, it is quite impossible to say. Various opinions have been, (1) that St. Paul addresses his own wife . So Clem. Alex. Strom. iii. 6 (53), p. 535 P, , , Eus. H. E. iii. 30, al. But this is evidently an error, and Thdrt. says rightly, . , ( 1Co 7:8 ), . Besides which, the adjective in this case would be feminine, cf. Eur. Alcest. 326, ; and 354, : perhaps even if it were of two terminations (as adjectives in – frequently in the N. T., e.g. , Luk 2:13 ; Act 24:19 ; , 1Ti 2:8 , &c. See Winer, 11. 1), in which case Ellic. remarks, it would revert to three terminations; but authority for this statement seems wanting. (2) that he was the husband, or brother, of Euodia or Syntyche; so Chrys. doubtfully, and Thl., al. But then the epithet would hardly be wanted nor would the expression be at all natural. (3) that he was some fellow-labourer of the Apostle. So Thdrt., , , Pelag., all., and De W., and of these some (Grot., Calov., al.) have understood Epaphroditus , Estius, Timotheus , Bengel (but afterwards he preferred Epaphroditus ), Silas , Luther, the chief bishop at Philippi. (4) Others have regarded as a proper name: so in Chrys. and c., and so Meyer. In this case the would mean, ‘who art veritably, as thy name is,’ a yoke-fellow. And this might be said by the Apostle, who elsewhere compares the Christian minister to the . It seems to me that we must choose between the two last hypotheses. The objections to each are about of equal weight: the Apostle no where else calls his fellow-labourers , and the proper name is no where else found. But these are no reasons, respectively, against either hypothesis. We may safely say with Chrys., , , .
] help them (Euodia and Syntyche): but not, as Grot., ‘ut habeant, unde se suosque honeste sustentent:’ it is the work of their reconciliation which he clearly has in view, and in which they would need help.
] ‘ utpote qu ’ seeing that they . The E. V. here is in error, ‘ help those women which ’ The Gospel at Philippi was first received by women , Act 16:13 ff., and these two must have been among those who, having believed, laboured among their own sex for its spread.
. ] see reff.
] These words belong to , not to , and are rather an additional reminiscence, than a part of the exhortation ‘ as did Clemens also &c.’ q. d. ‘not that I mean, by naming those women with distinction, to imply forgetfulness of those others &c., and especially of Clemens.’ The insertion of between the preposition and substantive is said to be a habit principally of Pindar, e.g. , Ol. ii. 28; , Ol. vii. 26; , Pyth. iv. 330. See Hartung, i. 143.
It is not necessary to regard the as bound together: so that these examples are in point (against Ellic.).
Clemens must have been a fellow-worker with the Apostle at Philippi , from the context here; and, from the non-occurrence of any such name among Paul’s fellow-travellers, and the fact that must have been Philippians, himself a native of Philippi. It is perhaps arbitrary, seeing that the name is so common, to assume his identity with Clemens afterwards Bishop of Rome, and author of the Epistles to the Corinthians. So Eus. H. E. iii. 4, , . , . : see also H. E. Phi 4:6 ; so Origen, Com. in Joan. t. vi. 36, vol. iv. p. 153: and Jer. Script. Eccl., 15, vol. ii. p. 854. Chrys. does not notice any such idea. See on the whole, Ellicott’s note.
. ] belongs to the , whom he does not name : whose names are (not a wish, , as Bengel, nor are they to be regarded as dead when this was written) in the book of life (reff., and Luk 10:20 ).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Phi 4:3 . must certainly be read with all trustworthy authorities. Exactly parallel is Phm 1:20 . Cf. Soph., Elect. , 1445, , . is common in N.T. = “beseech,” e.g. , Luk 14:18 . It is not so found in LXX, and this sense is very rare in late writers. . is to be read with the great mass of authorities. We believe that W.H. are right in their marginal reading of as a proper name. This would harmonise with the other names mentioned. And the epithet . increases the probability. He requests Syzygus (lit. = joiner together) to help Euodia and Syntyche to make up their differences. “I beseech thee, who art a genuine Syzygus (in deed as well as in name) to help,” etc. (so also Myr [21] . , Kl [22] . , Weizs.). See esp [23] . an excellent discussion by Laurent, N.T. Studien , pp. 134 137. The fact that this name has not been found in books, Inscrr [24] . , etc., is no argument against its existence. Zygos is found as a Jewish name (quoted by Zunz). Similar compounds such as , occur. Perhaps all the above names were given to them after Baptism. Lft [25] . and others refer . to Epaphroditus. Chr [26] . thinks of the husband of one of the women addressed. Wieseler ( Chronol. , p. 458) actually refers it to Christ. . Paul’s friend is plainly a man of tact who can do much to bring the Christian women now at variance together again. Holst, thinks, and perhaps with some reason, that the use of . implies that Euodia and Syntyche were already trying to lay aside their differences. . “Inasmuch as they laboured with me.” Their former services to the Gospel are a reason why they should receive every encouragement to a better state of mind. Cf. Act 16:13 . . An unusual position for although found in Pindar, Dionys. Halicarn., Aelian, and, above all, in Josephus, who delights in this construction (see Schmidt, De Elocut. Jos. , p. 16; Schmid, Atticismus , iii., p. 337). These words must be taken with . He wishes to remind his Christian friend at Philippi of the noble company to which the women had belonged, a company held in the highest esteem in the Philippian Church. must have been some disciple at Philippi, unknown to Church history like the others mentioned here. It is nothing short of absurd (with Gw [27] . ) to make this Clement the celebrated bishop of Rome. See esp [28] . Salmon, Dict. of Chr [29] . Biog. , i., p. 555. The same form in – , – is seen in , (2Ti 4:10 ; 2Ti 4:21 ). . . . Perhaps the phrase implies that they had passed away. The Apostle almost seems to foresee the obscurity which will hang over many a devoted fellow-labourer of his. But their names have a glory greater than that of historical renown. They are in the . The idea is common in O.T. Cf. Exo 32:32 , Psa 69:29 , Dan 12:1 . See also Apocal. of Bar ., xxiv., 1; Henoch , xlvii., 3; 4 Ezra 14:35 and, in N.T., Rev 3:5 . Good discussions of the subject will be found in Weber, Lehren d. Talmud , pp. 233, 276; Schrer, ii., 2, p. 182.
[21] Meyer.
[22] . Klpper.
[23] especially.
[24] scrr. Inscriptions.
[25] Lightfoot.
[26] Chrysostom.
[27] . Gwynn.
[28] especially.
[29] Chrysostom.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Philippians
NAMES IN THE BOOK OF LIFE
Php 4:3 .
Paul was as gentle as he was strong. Winsome courtesy and delicate considerateness lay in his character, in beautiful union with fiery impetuosity and undaunted tenacity of conviction. We have here a remarkable instance of his quick apprehension of the possible effects of his words, and of his nervous anxiety not to wound even unreasonable susceptibilities.
He had had occasion to mention three of his fellow-workers, and he wishes to associate with them others whom he does not purpose to name. Lest any of these should be offended by the omission, he soothes them with this graceful, half-apologetic reminder that their names are inscribed on a better page than his. It is as if he had said, ‘Do not mind though I do not mention you individually. You can well afford to be anonymous in my letter since your names are inscribed in the Book of Life.’
There is a consolation for obscure good people, who need not expect to live except in two or three loving hearts; and whose names will only be preserved on mouldering tombstones that will convey no idea to the reader. We may well dispense with other commemoration if we have this.
Now, this figure of the Book of Life appears in Scripture at intervals, almost from the beginning to the very end. The first instance of its occurrence is in that self-sacrificing, intercessory prayer of Moses, when he expressed his willingness to be ‘blotted out of Thy book’ as an atonement for the sin of Israel. Its last appearance is when the Apocalyptic Seer is told that none enter into the City of God come down from Heaven ‘save those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.’ Of course in plain English the expression is just equivalent to being a real disciple of Jesus Christ. But then it presents that general notion under a metaphor which, in its various aspects, has a very distinct and stringent bearing upon our duties as well as upon our blessings and our hopes. I, therefore, wish to work out, as well as I can, the various thoughts suggested by this emblem.
I. The first of them is Citizenship.
The figure is, of course, originally drawn from the registers of the tribes of Israel. In that use, though not without a glance at some higher meaning, it appears in the Old Testament, where we read of ‘those who are written among them living in Jerusalem’; or ‘are written in the writing of the house of Israel.’ The suggestion of being inscribed on the burgess-rolls of a city is the first idea connected with the word. In the New Testament, for instance, we find in the great passage in the Epistle to the Hebrews the two notions of the city and the census brought into immediate connection, where the writer says, ‘Ye are come unto the city of the living God . . . and to the church of the first-born whose names are written in heaven.’ In this very letter we have, only a verse or two before my text, the same idea of citizenship cropping up. ‘Our citizenship is in Heaven, from whence also we look for the Saviour.’ That, no doubt, helped to suggest to the Apostle the words of my text. And there is another verse in the same letter where the same idea comes out. ‘Only act the citizen as becometh the Gospel of Christ.’ Now, you will remember, possibly, that Philippi was, as the Acts of the Apostles tells us, a Roman colony. And the reference is exquisitely close-fitting to the circumstances of the people of that city. For a Roman colony was a bit of Rome in another land, and the citizens of Philippi had their names inscribed on the registers of the tribes of Rome. The writer himself was another illustration of the same thing, of living in a community to which he did not belong and of belonging to a community in which he did not live. For Paul was a native of Tarsus; and Paul, the native of the Asiatic Tarsus, was a Roman.
So, then, the first thought that comes out of this great metaphor is that all of us, if we are Christian people, belong to another polity, another order of things than that in which our outward lives are spent. And the plain, practical conclusion that comes from it is, cultivate the sense of belonging to another order. Just as it swelled the heart of a Macedonian Philippian with pride, when he thought that he did not belong to the semi-barbarous people round about him, but that his name was written in the books that lay in the Capitol of Rome, so should we cultivate that sense of belonging to another order. It will make our work here none the worse, but it will fill our lives with the sense of nobler affinities, and point our efforts to grander work than any that belongs to ‘the things that are seen and temporal.’ Just as the little groups of Englishmen in treaty-ports own no allegiance to the laws of the country in which they live, but are governed by English statutes, so we have to take our orders from headquarters to which we have to report. Men in our colonies get their instructions from Downing Street. The officials there, appointed by the Home Government, think more of what they will say about them at Westminster than of what they say about them at Melbourne. So we are citizens of another country, and have to obey the laws of our own kingdom, and not those of the soil on which we dwell. Never mind about the opinions of men, the babblements of the people in the land you live in. To us, the main thing is that we be acceptable, well-pleasing unto Him. Are you solitary? Cultivate the sense of, in your solitude, being a member of a great community that stretches through all the ages, and binds into one the inhabitants of eternity and of time.
Remember that this citizenship in the heavens is the highest honour that can be conferred upon a man. The patricians of Venice used to have their names inscribed upon what was called the ‘golden book’ that was kept in the Doge’s Palace. If our names are written in the book of gold in the heavens, then we have higher dignities than any that belong to the fleeting chronicles of this passing, vain world. So we can accept with equanimity evil report or good report, and can acquiesce in a wholesome obscurity, and be careless though our names appear on no human records, and fill no trumpet of fame blown by earthly cheeks. Intellectual power, wealth, gratified ambition, and all the other things that men set before them, are small indeed compared with the honour, with the blessedness, with the repose and satisfaction that attend the conscious possession of citizenship in the heavens. Let us lay to heart the great words of the Master which put a cooling hand on all the feverish ambitions of earth. ‘In this rejoice, not that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’
II. Then the second idea suggested by these words is the possession of the life which is life indeed.
The ‘Book of Life,’ it is called in the New Testament. Its designation in the Old might as well be translated ‘the book of living’ as ‘the book of life.’ It is a register of the men who are truly alive.
Now, that is but an imaginative way of putting the commonplace of the New Testament, that anything which is worth calling life comes to us, not by creation or physical generation, but by being born again through faith in Jesus Christ, and by receiving into our else dead spirits the life which He bestows upon all them that trust Him.
In the New Testament ‘life’ is far more than ‘being’; far more than physical existence; removed by a whole world from these lower conceptions, and finding its complete explanation only in the fact that the soul which is knit to God by conscious surrender, love, aspiration, and obedience, is the only soul that really lives. All else is death–death! He ‘that liveth in pleasure is dead while he liveth.’ The ghastly imagination of one of our poets, of the dead man standing on the deck pulling at the ropes by the side of the living, is true in a very deep sense. In spite of all the feverish activities, the manifold vitalities of practical and intellectual life in the world, the deepest, truest, life of every man who is parted from God by alienation of will, by indifference, and neglect of love, lies sheeted and sepulchred in the depths of his own heart. Brethren, there is no life worth calling life, none to which that august name can without degradation be applied, except the complete life of body, soul, and spirit, in lowly obedience to God in Christ. The deepest meaning of the work of the Saviour is that He comes into a dead world, and breathes into the bones–very many and very dry–the breath of His own life. Christ has died for us; Christ will live in us if we will; and, unless He does, we are twice dead.
Do not put away that thought as if it were a mere pulpit metaphor. It is a metaphor, but yet in the metaphor there lies this deepest truth, which concerns us all, that only he is truly himself, and lives the highest, best, and noblest life that is possible for him, who is united to Jesus Christ, and drawing from Christ his own life. ‘He that hath the Son hath life; he that hath not the Son hath not life.’ Either my name and yours are written in the Book of Life, or they are written in the register of a cemetery. We have to make our choice which.
III. Another idea suggested by this emblem is experience of divine individualising knowledge and care.
In the Old Testament the book is called ‘Thy book,’ in the New it is called ‘the Lamb’s book.’ That is of a piece with the whole relation of the New to the Old, and of Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word and Manifestor of God, to the Jehovah revealed in former ages. For, unconditionally, and without thought of irreverence or idolatry, the New Testament lifts over and confers upon Jesus Christ the attributes which the Old jealously preserved as belonging only to Jehovah. And thus Christ the Manifestor of God, and the Mediator to us of all divine powers and blessings, takes the Book and makes the entries in it. Each man of us, as in your ledgers, has a page to himself. His account is opened, and is not confused with other entries. There is individualising love and care, and as the basis of both, individualising knowledge. My name, the expression of my individual being, stands there. Christ does not deal with me as one of a crowd, nor fling out blessings broadcast, that I may grasp them in the midst of a multitude, if I choose to put out a hand, but He deals with each of us singly, as if there were not any beings in the world but He and I, our two selves, all alone.
It is hard to realise the essentially individualising and isolating character of our relation to Jesus Christ. But we shall never come to the heart of the blessedness and the power of His Gospel unless we translate all ‘us’-es and ‘every ones’ and ‘worlds’ in Scripture into ‘I’ and ‘me,’ and can say not only He gives Himself to be ‘the propitiation for the sins of the whole world,’ but ‘He loved me and gave Himself for me .’ The same individualising love which is manifested in that mighty universal Atonement, if we rightly understand it, is manifested in all His dealings with us. One by one we come under His notice; the Shepherd tells His sheep singly as they pass out through the gate or into the fold. He knows them all by name. ‘I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine.’
Lift up your eyes and behold who made all these; the countless host of the nightly stars. What are nebul to our eyes are blazing suns to His. ‘He telleth the number of the stars; He calleth them all by name by the greatness of His power, for that He is strong in might not one faileth.’ So we may nestle in the protection of His hand, sure of a separate place in His knowledge and His heart.
Deliverance and security are the results of that individualising care. In one of the Old Testament instances of the use of this metaphor, we read that in the great day of calamity and sorrow ‘Thy people shall be delivered, even every one that is written in Thy Book.’ So we need not dread anything if our names are there. The sleepless King will read the Book, and will never forget, nor forget to help and succour His poor servants.
But there are two other variations of this thought in the Old Testament even more tenderly suggestive of that individualising care and strong sufficient love than the emblem of my text. We read that when, in the exercise of his official functions, the high priest passed into the Tabernacle he wore, upon his breast , near the seat of personality, and the home of love–the names of the tribes graven, and that the same names were written on his shoulders, as if guiding the exercise of his power. So we may think of ourselves as lying near the beatings of His heart, and as individually the objects of the work of His almighty arm. Nor is this all. For there is yet another, and still tenderer, application of the figure, when we read of the Divine voice as saying to Israel, ‘I have graven thee on the palms of My hands.’ The name of each who loves and trusts and serves is written there; printed deep in the flesh of the Sovereign Christ. We bear in our bodies the marks, the stigmata that tell whose slaves we are–’the marks of the Lord Jesus.’ And He bears in His body the marks that tell who His servants are.
IV. Lastly, there is suggested by this text the idea of future entrance into the land of the living.
The metaphor occurs three times in the final book of Scripture, the book which deals with the future and with the last things. And it occurs in all these instances in very remarkable connection. First we read, in the highly imaginative picture of the final judgment, that when the thrones are set two books are opened, one the Book of Life, the other the book in which are written the deeds of men, and that by these two books men are judged. There is a judgment by conduct. There is also a judgment by the Book of Life. That is to say, the question at last comes to be, ‘Is this man’s name written in that book?’ Is he a citizen of the kingdom, and therefore capable of entering into it? Has he the life from Christ in his heart? Or, in other words, the question is, first, has the man who stands at the bar faith in Jesus Christ; and, second, has he proved that his faith is genuine and real by the course of his earthly conduct? These are the books from which the judgment is made.
Further, we read, in that blessed vision which stands at the far-off end of all the knowledge of the future which is given to humanity, the vision of the City of God ‘that came down from heaven as a bride adorned for her husband,’ that only they enter in there who are ‘written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.’ Only citizens are capable of entrance into the city. Aliens are necessarily shut out. The Lord, when He writeth up His people, shall count that this man was born there, though he never trod its streets while on earth, and, therefore, can enter into his native home.
Further, in one of the letters to the seven churches our Lord gives as a promise to him that overcometh, ‘I will not blot his name out of the Book of Life, but I will confess his name.’
What need we care what other people may think about us, or whether the ‘hollow wraith of dying fame’ that comes like a nimbus round some men may fade wholly or no, so long as we may be sure of acknowledgment and praise from Him from whom acknowledgment and praise are precious indeed.
I have but one or two more words to add. Remember that Paul had no hesitation in taking upon himself to declare that the names of these anonymous saints in Philippi were written in the Book of Life. What business had he to do that? Had he looked over the pages, and marked the entries? He had simply the right of estimating their state by their conduct. He saw their works; he knew that these works were the fruit of their faith; and he knew that, therefore, their faith had united them to Jesus Christ. So, Christian men and women, two things: show your faith by your works, and make it impossible for anybody that looks at you to doubt what King you serve, and to what city you belong. Again, do not ask, ‘Is my name there?’ Ask, ‘Have I faith, and does my faith work the works that belong to the Kingdom of Heaven?’
Remember that names can be blotted out of the book. The metaphor has often been pressed into the service of a doctrine of unconditional and irreversible predestination. But rightly looked at, it points in the opposite direction. Remember Moses’s agonised cry, ‘Blot me out of Thy book’; and the Divine answer, ‘Him that sinneth against Me, his name will I blot out of My book.’ And remember that it is only to ‘him that overcometh’ that the promise is made, ‘I will not blot him out.’ We are made partakers of Christ if we ‘hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end.’
Remember that it depends upon ourselves whether our names are there or not. John Bunyan describes the armed man who came up to the table, where the man with the book and the inkhorn was seated, and said: ‘Set down my name.’ And you and I may do that. If we cast ourselves on Jesus Christ and yield our wills to be guided by Him, and give our lives for His service, then He will write our names in His book. If we trust Him we shall be citizens of the City of God; shall be filled with the life of Christ; shall be objects of an individualising love and care; shall be accepted in that Day; and shall enter in through the gates into the city. ‘They that forsake me shall be written on the earth’; and there wiped out as are the children’s scribbles on the sand when the ocean come up. They that trust in Jesus Christ shall have their names written in the Book of Life; graven on the High Priest’s breastplate, and inscribed on His mighty hand and His faithful heart.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
entreat = ask. App-134.
true. Greek. gnesios. See 2Co 8:8.
yokefellow. Greek. suzugos. Only here. It is unknown who was intended.
which = since they.
laboured with. Greek. sunathleo. See Php 1:27.
gospel. App-140.
with. App-104.
other = the rest of. App-124. This may refer to Euodia and Syntyche.
fellowlabourers. Greek. sunergos. See 1Co 3:9,
book of life. See Rev 3:5; Rev 13:8; Rev 20:15 Rev 22:19, and Compare Php 21:27.
life App-170.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
3.] assumes the granting of the request just made, and carries on farther the same matter, see Phm 1:20 and note; but does not conjure, as Grot., al.
] true (genuine:-true, as distinguished from counterfeit: lit. of legitimate worth ()) yoke-fellow. Who is intended, it is quite impossible to say. Various opinions have been, (1) that St. Paul addresses his own wife. So Clem. Alex. Strom. iii. 6 (53), p. 535 P, , ,-Eus. H. E. iii. 30, al. But this is evidently an error, and Thdrt. says rightly,- . , (1Co 7:8), . Besides which, the adjective in this case would be feminine,-cf. Eur. Alcest. 326, ;-and 354, : perhaps even if it were of two terminations (as adjectives in – frequently in the N. T., e.g. , Luk 2:13; Act 24:19; , 1Ti 2:8, &c. See Winer, 11. 1), in which case Ellic. remarks, it would revert to three terminations; but authority for this statement seems wanting. (2) that he was the husband, or brother, of Euodia or Syntyche; so Chrys. doubtfully, and Thl., al. But then the epithet would hardly be wanted-nor would the expression be at all natural. (3) that he was some fellow-labourer of the Apostle. So Thdrt.,- , , Pelag., all., and De W.,-and of these some (Grot., Calov., al.) have understood Epaphroditus,-Estius, Timotheus,-Bengel (but afterwards he preferred Epaphroditus), Silas,-Luther, the chief bishop at Philippi. (4) Others have regarded as a proper name: so in Chrys. and c., and so Meyer. In this case the would mean, who art veritably, as thy name is, a yoke-fellow. And this might be said by the Apostle, who elsewhere compares the Christian minister to the . It seems to me that we must choose between the two last hypotheses. The objections to each are about of equal weight: the Apostle no where else calls his fellow-labourers ,-and the proper name is no where else found. But these are no reasons, respectively, against either hypothesis. We may safely say with Chrys., , , .
] help them (Euodia and Syntyche): but not, as Grot., ut habeant, unde se suosque honeste sustentent: it is the work of their reconciliation which he clearly has in view, and in which they would need help.
] utpote qu-seeing that they. The E. V. here is in error, help those women which The Gospel at Philippi was first received by women, Act 16:13 ff., and these two must have been among those who, having believed, laboured among their own sex for its spread.
.] see reff.
] These words belong to , not to , and are rather an additional reminiscence, than a part of the exhortation as did Clemens also &c. q. d. not that I mean, by naming those women with distinction, to imply forgetfulness of those others &c., and especially of Clemens. The insertion of between the preposition and substantive is said to be a habit principally of Pindar,-e.g. , Ol. ii. 28; , Ol. vii. 26; , Pyth. iv. 330. See Hartung, i. 143.
It is not necessary to regard the – as bound together: so that these examples are in point (against Ellic.).
Clemens must have been a fellow-worker with the Apostle at Philippi, from the context here; and, from the non-occurrence of any such name among Pauls fellow-travellers, and the fact that must have been Philippians,-himself a native of Philippi. It is perhaps arbitrary, seeing that the name is so common, to assume his identity with Clemens afterwards Bishop of Rome, and author of the Epistles to the Corinthians. So Eus. H. E. iii. 4, , . , . : see also H. E. Php 4:6; so Origen, Com. in Joan. t. vi. 36, vol. iv. p. 153: and Jer. Script. Eccl., 15, vol. ii. p. 854. Chrys. does not notice any such idea. See on the whole, Ellicotts note.
. ] belongs to the , whom he does not name: whose names are (not a wish, , as Bengel, nor are they to be regarded as dead when this was written) in the book of life (reff., and Luk 10:20).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Php 4:3. , yea) an agreeable [conciliatory, affectionate] particle, Philem., Php 4:20; Heb. . It is put, as it were, into the mouth of the man who is being besought, so that, upon merely pronouncing it, he may give his assent.- , [genuine] okefellow, or without disguise) , persons together, properly in marriage, and then in other things; so, however, as that the word is applied to two, and denotes some degree of parity; also is of the common gender. Some say, that Paul had at one time wife, but we are convinced, on good grounds, that he is here addressing a man. He had many , workers; not many , , first Barnabas, afterwards Silas; and he seems to address the latter in this passage; for Silas had been his among the Philippians themselves, Acts [Act 15:40] Act 16:19. [, as I am more inclined to think, Epaphroditus.-V. g.] He was also [like Paul] at all events a minister, whom Paul here entreats.- , those) that thou mayest maintain harmony among them, by removing impediments.-, ) It is proper to afford help to a person who once stood well, even when he is wavering.- , with me) They seem to have been involved in that danger, which is described at Act 16:19.-, ) This word depends on , have laboured together.-, ) They had imitated the great men, among whom was of distinguished excellence. The women were thus highly favoured and honoured.- , names) though not here mentioned. The allusion is to the victorious competitors in the public games, whose were openly read and became famous.- , the book of life) viz. , or, pray may be. The optative must be often supplied, Php 4:23. They seem to have been already by that time , for we generally follow such with earnest wishes[50] of that sort. Who would not help the surviving companions of these departed ones, ?[51] Being associated with those who have died with honour, is to younger survivors a great recommendation to him who thus, as it were, stands in the middle place between those who are dead and those who are alive; for example, it formed a recommendation of Timothy to the Philippians, because he had been the intimate friend of Paul. [Those have also excellent materials for concord, of whom some have good reason to think others (who have good reason to think of one another that they are) partakers of eternal life, 1Pe 3:7.-V. g.]
[50] Wishes that they may be found among the saved, not prayers, which are contrary to Scripture.-ED.
[51] Buxtorf, de Abbrev. Hebr. p. 84, writes, = memoria ejus sit in benedictione (may his memory be blessed). De pluribus memoria ipsorum (their memory): nomini piorum virorum defunctorum subjici solet: aut in genere sapientum vel Rabbinorum commemorationi. The and are the initials used as the abbreviation for the whole words.-ED.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Php 4:3
Php 4:3
Yea, I beseech thee also, true yokefellow,-Who the yokefellow was it is impossible to determine at this distance. Probably it was Epaphroditus who carried this letter to the church at Philippi, and was one of them, and was an active teacher among them.
help these women, for they labored with me in the gospel,-It is uncertain as to who these women were who had labored with him in the gospel. Many think Euodias and Syntyche were they, others think he refers to other women, who had been helpers with him in the Lords work. The language is not specific enough to determine with certainty. Women frequently accompanied Paul in his preaching tours as colaborers, and in a modest way, they could reach their own sex to make known the gospel as men could not. Much of the preaching was done in private in the apostolic labors. It would be much more effective and thoroughly done if it were so now. That it was material help appears the more probable, because he asks that the same help be extended to Clement and others of Pauls fellow laborers.
with Clement also,-Of the Clement here mentioned we have no further knowledge for certain. He may have been the same whose Epistles to the Corinthians are preserved among the writings of the Apostolic Fathers. For Philippi was a colony of Rome, and probably in close connection with Rome. But the name was far too common for this to be at all certain.
and the rest of my fellow-workers,-We might judge from this language that even before the apostles departure from Philippi the converts had become numerous. But in such a work every member became a teacher. The youngest true believer must tell of the Lord who had redeemed him from sin, and so became a bearer of the message of life. The sentiment became prominent among the early Christians that every member of the body should be a bearer of the message of life to others. Hence, the first spreading of the gospel was done by the lay members as they are now called. When the great persecution rose against the church which was in Jerusalem, they were scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria and went about preaching the word as they went. (Act 8:1-8). And some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Greeks also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number that believed turned unto the Lord. (Act 11:19-21). This is a clear manifestation that God intended all his children, men and women, should bear a part in the work of converting the world. And that this work was not to be confined to a select few.
I do not believe that this work was even chiefly done by public sermons. Men and women as they traveled taught those they met by the way. Around the fireside where they tarried, Christ and the resurrection constituted their theme. The direct personal appeal went from man to man and from woman to woman, simply as men and women. The unpretentious simplicity and earnestness of the appeal were its striking characteristics. There was no formality or professional dignity that separated man from man. A message like this delivered because the heart was full of the theme, full to overflowing with the earnest desire that others might share the salvation they enjoyed, found ready entrance to the heart when told by simple-minded, unpretending men and women. But few of these men, none of the women, made public addresses. Men and women today, thoroughly in earnest, full of the spirit of Christ would not wait to make sermons to men and women. They would make the direct, personal appeal to their companions, their children, to their neighbors and to their neighbors children. They would do it as they walked by the way and as they sat in the house. If the heart is full of zeal for God and man, out of this abundance the life and mouth will speak. Zeal for God and man go together. They are inseparable. No man can feel a true zeal for Gods honor and glory without feeling a corresponding anxiety for the salvation of men.
Let us direct our efforts in the direction of making Christians and churches what God desires they should be. We should not seek to substitute anything else in place of this. To do this is fatal to the cause of Christ. We should seek to make every man and every woman an earnest worker to save others. The most successful way to do this is for each to go earnestly to work. The working spirit is contagious. It is a mistake to think we can do proxy work, that we can pay others to visit the sick, look after the needy, and preach the gospel to the lost. Personal service is needed for our own personal benefit. Spiritual exercise in these things is necessary for our spiritual growth. We cannot satisfy the demands of the law of God on us for effort to save our fellow man by paying others to preach. We might give every dollar we have to others to preach, it would not release us, in the sight of God, from the obligation to teach our families, neighbors, and all with whom we come in contact, the way of life. The fatal error of this age is that we attempt to work for the cause of Christ by proxy.
In all this I have kept out of view the public proclamation of the gospel. I do not mean that this could or should be dispensed with. Public preaching is a part of the divine provision for saving men. I insist on the private personal appeal of man to man to make the public preaching effective as God intended that it should be. The private appeal is the complement of the public discourse. Both are needed. The individual Christian can in no way support the public preaching so effectively as by diligently engaging in the private preaching-both by precept and example.
whose names are in the book of life.-[For passages referring to the book of life, see Dan 12:1; Rev 3:5; Rev 13:8; Rev 17:8; Rev 20:12; Rev 21:27. From that book the names may be blotted out now (Rev 3:5), till the end fixes it forever. There is a peculiar beauty in the allusion here. The apostle does not mention his fellow laborers by name; but it matters not-the names are written before God, in the book of life. If they continue in his service, those names shall shine out hereafter when the great names of earth shall fade into nothingness.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
I: Phi 4:2, Rom 12:1, Phm 1:8, Phm 1:9
true: Phi 2:20-25, Col 1:7
help: Phi 1:27, Act 9:36-41, Act 16:14-18, Rom 16:2-4, Rom 16:9, Rom 16:12, 1Ti 5:9, 1Ti 5:10
whose: Exo 32:32, Psa 69:28, Isa 4:3, Eze 13:9, Dan 12:1, Luk 10:20, Rev 3:5, Rev 13:8, Rev 17:8, Rev 20:12, Rev 20:15, Rev 21:27
Reciprocal: Exo 32:33 – my book Exo 35:25 – General Num 3:40 – General Jdg 15:14 – the cords 1Ch 22:17 – all the princes Ezr 8:20 – all of them Neh 3:12 – he and his daughters Psa 87:6 – when Pro 22:1 – name Luk 5:7 – that they should Joh 10:3 – and he 1Co 16:16 – helpeth 2Co 8:23 – and fellowhelper Phi 2:25 – companion Col 4:11 – fellowworkers 1Ti 5:17 – labour Phm 1:1 – Philemon Phm 1:24 – my fellowlabourers Heb 12:23 – which 3Jo 1:8 – fellowhelpers Rev 2:3 – hast laboured
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
(Php 4:3.) , -Yea, I ask thee too, true yoke-fellow. A third party is appealed to, to interpose his good offices-a proof that the apostle reckoned the harmony of these two women a matter of no small importance. The is preferred to on preponderant authority, and is confirmatory in its nature. The verb , as different from , carries in it the idea of authority. Trench, Synon. p. 164. What this third person was to do is thus stated-
, -help these women, as being persons who (or because they) have striven along with me in the gospel. The first middle verb signifies to assist-Take them up together. Luk 5:7. It was not to help them pecuniarily, as Justinian absurdly imagines, but he, whoever he was, was to be a mediator, and to use all his influence with them, so that they should make advances to each other. And there was the more reason for his benign interference, for these women had been specially useful. They had (-quippe quoe) striven side by side with Paul in the gospel. The verb contains an idea more intense than that represented by laboured, as also in Php 1:27. In the place now referred to, the object for which agonistic exertion is made is placed in the simple dative-here the sphere of the striving is represented by the preposition . They strove together in the gospel, and for its furtherance. They had rendered the apostle essential assistance in his evangelical efforts and toils, and if they were so labouring still in their own spheres, they must be reconciled. From their past efforts, their misunderstanding was the more unseemly, and the more necessary it was to heal the breach. Spheres of labour for females were specially open in such cities as Philippi, and among their own sex, to whom they might have access (for the was kept in jealous seclusion), and whose delicacies and difficulties they could instinctively comprehend or remove. Rom 16:3-12. Women were the first who received the gospel at Philippi. Act 16:13. These women were not the apostle’s only fellow-workers, for he adds, that they laboured-
-along with Clement, too, and my fellow-labourers. The insertion of between the preposition and its noun is not common, though other particles are placed in this way. Hartung, i. p. 143. By the use of . . . , things or persons are simultaneously thought of or represented. Winer, 53, 4. It is out of the question to join this clause with , as if the request were his and Clement’s. Clement is mentioned nowhere else. There is no solid ground for supposing that he was the well-known Clemens Romanus, as ecclesiastical tradition, Jerome, van Hengel, and Baur for his own purpose, suppose. All we know of him is, that in fellowship with those women he had laboured along with the apostle at Philippi, in diffusing the gospel and building up the church. Euodia, Syntyche, and Clement must have been hearty and prominent in their co-operation; and Clement is mentioned as if the apostle had such a cordial recollection of him, that he could not but mention him. Others are also referred to, but not named. Some, as Storr, Flatt, and Cocceius, would join the clause to ; but, as Meyer suggests, not , but the simple dative would in that case be appropriate- . Of Clement’s colleagues the apostle adds-
-whose names are in the book of life. The book of life is a figure, sometimes having reference to present life, as in Athens, where the catalogue of living citizens was scrupulously kept. Psa 69:28; Eze 13:9. See also Exo 32:32; Isa 4:3. Then it came to be used in reference to life beyond the grave. Dan 12:1-8; Rev 3:5; Rev 13:8; Rev 20:15; Rev 21:27; and somewhat differently, Luke 10:50; Heb 12:23. This inscription of their names shows the certainty of their future happiness, for those names will not be erased. The image of such a register presents to us the minuteness and infallibility of the divine omniscience, and the assured glory of Christ’s followers and servants. The relative has for its antecedent, and probably the phraseology was suggested by the fact that their names are unnoticed in the epistle. The apostle does not name them, they are summed up in a brief and anonymous ; but they are not forgotten, for their names are written by no human hand in the register of that blessed assemblage which shall inherit eternal life. A greater honour by far than being mentioned even in the list of an apostle’s eulogy.
But who was the third party so earnestly appealed to by the apostle as ? The noun, commonly spelt , occurs only here in the New Testament.
1. It is often used of a wife in classic Greek, and hence some would understand by it the spouse of the apostle. Clement of Alexandria alludes to it, so does Isidore, and the view is held by Erasmus, Flacius, Musculus, Cajetan, Zuingli, Bullinger, and Justinian. Many popish interpreters keenly rebut this opinion, and Bellarmine confronts it with five distinct arguments. The adjective ought, in such a case, to be feminine. Then, too, the notion would seem to contradict what Paul himself has said of his unmarried state in 1Co 7:7, etc. Theodoret justly remarks, that this view is held by some .
2. Dwelling still upon the same usage, some suppose the person referred to to be the husband of one of the women. Chrysostom says- . But there are no grounds for such an opinion. The yoke is supposed to be borne in company with the apostle, and not with any of these women.
3. Passing to the plain meaning of the term, many give it the rendering of our version-a colleague in labour, either in actual pastoral office, or at least one who had done good service to the church in Philippi, and was so well known as not to require to be named. This honour is assigned to various persons. Grotius, Cocceius, and Michaelis assign it to Epaphroditus, though he was at this period with the apostle in Rome. Zeltner and Bengel put in a claim for Silas- Estius upholds Timothy-Koehler pleads for Barnabas. Still the great majority regard the words as meaning fellow-labourer -germane compar, as in the Vulgate. Should this interpretation be adopted, it would follow, as Bengel remarks, that the term denotes a closer union than ; and it looks as if the person referred to were he to whom the epistle should be first carried, and by whom it should be first read. It might be Epaphroditus, who, though present with the apostle, was so addressed, for he was to carry the epistle to Philippi, and as the pastor reading it, and being so addressed in it, might thus exhibit his commission as a peacemaker.
4. Another idea, started by Chrysostom and OEcumenius, and strenuously contended for by Meyer, is that is a proper name-I ask thee, genuine Syzygus; that is, his name was a symbol of his character and labours. Chrysostom says, as if by the way- , but adds , , . This hypothesis has the advantage of singling out an individual and addressing him, but the only plausible argument for it is, that as proper names occur in these verses, this in all likelihood is a proper name too. It is a strange conceit of Wieseler (Chronol. p. 458), that the true yoke-fellow is Christ Himself, and that introduces a prayer to Him. But the question cannot be fully determined.
Fuente: Commentary on the Greek Text of Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Phillipians
Php 4:3. Intreat has practically the same meaning as “beseech.” The yoke-fellow evidently was Epaphroditus, for in chapter 2:25 he is referred to as Paul’s “companion in labor.” This man was sent to Philippi with an epistle which contained a request for himself. Those women are the ones named in the preceding verse. In some way they had assisted Paul in his work of the Gospel, but just when or how they did it is not revealed. Young calls Clement “A fellow laborer with Paul at Philippi.” He is not mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament. Names are in the book of life. No literal book is meant here, but whatever and wherever the book is, we know it is possible for man to do something to get his name written in it, since it is mentioned in a manner that implies responsibilities. See Luk 10:20; Heb 12:22-23; Rev 3:5 Rev 13:8 Rev 20:12.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Php 4:3. Yea, I beseech thee also, true yokefellow. Here St. Paul addresses some man whose influence was likely to have weight in bringing about peace and unity in the Philippian sisterhood. As the apostle does not name the person meant, there has been much speculation as to whom he is addressing. Some have thought that the name was here, and that the word rendered yokefellow (Synzygos) might be not a common but a proper noun. Thus St. Paul would be playing on the word, as he does on the name Onesimus in the letter to Philemon. Thou Synzygos, who art a yokefellow truly, in name as well as in nature. But as the word is not found elsewhere as a name, this explanation may he dismissed. Others have applied the words to St. Luke, from the language of the Acts, in which the writer employs we in the journey from Troas to Philippi (Act 16:10-17), the drops into the third person, until (Act 20:5) St. Paul returns through Philippi to go into Asia. Hence it is thought that St. Luke may have been left in charge of the Philippian Church, and he may have been intended by the expression true yokefellow, of which we cannot doubt that the beloved physician would be deemed worthy by St. Paul. But Luke seems to have been at Rome at this time. See Lightfoot, Introduction, p. 10. Others, again, and perhaps with more probability, have applied the words to Epaphroditus, who was to be the bearer of the letter. He may have been the amanuensis, and the words may represent St. Pauls direct appeal to him, which he has put down just as it was made, and that he might be able to do so, has left out his name, only giving the affectionate title which the apostle applied to him. But whoever may have been intended, neither the apostle nor the amanuensis thought the mention of a name of any consequence. The appeal was intelligible by him to whom it was made, and charity (such as he was to use and foster) vaunteth not herself.
help these women. That is, Euodia and Syntyche. Those in the Authorised Version makes the woman to be helped other than these two, which is not correct, as is shown by the following relative.
for they laboured with me in the gospel. The verb is only found again in Php 1:27, striving for the faith. These women, like the apostle, had entered on the heavenward struggle, and like him were zealous that the Gospel should be spread abroad. The expression seems to imply that even in the early days of the apostles visit, the women at Philippi had been accepted as fellow-workers in Christian undertakings.
with Clement also. This may be joined with what immediately precedes, thus including Clement among those who with the women had joined St. Paul in his preaching and labours at Philippi, but it seems better to couple it with the words true yokefellow. Do thou along with Clement help these women. Of the Clement here mentioned we have no further knowledge for certain. He may have been the same who afterwards became bishop of Rome, and whose Epistles to the Corinthians are preserved among the writings of the Apostolic Fathers. For Philippi was a colony of Rome, and probably in close communication with the capital. But the name was far too common for this to be at all certain.
and the rest of my fellow-workers. We might judge from this language, that even before the apostles departure from Philippi the converts had become numerous. But in such a work every scholar becomes a teacher. The youngest true believer must tell what has been done for him, and so becomes a preacher.
whose names are in the book of life. Compare the passages in the Book of Revelation where this expression occurs. The conception is of Gods record of all those who are striving to serve Him. It is clear from the language of St. John that the names were not considered to be written there unchangeably, but if found unworthy to continue, they might be blotted out. Those are in the Book of life in scripture language who have begun to walk in the way of salvation. St. Paul makes no list of names. They are known to God, and would know that they were appealed to without being named, for they were walking after the apostles example, and so would be ready to strive for that unity in the church which he longed to see.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Php 4:3. I entreat thee also, true yoke-fellow St. Paul had many fellow- labourers, not many yoke-fellows. In this number was Barnabas first, and then Silas, whom he probably addresses here; for Silas had been his yoke- fellow at the very place, Act 16:19. Help those women who laboured together with me Greek, , literally, who wrestled, or contended together, with me The word does not imply preaching, or any thing of that kind, but opposition, danger, and toil, endured for the sake of the gospel. With Clement also Who endured the same things along with them; and with other my fellow-labourers Here the word is , fellow-workers, which may imply fellow-preachers; whose names are in the book of life (Although not set down here,) as are those of all true believers. See the margin. The apostle alludes to the case of the wrestlers in the Olympic games, whose names were all enrolled in a book. Reader, is thy name in the book of life? Hast thou passed from death to life in consequence of being pardoned and accepted through faith in Christ? Then walk circumspectly, lest thou go back from life to death, and the Lord blot thee out of his book. It may not be improper to observe here, that according to some ancient Christian writers, the Clement mentioned in this verse is the person of the same name who afterward became bishop of the church at Rome, and who, to compose some dissensions which had arisen in the church at Corinth, about their spiritual guides, wrote an epistle to the Corinthians, which is still extant.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
4:3 And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and [with] other my fellowlabourers, whose names [are] in the {c} book of life.
(c) God is said, after the manner of men, to have a book, in which the names of his elect are written, to whom he will give everlasting life. Ezekiel calls it the writing of the house of Israel, and the secret of the Lord; Eze 13:9 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Paul appealed to another person in the Philippian church to help Euodia and Syntyche restore their fellowship. Most translations interpret suzuge ("comrade" or "yokefellow") as a description rather than as a proper name. Probably it referred to the leading elder (pastor) in the church. There are many other views of who this person was, all of which, I think, are less probable. [Note: See the commentaries.]
Euodia and Syntyche had evidently labored for the Lord with Paul (cf. Act 16:13-15). Here the main theme of the epistle comes out clearly again as partnership in the gospel. Clement had been a partner in the gospel as well. The Scriptures do not identify who he was. Clement was a common Roman name. Others had also worked with Paul, probably in Philippi and perhaps elsewhere. The fact that their names appeared in the book of life seems to be an allusion to their honored status among the citizens of heaven.
"Practically every city of that day maintained a roll or civic register of its citizens, and in that record was entered the name of every child born in the city. If one of the citizens proved guilty of treachery or disloyalty or of anything bringing shame on the city, he was subjected to public dishonour by the expunging of his name from the register. (The name was, in any case normally obliterated at death.) He was deemed no longer worthy to be regarded as a citizen of the city. If, on the other hand, a citizen had performed some outstanding exploit deserving of special distinction, honour was bestowed upon him, either by the recording of the deed in the city roll or by his name being encircled in gold (or overlaid in gold) in the roll." [Note: Frederick A. Tatford, The Patmos Letters, pp. 116-17. See Charles R. Smith, "The Book of Life," Grace Theological Journal 6:2 (Fall 1985):219-30.]
The Bible refers to more than one book of life: the book containing the names of people presently alive (Exo 32:32-33; Psa 69:28), and the book containing the names of God’s elect (i.e., all believers; Luk 10:20; Rev 3:5; Rev 13:8; Rev 17:8; Rev 20:12; Rev 20:15; Rev 21:27) and the names of faithful believers (Php 4:3).