Chapter 1
V1 Paulus-little or humble. Paul, formerly Shaul/Heb desired, considered himself a spiritually diminutive figure and not worthy of the grace of Elohim bestowed upon him. He based this on his pre-conversion life of persecuting the ecclesia cf 1 Cor 15:9. Yeshua referred to him as Shaul Acts 9:4,11 but he first scripturally was referred to as Paul in Acts 13:9. Contrary to most Hebraic roots commentaries which over-emphasize Hebrew sentiments although important, even Paul’s Hebrew kinsmen switched to this appellation of humility cf 2 Pet 3:15.
Timotheus/honouring Elohim was a resident of Lystra, whose father being a Greek and mother a Jewess cf Acts 16:1-3.
Doulos/slaves-in the Old Testament the Heb equivalent is ebed, which is defined as a slave without rights. This differs from sakiyr/hired labourer. This is perfectly distinguished in Lev 25:39,40,42. Israelites were prohibited from making ebed/slaves without rights of their kinsmen v39, but were permitted to make them sakiyr/hired labourers v40. However, Yehovah in v42 considers all that are in covenant fellowship with Him, freed from the clutches of Satan, His ebed/slaves without rights. Yeshua, Yehovah the Son, who delivered us by His blood and bought us with this price, from Satan the evil taskmaster, expects us to be His slaves/ebed/doulos who are obliged to obey His commandments/laws/Torah if we are to remain in covenant fellowship with Him. The Septuagint translates all instances of ebed as doulos, and this word is used to describe Moses and all the prophets of Yehovah, who were considered slaves of the Most High cf Jer 25:4; Ex 4:10; 32:13; Rev 15:3; Is 43:10
Hagios/saints, most holy ones-by definition one is scripturally considered holy by their righteous acts of obedience to Torah indwelt by the Holy Spirit in our fleshly tabernacle. No other laws to define holiness exist in scripture cf Ex 26:33-34, cf 1 Cor 3:16.
Episkopos/overseer, superintendent, elder of the ecclesia-Paul defines this position in 1 Tim 3:1-7. This definition is quite divergent from the self-proclaimed bishops of many denominations of today, who preach monetary prosperity, have delinquent children and find no fault in divorcing their wives in order to remarry through lust.
Diakonos/deacon, minister, servant, one who executes the commands of his master-Paul outlines this role in 1 Tim 3:8-13. Ministers are to serve the people, not lord over them as witnessed in the churches of today.
V2-3 Paul again, as he does throughout his epistles, presents Father and Son as 2 separate entities, the Father always being referred to as Elohim and the Son as the Master/Lord/ Yeshua the Messiah. The grace/charis which is mercy and compassion from Elohim always precedes the subsequent peace/eirene which we have in the knowledge and hope of salvation to come cf Num 6:25-26. Peace is the condition that arises from Elohim’s grace to us. Paul thanked Elohim for every remembrance of the ecclesia. We should follow suit in thanking Elohim for every member that is in the body of Messiah, as they are fellow soldiers whom we need in spiritual warfare.
V4-5 Our daily prayers should indeed make joyful petition for the ecclesia to remain in the euaggelion/gospel. This gospel has been given many definitions but the true scriptural one is the good tidings of Yeshua the Messiah concerning His life, deeds, narratives and death on the cross to procure eternal salvation for those in the kingdom of Elohim, Yeshua having been restored to life and exalted to the right hand of the Father in heaven. He is to return in majesty to consummate the kingdom of Elohim. We are told in Rom 1:1,3 that this gospel is of Elohim the Father, concerning His Son.
V6 cf Ps 138:8 The words will perform are the Greek word epiteleo which means complete. The psalm clearly states that it is Yehovah who began this good work in us and shall complete it for us until Yeshua’s second advent. Furthermore, we can identify Yehovah the Holy Spirit as being the entity of the triune Elohim-head who is particularly referred to here, as this is the promise Yeshua gave us in Jn 14:15-18. The good work is a process that is seen from start to finish by the Holy Spirit.
It commences with deliverance and redemption by the blood of Yeshua from Satan’s kingdom, justification by/through faith in Yeshua the Son, continual sanctification unto good works by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and ultimately salvation at the end of our Christian walk, being glorified and conformed unto the image of Yeshua. Note that the Holy Spirit is given to those who keep Yeshua’s Torah/commandments. Hence in order for the Holy Spirit to complete the good work started in us, we must continue to obey Torah, lest He, the Holy Spirit depart from our soul leading to us losing our hope of eternal life.
The day of Yeshua the Messiah is mentioned some 18 times in the NT and is equivalent to the day of Yehovah mentioned in the OT. It all denotes Yeshua’s second coming cf Rom 13:12; 1 Cor 1:8; 3:13; 1 Thes 4:17; 5:2
V7-8 Paul thought of the ecclesia not only in his chains in Roman custody, but also in his prevalent discourses of defending and establishing the gospel in the wake and face of adversity. He did not suffer for his own sake but for that of the legitimacy of the gospel of Yeshua and His body, the holy ecclesia, of which the Philippians were partakers of. Furthermore, Paul declared the ultimate authoritative witness, that of Elohim the Father, of his longing for the Philippians in the splanknon/seat of tender affections especially kindness and benevolence, of Yeshua haMashiach.
V9-10 Paul reveals what his prayer and our prayers for the ecclesia should emphasize on, i.e. for agape/brotherly love for one another to abound, which is the fulfilling of Torah Gal 5:14; Lev 19:18. This love increases more and more when our epignosis/precise and correct knowledge and aisthesis/discernment are bestowed upon us by the Holy Spirit. This knowledge and discernment are not earthy but heavenly and is found in Torah truth cf Hos 4:6; Mal 2:7-9; Jer 8:7-9.
We must consciously endeavour to seek knowledge in the scriptures wearing spiritual goggles in order for us to mature in our Christian walk. V10 expands the purpose of abounding in love unto knowledge and discernment, as being to dokimazo/test things that are diaphero/between good and evil, in order to be considered obedient to Yeshua’s Torah which He shall judge all mankind by on His second advent, for the righteous saints, and at the great white throne judgement for the wicked condemned unto damnation cf Rom 14:10; 2 Cor 5:10; 1 Cor 3:12-15; Rev 20:11-15.
V11 At Yeshua’s return, to be accepted by Him, we must as the wise virgins and good and faithful servants of Matt 25, present with evidence of winning souls for the kingdom of Elohim through good works. The fruit of the Spirit is outlined in Gal 5:22-23. These fruits are not of our own making, but only possible through Yeshua the Messiah, whom if we believe in, justifies us unto Holy Spirit gifts and power, ultimately for the good pleasure of the Father. Verse 9 to 11 establish a very important principle: The root and trunk of Love that grows, nourishes the branches of precise knowledge and discernment found in Torah, to yield fruits of righteousness.
V12-14 In order to calm the despair of the Philippians for Paul’s imprisonment, he reassured them that his predicament was actually working for the greater good of the gospel’s dissemination. This was evidenced by the fact that he was incarcerated in the praetorian/headquarters of the Roman camp wherein the very commander-in-chief or procurator resided. This in effect gave Paul the opportunity to preach the gospel in what would have been amongst the highest quarters in the whole Empire and known world at that time cf Acts 28:30-31. T
he praetorian had 10000 Roman elite soldiers of whom Paul would have had free contact with to evangelize the gospel. What wonderful ways in which Yehovah Elohim operates to use the wiles of the devil against him.
V14 additionally, Paul’s courage had the positive effect of persuading the rest of the body of Messiah to preach the logos/word of Elohim, as he did without fear. There are 4 reasons why Christians suffer:
1. For partaking in holy communion unworthily with Messiah i.e. having not taken self-introspection to deal with our sins by asking for forgiveness of them appropriately cf 1 Cor 11:28-32
2. To prevent sin in our lives cf 2 Cor 12:7-9
3. To gain spiritual experience and maturity Rom 5:3-5
4. To create situations where effective evangelism may prevail in difficult environments Phil 1:12-14
V15-17 pthonos and eris are Greek for ill-will and quarrelling, translated envy and strife in KJV. Messiah was being preached in two spheres. Those who despised Him such as the pharisaic Judaizers and pagans cf Gal ch 4 and 5; and those who loved Messiah and preached gospel truth i.e. the true body of Messiah both Jew and Gentile. The former in v16 preached an eritheia/fractious,partisan Messiah hoping by so presenting a split Messiah, to divide the ecclesia. An example of such was the false notion that Yeshua had done away with Torah, which would inevitably alienate the Jews, who knew Torah is everlasting. Such a rabble did so wishing to also frustrate Paul’s mission of evangelizing to the Gentiles and Jews in the diaspora cf 3:1-3. The latter true Messianic group of v17 however, preached gospel truth having found strength in Paul’s example through courage and defence of it.
V18 Neither form of preaching, be it to denounce Yeshua or to extol Him would perturb Paul whatsoever, as He was content with Yeshua’s name and gospel being inadvertently proclaimed to the world for them to make up their own minds. In Paul’s estimation it was better to preach the gospel, even if contaminated in content, than not preach it at all. Despite the gospel being misrepresented in many a church of today, by very deceptive or deluded shepherds, some within the flock who are at least exposed to the gospel, and search it out for themselves as the Bereans did of Acts 17:10-11, are bound to benefit nonetheless.
Many who study scripture who had been previously dependent on spoon feeding from scripturally inept preachers, are awakening to Torah truth, and are far better off than if they had never had the opportunity to hear the gospel at all, and remained in the clutches of Satan’s darkness. Through Yah’s mysterious ways, many souls have been won for the kingdom regardless of the ignorance or malice of the preacher on the pulpit. It is the preacher who shall personally answer to Yeshua on their day of judgement as terrifyingly stated in Matt 7:21-23.
V19 soteria/deliverance is translated as salvation in KJV. Paul may have referred to deliverance from his imprisonment in Rome rather than spiritual deliverance. It was quite evident that Paul had been spiritually delivered, as he referred to himself as a prisoner and slave of Messiah and was beyond doubt, a true member and warrior of the body of Messiah. Soteria is wrongly translated salvation, as nobody’s prayers can grant us salvation at the end of our Christian walk. Salvation is gained by individual obedience throughout the walk, and is determined by Messiah’s judgement of each individual man cf Heb 9:27-28. Paul also knew that his imprisonment and mission having stirred up proclamation of the gospel through malice or benevolence, would nevertheless amount to supply of Yeshua’s Holy Spirit to his benefit too.
V20 Paul had reached a point in his Christian walk whereby he no longer was concerned about this fickle life of ours filled with fleeting riches and pleasures, but was rather focused on the bigger picture of expressing Yeshua’s life through his body , be it in his life on earth or in his death, which we now know was through martyrdom cf Jm 4:14; Ps 39:5. All that mattered to Paul and should matter to us, is to be a perfect witness and representative of Messiah, so we may be found blameless at His coming, to be given eternal life 1 Jn 2:28.
V21-24 Paul resolved that to continue to live would be for Messiah’s sake, as the longer Paul lived, the more fruit i.e. winning of souls for the kingdom of Elohim, was he likely to bear. However, he was not afraid of death either as he knew that he had walked his walk in Messiah led by the Holy Spirit, and had earnest expectation of Yeshua’s welcome into eternal life, his soul being destined to be with Yeshua, which greater freedom Paul knew to be far more pleasant than remaining in shackles on earth. Despite this spiritual dilemma, Paul through great love for the ecclesia, concluded it to be more expedient to remain alive for its sake. He had the discernment to know that Satan would prefer for a profitable believer to die prematurely, to prevent him from effectively proclaiming Yeshua’s gospel for the winning of souls into His kingdom. As Christians we should consider the needs of the ecclesia to be greater than those of our own souls.
V25-26 Paul was confident that in being kept alive, he would soon meet the Philippians to further increase their joy in Messiah and in their faith.
V27 Regardless of whether or not Paul were to eventually meet them, he adjured the Philippian ecclesia to conduct themselves in righteousness led by the Holy Spirit, walking as Yeshua demonstrated to us, in unison with the sole purpose of upholding the gospel of the glad tidings of Yeshua. Our Christian walk must be found worthy through unity in the body of Messiah and steadfastness in the faith against adversity.
V28-30 Paul further adjures steadfastness to the faith in the ecclesia which no amount of enmity may penetrate to cause fear. Fear is the opposite of love cf 2 Tim 1:7. Our steadfastness in righteousness if anything, is evidence against enemies of Yah of their impending apoleia/utter destruction, and conversely of deliverance bestowed upon us by our heavenly Father.
V29 clarifies that this deliverance is given to us on Yeshua’s behalf, having died for our deliverance from Satan. This deliverance was effected in order for us to believe on Yeshua unto justification, in full awareness that we as His disciples would suffer for His sake thereafter cf Matt 10:22; 24:9; Jm 1:12. Suffering for Yeshua’s name perfects us and should be viewed more as a blessing since it proves our maturity in our walk cf Jm 1:3-4, Heb 2:10.