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Philippians 4 Commentary
Written and edited by Glenn Pease
PREFACE
The following commentary consists of my own thoughts combined with the thoughts of the manyauthors both ancient and modern who have made comments on this most important letter of Paul. Ihave quoted so many others because I have found in each a unique way to convey the ideas that Paulis seeking to communicate. Sometimes I have not been able to give credit, and if anyone discovers thename of the author quoted and lets me know, I will gladly give credit where credit is due. If anyonedoes not want their quotes expressed in this commentary, they can let me know as well, and I willdelete them. My e-mail is glenn_p86@yahoo.com The purpose of this commentary is to bring thethoughts of many authors together in one place in order to save the Bible student a lot of time inresearch. All of the comments are available to anyone, but it takes an enormous amount of time toread all of the resources. I have brought together what I feel are the best thoughts on the text in thisone place to save others the time. It is my pleasure to do so, and I use these studies myself to teach aclass of about 20 people. The numbering system uses letters as well as numbers because it gives me thefreedom to add new material I discover without doing the numbers all over. I welcome any comments,and I will add them to this commentary if they contribute new and valued insight.
1. Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, myoy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in theLord, dear friends!
Amplified: THEREFORE, MY brethren, whom I love and yearn to see, my delight and crown(wreath of victory), thus stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.NLT: Dear brothers and sisters, I love you and long to see you, for you are my joy and the reward formy work. So please stay true to the Lord, my dear friends.Phillips: So, my brothers whom I love and long for, my joy and my crown, do stand firmly in theLord, and remember how much I love you.Wuest: Therefore, my brethren, individually loved ones, and individually and passionately longed for,my joy and my victor’s festal garland, thus be standing firm in the Lord, beloved ones.
 
1. If you read the other letters of Paul to churches after you read this letter, you will be impressed by
 
how personal, loving and affectionate Paul is to this church in comparison. This is truly a love letter,for he had deeper feelings for this group of people than for any other group. It is a mutual affection,for no other church gave Paul the kind of loving support as did these Philippians. This letter is lovingll through, but here we reach the pinnacle with these words, "you whom I love and long for, my joynd crown." If you take such words out of the context you would assume the letter is a love letter tois wife, or a letter of a son to his mother. These are Paul's most affectionate words. In one verse healls them brothers, his loved ones, his joy, his crown, and his dear friends. Someone is bound toespond, "Why don't you tell us how you really feel Paul?". These are the very people that Paul once called Gentile dogs, and now they are his most lovedriends and brothers. Loving Jesus changes many things, and relationships are one of the mainhanges. Barclay wrote, “Through this passage breathes the warmth of Paul's affection for hishilippian friends. He loves them and yearns for them. They are his joy and his crown. Those whome had brought to Christ are his greatest joy when the shadows are closing about him. Any teachernows what a thrill it is to point at some person who has done well and to be able to say: "That wasne of my boys.". Greg Herrick wrote, “Paul loved these people. Indeed the command is almost lost sight of in theidst of the many terms of affection, terms, which go back to earlier comments in the epistle, e.g., 1:8.here he says: “God is my witness how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.” First,aul refers to them as brothers and sisters (adelphoi). This is the seventh time in this letter—a lettern which the term appears a total of nine times. It not only connotes intimacy, but expresses the familyelationship Paul has with these people in Christ. He refers to them twice as beloved (agapetoi) whicheflects his tremendous commitment to them as people and to their growth in the Lord (1:25). It is inhis context of commitment and love that he urges them to stand firm in the Lord.”
my joy and crown,
 1. Barclay wrote, “There are vivid pictures behind the word when Paul says that the Philippians arehis crown. There are two words for crown in Greek, and they have different backgrounds. There isdiadema, which means the royal crown, the crown of kingship. And there is stephanos, the word usedhere, which itself has two backgrounds. (i) It was the crown of the victorious athlete at the Greekgames. It was made of wild olive leaves, interwoven with green parsley, and bay leaves. To win thatcrown was the peak of the athlete's ambition. (ii) It was the crown with which guests were crownedwhen they sat at a banquet, at some time of great joy. It is as if Paul said that the Philippians were thecrown of all his toil; it is as if he said that at the final banquet of God they were his festal crown.There is no joy in the world like bringing another soul to Jesus Christ.”2. Gill, “..they were his "crown", as they were seals of his ministry; and whom he valued more, andreckoned a greater honor and ornament to him, than the richest diadem, set with the most costlyewels and precious stones, and which he hoped and believed would be his crown of rejoicing anotherday; when he, with them, should stand at the hand of Christ triumphing, as victors crowned, over sin,Satan, the world, death, and hell” Preceptaustin adds, “What Paul was saying is that on that daywhen he stands before the Judgment Seat of Christ, the genuineness of the Philippian saints lives and
 
testimony would be a cause for Paul to exult for it would bring forth the approval of His Lordregarding the race that he had run. And so he "wore" the Philippians as if they were his "joy andcrown", testifying to the authenticity of His ministry and the efficacy of the gospel.”3. GUZIK wrote,”Paul uses the word for crown which denotes the crown given to an athlete who haswon the race, a crown of achievement (a stephanos); not the crown that is given to a king (a diadema)the Philippians, as they stand fast in the Lord, are Paul's "trophy" Another wrote, “There are vividpictures behind the word when Paul says that the Philippians are his crown. There are two words forcrown in Greek, and they have different backgrounds. There is diadema, which means the royalcrown, the crown of kingship. And there is stephanos, the word used here, which itself has twobackgrounds. (i) It was the crown of the victorious athlete at the Greek games. It was made of wildolive leaves, interwoven with green parsley, and bay leaves. To win that crown was the peak of theathlete's ambition. (ii) It was the crown with which guests were crowned when they sat at a banquet,at some time of great joy. It is as if Paul said that the Philippians were the crown of all his toil; it is asif he said that at the final banquet of God they were his festal crown. There is no joy in the world likebringing another soul to Jesus Christ.”4. He said the same thing to the Thessalonians when he wrote 1 Thessalonians in 2:19, he says, "Whois our hope or joy or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you?" Then in verse 20, "For you are our glorynd joy." Paul really loved his people, and he had great joy in them. They were like his own children,nd any parent can understand how Paul feels, for they feel the same about their children. There is souch joy in seeing your children grow and become mature, and demonstrate good character.. John MacArthur wrote, “Then he says, "You're my crown." That is a wonderful statement. Notiadema, diadem, not a kingly crown, stephanos a laurel wreath. Basically in that culture two peopleeceived a laurel wreath. One was the athlete who won an event and they gave him a laurel wreath towear. That was the corruptible crown Paul said the runner gets in 1 Corinthians 9. But there wasanother person who got a laurel wreath and that would be a man who was honored by his peers. Agreat feast or banquet would be held and this man would be brought as the guest of honor and as theguest of honor he would receive a laurel wreath. And what does Paul mean when he says to thePhilippians and to the Thessalonians, "You are my crown"? He means you are my reward. Thewreath was a trophy. The trophy in a sense said this man has lived a fruitful life. The trophy in atrack meet says this man has run a great race. Paul says you're my trophy. You're the proof of myeffective service. You're my crown. You're the reward that says this has been an effective life.”6. Barnes wrote, “Anything that is an ornament or honor, as one glories in a crown; comparePro_12:4, “A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband;” Pro_14:24, “The crown of the wise is theirriches;” Pro_16:31, “The hoary head is a crown of glory;” Pro_17:6, “Children’s children are thecrown of old men.”The idea here is, that the church at Philippi was that in which the apostle gloried.He regarded it as a high honor to have been the means of founding such a church, and he looked uponit with the same interest with which a monarch looks upon the diadem which he wears.”7. Christians are constantly saying that joy does not depend on circumstances, but the Bible is loadedwith verses that say it does depend on the circumstances that bring about changes from what is notgood to what is good and favorable. Jesus made this clear when he said, “Truly, truly, I say to you,
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