Philippians Chapter 2 verse 25 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 25. - Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus; translate, but I count it necessary. Ἡγησάμην here and in Ver. 28 are epistolary aorists; they point, that is, to the time of reading the letter, not to that of writing it; and are therefore to be rendered by the English present. Epaphroditus is mentioned only in this Epistle. Epaphras is the contracted form, but the name is a common one, and there is no evidence of his identity with the Epaphras of Colossians and Philemon. He seems to have been the bearer of this Epistle. St. Paul felt that to come himself, or even to send Timothy, might possibly not be in his power; he thought it necessary, a matter of duty, to send Epaphroditus at once. My brother, and companion in labor, and fellow-soldier. Mark how the epithets rise one above another; they imply fellowship in religion, in work, in endurance. But your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants. "Your" refers to both clauses; "your messenger, and (your) minister to my need." Epaphroditus had brought to St. Paul the contributions of the Philippians (Philippians 4:18). Some think that the word rendered "messenger" (ἀπόστολος, literally "apostle") means that Epaphroditus was the apostle, that is, the bishop of the Philippian Church. It may be so (comp. Philippians 4:3, and note); but there is no proof of the establishment of any diocesan bishops, except St. James at Jerusalem, at so early a period. The word ἀπόστολος. both here and in 2 Corinthians 8:23 (ἀπόσψολος ἐκκλησιῶν), is probably used in its first meaning in the sense of messenger, or delegate. The Greek word for minister, λειτουργός, seems to imply, like λειτουργία in Ver. 30, that St. Paul regarded the alms of the Philippians as an offering to God, ministered by Epaphroditus. (But see Romans 13:6, also 2 Kings 4:43; 2 Kings 6:15, etc. in the Greek.)

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(25) Epaphroditus.--The name was often shortened into Epaphras. But it was a common name; hence any identification with the Epaphras of Colossians 1:7; Colossians 4:12; Philemon 1:23, is, to say the least, extremely precarious. It is hardly likely that one who was a native Colossian would be a resident and chosen messenger of Philippi. The three titles here given him are closely joined together in the original, and form a kind of climax--"brother" in a common Christianity, "fellow-worker" in the service of Christ, "fellow-soldier" in the "hardness" of daring and suffering, which the warfare of the Cross implies. (See 2Timothy 2:3-4.)Your messenger.--The original word is apostle; and by some interpreters, ancient and modern, it has been thought that it is intended here to designate the chief pastor--or, in the modern sense, the bishop--of the Philippian Church (as probably is the case with the "angels" of the churches in the Apocalypse); and the word "your" is then explained in the same sense as the words "of the Gentiles" in Romans 11:13. But this is very unlikely, (1) because there seems to be no example to confirm the statement that the chief pastor of a church was ever called its "apostle;" (2) because the character of the apostolate, being general and evangelistic, was very different from that of the local and pastoral episcopate; (3) because in this passage the word is inseparably connected with the following "and minister to my needs," showing the latter phrase to be explanatory of the previous word; (4) because the style of commendation in Philippians 2:29 is hardly suitable as applied to one whose office alone should have commanded respect. Our version is, therefore, correct in rendering it "messenger," just as in 2Corinthians 8:23 ("the messengers of the churches"), where there is a similar reference to the transmission of alms. . . .