Passage

Philippians 1.12

Book: Philippians · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

10. so that ye may approve the things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and void of offence unto the day of Christ; 11. being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are through Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

12. Now I would have you know, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the progress of the gospel;

so that my bonds became manifest in Christ throughout the whole praetorian guard, and to all the rest; 14. and that most of the brethren in the Lord, being confident through my bonds, are more abundantly bold to speak the word of God without fear. (Philippians 1:10-14, ASV)

WEB

10. so that you may approve the things that are excellent; that you may be sincere and without offense to the day of Christ; 11. being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

12. Now I desire to have you know, brothers, that the things which happened to me have turned out rather to the progress of the Good News;

so that it became evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my bonds are in Christ; 14. and that most of the brothers in the Lord, being confident through my bonds, are more abundantly bold to speak the word of God without fear. (Philippians 1:10-14, WEB)

KJV

10. That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; ^{approve: or, try} ^{are: or, differ} 11. Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

12. But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;

So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places; ^{in Christ: or, for Christ} ^{the palace: or, Csar's court} ^{in all other: or, to all others} 14. And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. (Philippians 1:10-14, KJV)

YLT

10. for your proving the things that differ, that ye may be pure and offenceless, to a day of Christ, 11. being filled with the fruit of righteousness, that [is] through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

12. And I wish you to know, brethren, that the things concerning me, rather to an advancement of the good news have come,

so that my bonds have become manifest in Christ in the whole praetorium, and to the other places, all, 14. and the greater part of the brethren in the Lord, having confidence by my bonds, are more abundantly bold, fearlessly to speak the word. (Philippians 1:10-14, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Paul the Apostle, writing with Timothy named as co-sender (Phil 1:1).
Audience: The church at Philippi, a Roman colony in Macedonia and the first congregation Paul planted in Europe (Acts 16:11-40). The letter names overseers and deacons at 1:1 and thanks the church for repeated financial support.
Location: Written from imprisonment. Paul refers to his bonds and to "Caesar's household" (Phil 1:13, 4:22); the traditional identification is Roman custody, with Ephesus and Caesarea proposed as alternatives.
Time period: c. AD 60-62 on the traditional Roman-imprisonment dating.

Theological reading

Ginōskein de hymas boulomai, adelphoi, hoti ta kat' eme mallon eis prokopēn tou euangeliou elēlythen.

The verse reverses the expected report. The Philippians would have been anxious about Paul's imprisonment, and their gift by Epaphroditus was a response to it. Paul's first substantive word about his situation is not a description of hardship but a claim about its effect.

Prokopē, advance. The noun was used of a military column cutting its way forward, clearing obstacles to make progress. Paul uses it again at 1:25 of their own progress in the faith. The imagery is of forward movement through resistance rather than of movement in the absence of it.

"The things which happened unto me." Ta kat' eme is a deliberately unspecific idiom, roughly "my circumstances." Paul does not itemise the suffering, and the reticence is characteristic of the letter.

Verses 13 and 14 supply the evidence. His bonds became manifest en holō tō praitōriō, in the whole praetorium, and to all the rest, so the gospel reached the imperial guard precisely because he was chained to them; and most of the brethren, "confident through my bonds," speak the word more boldly. Two distinct advances, one outward into a population he could not otherwise have reached, one inward in the courage of existing believers.

Why this matters beyond the biography. The verse establishes the letter's governing pattern, which recurs at 1:21, at 2:17, and at 4:11-13: circumstances that appear to be defeats are reported as instruments. That pattern is what makes the repeated command to rejoice something other than denial.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

G2098 - euangelion, euangelion, Strong's G2098
G1097 - ginosko, ginosko, Strong's G1097

Quoted in

Concepts:

Church at Philippi, via Philippians 1.12-26

Lexicon:

G2098 - euangelion

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.