# Philippians 1.15 **Book:** [Philippians](/codex/philippians/) · NASB95 ## Immediate context (±2 verses) **ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/)) > 13. so that my bonds became manifest in Christ throughout the whole prætorian 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. > > **15. Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:** > > 16. the one do it of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel; 17. but the other proclaim Christ of faction, not sincerely, thinking to raise up affliction for me in my bonds. (Philippians 1:13-17, ASV) **WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/)) > 13. 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. > > **15. Some indeed preach Christ even out of envy and strife, and some also out of good will.** > > 16. The former insincerely preach Christ from selfish ambition, thinking that they add affliction to my chains; 17. but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the Good News. (Philippians 1:13-17, WEB) **KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/)) > 13. 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. > > **15. Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:** > > 16. The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: 17. But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel. (Philippians 1:13-17, KJV) **YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/)) > 13. 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. > > **15. Certain, indeed, even through envy and contention, and certain also through good-will, do preach the Christ;** > > 16. the one, indeed, of rivalry the Christ do proclaim, not purely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds, 17. and the other out of love, having known that for defence of the good news I am set: (Philippians 1:13-17, YLT) ## Setting - **Speaker:** [Paul the Apostle](/codex/paul-the-apostle/), writing with Timothy named as co-sender (Philippians 1:1). - **Audience:** The [Church at Philippi](/codex/church-at-philippi/), in a Roman colony of Macedonia (Acts 16:12), founded on the mission narrated in Acts 16 and addressed with its bishops and deacons (Philippians 1:1). The church had sent Paul a gift by Epaphroditus (Philippians 2:25-30, 4:18). The verse begins Paul's account of rival preachers in the city of his imprisonment (Philippians 1:15-18), part of his report on how his circumstances have advanced the gospel (Philippians 1:12-18). - **Location:** Written from imprisonment (Philippians 1:7, 1:13). The place is debated: Rome is the traditional identification, and Ephesus and Caesarea are proposed as alternatives. - **Time period:** Depends on the imprisonment: c. AD 60-62 if Rome, c. AD 57-59 if Caesarea, the mid-50s if Ephesus. ## Theological reading **One message, two motives.** "Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will" (Philippians 1:15, ASV). "Envy" is *phthonos* (G5355), "strife" is *eris* (G2054), and "good will" is *eudokia* (G2107). Paul pairs envy and strife in his vice lists, as in "full of envy, murder, strife" (Romans 1:29, ASV) and in Galatians 5:20-21. The verb "preach" is *kēryssō* (G2784), to proclaim as a herald. Both groups herald the same [Christ](/codex/g5547-christos/). **Verses 16 and 17 unpack verse 15 in reverse.** In the ASV order, verse 16 takes up the good-will group, "the one do it of love" (Philippians 1:16, ASV), and verse 17 the envious group, who "proclaim Christ of faction" (Philippians 1:17, ASV). That gives an A-B-B-A pattern. The KJV, following a different Greek order, has the two verses the other way round. **Who the rivals were is debated.** They preach Christ, and Paul rejoices that "Christ is proclaimed" (Philippians 1:18, ASV), so most readers conclude they are not the teachers he attacks in 3:2. Proposals include local Christian preachers who resented Paul's standing, who disagreed with his methods, or who took his imprisonment as a mark against him. The text names only their motive, "thinking to raise up affliction for me in my bonds" (Philippians 1:17, ASV). Paul's response separates the message from the messenger: the gospel is true and worth proclaiming even when the motive is bad. ## 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._ - [G5547 - christos](/codex/g5547-christos/), *christos*, Strong's G5547 ## Quoted in **Concepts:** - [Church at Philippi](/codex/church-at-philippi/), via [Philippians 1.12-26](/codex/philippians-1-12-26/) ## Notes _Your annotations._ ## 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](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition. - **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English. - **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base. - **[YLT](/codex/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](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.