Passage

Philippians 1.16

Book: Philippians · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

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;

but the other proclaim Christ of faction, not sincerely, thinking to raise up affliction for me in my bonds. 18. What then? only that in every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and therein I rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. (Philippians 1:14-18, ASV)

WEB

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;

but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the Good News. 18. What does it matter? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed. I rejoice in this, yes, and will rejoice. (Philippians 1:14-18, WEB)

KJV

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:

But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel. 18. What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. (Philippians 1:14-18, KJV)

YLT

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,

and the other out of love, having known that for defence of the good news I am set: 18. what then? in every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in this I rejoice, yea, and shall rejoice. (Philippians 1:14-18, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Paul the Apostle, writing with Timothy named as co-sender (Philippians 1:1).
Audience: The 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 describes those who preach Christ out of love while Paul is in prison (Philippians 1:15-18).
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

In the ASV this verse is the "love" clause. "the one do it of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel" (Philippians 1:16, ASV). The WEB, KJV and YLT give this clause second, as verse 17, because the manuscripts differ in the order of the two clauses. For the order, and for the rival preachers who act "of faction," see Philippians 1:17.

Love is the motive, and knowledge shapes it. These preachers act "of love" (agapē), and the participle "knowing" (oida) gives the reason their love takes this form: they understand why Paul is in chains. The verse does not name the object of the love. The contrast with the others, who think "to raise up affliction for me in my bonds" (Philippians 1:17, ASV), suggests that it includes Paul himself as well as the gospel.

"Set" reads the imprisonment as an appointment. The verb is keimai (G2749), to lie or be laid, and in this sense to be placed or appointed. Simeon uses it of the infant Jesus, "this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel" (Luke 2:34, ASV), and Paul uses it of believers under pressure, "hereunto we are appointed" (1 Thessalonians 3:3, ASV). Those who preach from love do not read Paul's chains as a defeat for the gospel. They read them as the post he has been given.

"Defence" is a courtroom word. Apologia (apologia) is the formal answer to a charge. Paul opens his speech in Jerusalem with "hear ye the defence which I now make unto you" (Acts 22:1, ASV), and he later recalls, "At my first defence no one took my part" (2 Timothy 4:16, ASV). Already at 1:7 he has spoken of "the defence and confirmation of the gospel" (Philippians 1:7, ASV). Paul faces a hearing, and what his defence answers for is the gospel (euangelion), not only his own case. The same noun stands behind the call to be "ready always to give answer to every man that asketh you a reason concerning the hope that is in you" (1 Peter 3:15, ASV), the word from which apologetics takes its name.

Key words

G5547 - christos, christos (Strong's G5547). Also appears in: Matthew 1.1, Matthew 1.16, Matthew 1.

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.

Quoted in

Concepts:

Lexicon:

G0627 - apologia