Passage

Philippians 2.25

Book: Philippians · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

23. Him therefore I hope to send forthwith, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me: 24. but I trust in the Lord that I myself also shall come shortly.

25. But I counted it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow-worker and fellow-soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need;

since he longed after you all, and was sore troubled, because ye had heard that he was sick: 27. for indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, that I might not have sorrow upon sorrow. (Philippians 2:23-27, ASV)

WEB

23. Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see how it will go with me. 24. But I trust in the Lord that I myself also will come shortly.

25. But I counted it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, fellow soldier, and your apostle and servant of my need;

since he longed for you all, and was very troubled, because you had heard that he was sick. 27. For indeed he was sick, nearly to death, but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, that I might not have sorrow on sorrow. (Philippians 2:23-27, WEB)

KJV

23. Him therefore I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me. 24. But I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly.

25. Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and fellowsoldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants.

For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick. 27. For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. (Philippians 2:23-27, KJV)

YLT

23. him, indeed, therefore, I hope to send, when I may see through the things concerning me, immediately; 24. and I trust in the Lord that I myself also shall quickly come.

25. And I thought [it] necessary Epaphroditus, my brother, and fellow-workman, and fellow-soldier, and your apostle and servant to my need, to send unto you,

seeing he was longing after you all, and in heaviness, because ye heard that he ailed, 27. for he also ailed nigh to death, but God did deal kindly with him, and not with him only, but also with me, that sorrow upon sorrow I might not have. (Philippians 2:23-27, 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 opens Paul's commendation of Epaphroditus (Philippians 2:25-30), the church's envoy, whom Paul is sending back to Philippi.
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

Five titles in one verse. Paul calls Epaphroditus "my brother and fellow-worker and fellow-soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need" (Philippians 2:25, ASV). Three titles relate him to Paul (brother, synergos, G4904; systratiōtēs, G4961) and two relate him to the Philippians (apostolos, G652; leitourgos, G3011).

"Messenger" is apostolos, in its general sense. Here the word means an envoy sent by a church, not one of the Twelve. Paul uses it the same way of "the messengers of the churches" (2 Corinthians 8:23, ASV).

"Minister" carries the language of sacred service. Leitourgos denotes one who performs a public or sacred service; Paul uses it of his own priestly ministry of the gospel at Romans 15:16. Its cognate leitourgia appears at 2:17 and 2:30. Paul treats the delivery of a gift as an act of worship, as he does when he calls the gift "a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God" (Philippians 4:18, ASV). "Fellow-soldier" occurs elsewhere in the New Testament only of Archippus (Philemon 1:2) and fits the struggle language of 1:27-30.

"I counted it necessary" uses the letter's verb of valuation. "Counted" is hēgeomai (G2233), the verb of 2:3 ("each counting other better than himself"), 2:6 ("counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped") and 3:7-8 ("counted loss"). Paul's decision to give up a trusted helper for the church's sake is phrased in the same vocabulary as Christ's self-giving. For the whole commendation, see Philippians 2:25-30; for the illness, see Philippians 2:25-27.

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.

G4314 - pros, pros, Strong's G4314

Quoted in

Concepts:

Apostle
Church at Philippi, via Philippians 2.25-30

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.