Passage

Philippians 4.18

Book: Philippians · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

16. for even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my need. 17. Not that I seek for the gift; but I seek for the fruit that increaseth to your account.

18. But I have all things, and abound: I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things that came from you, an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God.

And my God shall supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20. Now unto our God and Father be the glory for ever and ever. Amen. (Philippians 4:16-20, ASV)

WEB

16. For even in Thessalonica you sent once and again to my need. 17. Not that I seek for the gift, but I seek for the fruit that increases to your account.

18. But I have all things, and abound. I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things that came from you, a sweet-smelling fragrance, an acceptable and well-pleasing sacrifice to God.

My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20. Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever! Amen. (Philippians 4:16-20, WEB)

KJV

16. For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity. 17. Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.

18. But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God. ^{I have all: or, I have received all}

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. 20. Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (Philippians 4:16-20, KJV)

YLT

16. because also in Thessalonica, both once and again to my need ye sent; 17. not that I seek after the gift, but I seek after the fruit that is overflowing to your account;

18. and I have all things, and abound; I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God:

and my God shall supply all your need, according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus; 20. and to God, even our Father, [is] the glory, to the ages of the ages. Amen. (Philippians 4:16-20, 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 belongs to Paul's thanks for the church's gift (Philippians 4:10-20), where he acknowledges receiving it from Epaphroditus.
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

The verse reads like a receipt. "But I have all things, and abound: I am filled" (Philippians 4:18, ASV). "I have" is apechō (G568), a verb used in commercial receipts for having received payment in full, as in "They have received their reward" (Matthew 6:2, ASV). Paul uses the language of the account book (compare "giving and receiving" in 4:15) to say that the church's gift has fully met his need.

Epaphroditus was the carrier. The gift came "from Epaphroditus" (Philippians 4:18, ASV), the member of the church whom Paul calls "my brother and fellow-worker and fellow-soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need" (Philippians 2:25, ASV). He fell ill almost to death while serving Paul (2:27, 2:30), so the gift cost the church more than money.

The gift is described in the language of sacrifice. It is "an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God" (Philippians 4:18, ASV). "Odor of a sweet smell" (osmē euōdias) is the phrase used of offerings in the Greek Old Testament, as at Genesis 8:21 and Exodus 29:18, and Paul applies it to Christ's self-giving in Ephesians 5:2. A gift given to support the gospel is therefore an offering to God, not only a kindness to Paul. The next verse returns the favor in God's name: "my God shall supply every need of yours" (Philippians 4:19, ASV), using plēroō (G4137), the same verb as "I am filled."

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.

None of the words in this verse has its own lexicon entry yet.

Quoted in

Concepts:

Church at Philippi

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.