Passage

Philippians 4.2-3

Book: Philippians · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

Wherefore, my brethren beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my beloved.

2. I exhort Euodia, and I exhort Syntyche, to be of the same mind in the Lord. 3. Yea, I beseech thee also, true yokefellow, help these women, for they labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow-workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Rejoice in the Lord always: again I will say, Rejoice. 5. Let your forbearance be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. (Philippians 4:1-5, ASV)

WEB

Therefore, my brothers, beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.

2. I exhort Euodia, and I exhort Syntyche, to think the same way in the Lord. 3. Yes, I beg you also, true partner, help these women, for they labored with me in the Good News, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I will say, “Rejoice!” 5. Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. (Philippians 4:1-5, WEB)

KJV

Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.

2. I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord. 3. And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.

Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. 5. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. (Philippians 4:1-5, KJV)

YLT

So then, my brethren, beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand ye in the Lord, beloved.

2. Euodia I exhort, and Syntyche I exhort, to be of the same mind in the Lord; 3. and I ask also thee, genuine yoke-fellow, be assisting those women who in the good news did strive along with me, with Clement also, and the others, my fellow-workers, whose names [are] in the book of life.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice; 5. let your forbearance be known to all men; the Lord [is] near; (Philippians 4:1-5, 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 verses open the closing appeals of chapter 4 with a personal word to two women in the church and a request that a trusted colleague help them be reconciled.
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

Paul addresses each woman in the same terms. "I exhort Euodia, and I exhort Syntyche, to be of the same mind in the Lord" (Philippians 4:2, ASV). The verb parakaleō (G3870) is repeated for each, so neither is singled out. "Of the same mind" uses phroneō (G5426), the verb of 2:2 and of 2:5, "Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5, ASV). The letter does not say what the disagreement was about.

These women were Paul's co-workers. "they labored with me in the gospel" (Philippians 4:3, ASV). The verb is synathleō (G4866), to contend side by side like athletes, the same word used in 1:27 of the church "striving for the faith of the gospel" (Philippians 1:27, ASV). Acts 16:13-15 records that the mission at Philippi began among women gathered at a place of prayer, where Lydia was converted, and these two stand in that line of service.

The "true yokefellow" cannot be identified. The Greek is gnēsie syzyge, and syzygos (G4805) appears only here in the New Testament. Because the person is addressed in the singular without a name, suggestions have included Epaphroditus, Timothy, Luke and others, and some take Syzygos as a proper name, so that Paul is saying the man lives up to his name. None of these can be confirmed from the text. Clement is likewise otherwise unknown; later tradition sometimes identified him with the Clement of the Roman church, but the letter gives no basis for that.

"The book of life" is an Old Testament image. "whose names are in the book of life" (Philippians 4:3, ASV) draws on the register of God's people found in Exodus 32:32-33, Psalm 69:28 and Daniel 12:1, and it appears again in Revelation 3:5 and 20:12. Jesus told his disciples to rejoice that "your names are written in heaven" (Luke 10:20, ASV). Paul's point is that the people in dispute are already enrolled together among God's people.

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
G2222 - zoe, zoe, Strong's G2222
G3686 - onoma, onoma, Strong's G3686
G2962 - kyrios, kyrios, Strong's G2962

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Misogyny in the Bible Objection Defeater

Concepts:

Church at Philippi, via Philippians 4.2

People:

Clement of Rome, via Philippians 4.3

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.