Passage

Philippians 4.2

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.

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. 4. Rejoice in the Lord always: again I will say, Rejoice. (Philippians 4:1-4, 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.

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. 4. Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I will say, “Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:1-4, 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.

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. 4. Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. (Philippians 4:1-4, 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;

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. 4. Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice; (Philippians 4:1-4, 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 the closing appeals of chapter 4 with a personal word to two women in the church whose disagreement Paul wants settled.
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" (Philippians 4:2, ASV). The verb parakaleō (G3870) is repeated for each, so neither is singled out as the one at fault. The letter does not say what the disagreement was about, and attempts to reconstruct it go beyond the text.

"Of the same mind" picks up the letter's central appeal. The phrase is to auto phronein, using the verb phroneō (G5426). Paul has already asked the whole church to "be of the same mind" (Philippians 2:2, ASV) and to "Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5, ASV), followed by the account of Christ's self-humbling in 2:6-11. The appeal to two individuals applies that teaching to a specific case.

"In the Lord" names the ground of agreement. Paul does not ask them simply to agree with each other but to be of one mind "in the Lord" (kyrios), the same phrase that frames the commands of 4:1 and 4:4. Their unity is located in their shared relation to Christ rather than in compromise alone. Verse 3 shows that both had worked alongside Paul in the gospel, which explains why the dispute mattered.

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.

G2962 - kyrios, kyrios, Strong's G2962

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Misogyny in the Bible Objection Defeater, via Philippians 4.2-3

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.