Passage

Philippians 4.4-9

Book: Philippians · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

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.

4. Rejoice in the Lord always: again I will say, Rejoice. 5. Let your forbearance be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. 6. In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. 8. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. 9. The things which ye both learned and received and heard and saw in me, these things do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

But I rejoice in the Lord greatly, that now at length ye have revived your thought for me; wherein ye did indeed take thought, but ye lacked opportunity. 11. Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therein to be content. (Philippians 4:2-11, ASV)

WEB

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.

4. Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I will say, “Rejoice!” 5. Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6. In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 7. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. 8. Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there is any virtue, and if there is any praise, think about these things. 9. The things which you learned, received, heard, and saw in me: do these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

But I rejoice in the Lord greatly, that now at length you have revived your thought for me; in which you did indeed take thought, but you lacked opportunity. 11. Not that I speak in respect to lack, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content in it. (Philippians 4:2-11, WEB)

KJV

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.

4. Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. 5. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. 6. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. ^{honest: or, venerable} 9. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity. ^{hath: or, is revived} 11. Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. (Philippians 4:2-11, KJV)

YLT

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.

4. Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice; 5. let your forbearance be known to all men; the Lord [is] near; 6. for nothing be anxious, but in everything by prayer, and by supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God; 7. and the peace of God, that is surpassing all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. 8. As to the rest, brethren, as many things as are true, as many as [are] grave, as many as [are] righteous, as many as [are] pure, as many as [are] lovely, as many as [are] of good report, if any worthiness, and if any praise, these things think upon; 9. the things that also ye did learn, and receive, and hear, and saw in me, those do, and the God of the peace shall be with you.

And I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at length ye flourished again in caring for me, for which also ye were caring, and lacked opportunity; 11. not that in respect of want I say [it], for I did learn in the things in which I am, to be content; (Philippians 4:2-11, 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 are the letter's last general commands, placed between the appeal to Euodia and Syntyche (Philippians 4:2-3) and Paul's thanks for the church's gift (Philippians 4:10-20).
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 section is a chain of short commands with two promises of peace. It moves from joy (4:4), to forbearance (4:5), to prayer instead of anxiety (4:6), to right thinking (4:8) and right practice (4:9). Two promises frame the second half: "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:7, ASV), and "the God of peace shall be with you" (Philippians 4:9, ASV). The first promise speaks of a gift from God, the second of God's own presence.

"The Lord is at hand" can be read spatially or temporally. The word is engys (G1451), "near." One reading hears the nearness of the Lord to those who pray, as in "Jehovah is nigh unto all them that call upon him" (Psalm 145:18, ASV), which fits the command about prayer that follows. Another hears the nearness of Christ's return, which the letter has just described in 3:20-21. The placement between forbearance and prayer allows both senses.

Prayer with thanksgiving is the remedy for anxiety. "In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God" (Philippians 4:6, ASV). The verb for anxiety is merimnaō (G3309), the word of Jesus' teaching "Be not anxious for your life" (Matthew 6:25, ASV). The peace that follows is said to "guard" (phroureō, G5432), a military word for keeping a place under garrison, and it guards the heart (kardia) and the thoughts.

The list of virtues is followed by a command to imitate. Verse 8 names things true, honorable, just, pure, lovely and of good report, and adds "virtue" (aretē, G703), a word common in Greek moral writing but used nowhere else in Paul. Paul commends whatever is genuinely good wherever it is recognized. Verse 9 then anchors the list in what the church "learned and received and heard and saw in me" (Philippians 4:9, ASV), so the standard is the apostolic teaching and example, not general moral opinion alone.

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.

G3563 - nous, nous, Strong's G3563
G3049 - logizomai, logizomai, Strong's G3049
G1342 - dikaios, dikaios, Strong's G1342
G2588 - kardia, kardia, Strong's G2588
G1097 - ginosko, ginosko, Strong's G1097
G0191 - akouo, akouo, Strong's G0191

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Church at Philippi, via Philippians 4.4, Philippians 4.6-7, Philippians 4.8-9
External Sources of Thought, via Philippians 4.6-7, Philippians 4.7, Philippians 4.8
Prayer, via Philippians 4.6-7
Spirit of Anxiety, via Philippians 4.6-7

Lexicon:

G3049 - logizomai, via Philippians 4.8
G3563 - nous, via Philippians 4.7
H7965 - shalom, via Philippians 4.7, Philippians 4.9

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.