Philippians - Verse-by-Verse Biblical Exegesis

It might not be an immediate or a prolonged visit; but he held himself bound to include Philippi in
his plan of visitation. (R. Finlayson) He assures his readers that he is confident of his coming to then
in spite of immense obstacles. (P. O’Brien)
Philp. 2:24 But on the other hand (contrast), I have complete
confidence (pei,qw, Perf.AI1S, Intensive; settled persuasion) in the
Lord (Loc. Sph.; occupation with Christ) that (explanatory) I
myself will also (adjunctive; along with or soon after Timothy)
return (e;rcomai, FMI1S, Predictive, Deponent) to you (Dat. Adv.)
soon (Adv. of Time).
WHO Philippians 2:24 pe,poiqa de. evn kuri,w| o[ti kai. auvto.j tace,wj evleu,somai
VUL Philippians 2:24 confido autem in Domino quoniam et ipse veniam ad vos cito
LWB Philp. 2:25 But now I consider it necessary [a pressing need] to send Epaphroditus
face-to-face to you, my brother [fellow believer] and co-worker [in doctrine] and comradein-arms
[soldier in the angelic conflict], your highest ranking one [ambassador, spiritual
envoy], even a minister with reference to my needs [companion to Paul in his time of need],
KW Philp. 2:25 But after weighing the facts, I considered it indispensable to send to you
Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and who in a sacred way
ministered to my need.
KJV Philippians 2:25 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.
TRANSLATION HIGHLIGHTS
Even while he is writing this epistle, Paul is still analyzing the situation so that he makes the best
possible decision (Epistolary Aorist tense) before sending someone to Philippi. Instead, he
decides (Latin: necessary) to send Epaphroditus (Constative Aorist tense). And as a matter of
complementary introduction, he strings a set of Complementary Accusatives together.
Epaphroditus is a fellow believer, his co-worker (Latin: cooperation) in spreading the gospel and
teaching Bible doctrine, and his comrade-in-arms (Latin: co-militant) in the angelic conflict.
Epaphroditus is also their very own ambassador or spiritual envoy, whom they had sent to Rome
earlier to find out how Paul was doing and see if there was anything they could do to help him
out. While he was in Rome, he even served as a minister to Paul’s needs in prison. He became
Paul’s daily companion, encouraging him and carrying on daily rapport while Paul was engaged
in disaster testing.
REVELANT OPINIONS
Three epithets are given in an ascending scale. (Lightfoot) This "need" is not Paul's poverty as is