ruin or loss (physical · noun — genitive singular feminine
but
δὲde
G1161
but · conjunction
you
ὑμῖνhymîn
G5213
to (with or by) you
salvation
σωτηρίας,sōtērias
G4991
rescue or safety (physically or morally) · noun — genitive singular feminine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
that
τοῦτοtoûto
G5124
that thing
of
ἀπὸapo
G575
"off · preposition
God
θεοῦ·theou
G2316
figuratively · noun — genitive singular masculine, a title
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
2 Timothy 1:7-8 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
2 Thessalonians 1:5-6 Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:
Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in…
Isaiah 51:7 Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of t…
2 Timothy 2:11-12 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him:
1 Peter 4:12-14 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
Isaiah 12:2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvatio…
Matthew 5:10-12 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Philippians 1:27–end
The apostle concludes the chapter with two exhortations: -
I. He exhorts them to strictness of conversation (Phi 1:27): Only let your conversation be as becometh the gospel of Christ. Observe, Those who profess the gospel of Christ should have their conversation as becomes the gospel, or in a suitableness and agreeableness to it. Let it be as becomes those who believe gospel truths, submit to gospel laws, and depend upon gospel promises; and with an answerable faith, holiness, and comfort. Let it be in all respects as those who belong to the kingdom of God among men, and are members and subjects of it. It is an ornament to our profession when our conversation is of a piece with it. - That w…
terrified--literally, said of horses or other animals startled or suddenly scared; so of sudden consternation in general.
which--your not being terrified.
evident token of perdition--if they would only perceive it (Th2 1:5). It attests this, that in contending hopelessly against you, they are only rushing on to their own perdition, not shaking your united faith and constancy.
to you of salvation--The oldest manuscripts read, "of your salvation"; not merely your temporal safety.
Adam Clarke on Philippians 1:28
In nothing terrified by your adversaries - So it appears that the Church at Philippi was then under persecution.
Which is to them - Ἡτις αυτοις εστιν. Some very judicious critics consider ἡτις as referring to πιστις, the faith of the Gospel, which they, the heathen, considered to be a token of perdition to all them who embraced it; but, as the apostle says, it was to them the Philippians, on the contrary, the most evident token of salvation; for, having embraced the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, they were incontestably in the way to eternal blessedness.
John Gill on Philippians 1:28
And in nothing terrified by your adversaries,.... Not by Satan, though a roaring lion, for Christ is greater than he; nor by the world which Christ has overcome; nor by false teachers, though men of art and cunning; nor by violent persecutors, who can do no more than kill, the body; let not the power, the rage, the cunning, or the violence of one or the other, move, discourage, or affright from a close attachment to the Gospel and the truths of it:
which is to them an evident token of perdition; when men wilfully oppose themselves to the truth, and show a malicious hatred to it, and hold it in unrighteousness, and either turn the grace of God into lasciviousness, or persecute it with rage a…
The Church Fathers
This work of fearlessness is part of his explanation of what it means to conduct oneself worthily according to Christ's gospel: Never be terrified, whether by adversaries or anything else.… For this very condition of being courageous tends toward our salvation. It deals a death blow to our adversaries. Yet this too is a work of God, lest we should think it part of our own work that our not being terrified should be a cause of our salvation. "For this too is of God," he says, "just as I have often told you that all things come about through the will, the mercy and the grace of God."
"And in nothing affrighted by the adversaries; which is for them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation." Well said he, "affrighted," this is what befalls us from our enemies, they only frighten. "In nothing" therefore, he says, whatever happens, whether dangers-whether plots. For this is the part of those who stand upright; the enemy can do nought but frighten only. Since it was likely that they should be greatly troubled, when Paul suffered such numberless ills, he says, I exhort you not only not to be shaken, but not to be affrighted, yea rather to despise them heartily; for if ye are thus affected, ye will straightway, by this means, make evident at once their destruction, and your salvation. For when they see, that with their innumerable plots they are unable to frighten you, they will take it as a proof of their own destruction. For when the persecutors prevail not over the persecuted, the plotters over the objects of their plots, the powerful over those subject to their power, will it not be self-evident, that their perdition is at hand, that their power is nought, that their part is false, that their part is weak? "And this," he says, "comes from God."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Commandments · PRECEPTS OF PAUL. EXPLICITLY STATED OR IMPLIED IN DIDACTIC EPISTLES — PRECEPTS OF PAUL. EXPLICITLY STATED OR IMPLIED IN DIDACTIC EPISTLES
Courage · SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Salvation · Saints: Have a token of, in their patient suffering for Christ — Saints: Have a token of, in their patient suffering for Christ
Zeal, Religious · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Philippians 1:27-30
27. Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
27. Tantum digne Evangelio Christi conversamini: ut sive veniens videam vos, sive absens, audiam de vobis, quod stetis in uno spiritu, una anima, concertantes fide Evangelii.
28. And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.
28. Nec ulla in re terreamini ab adversariis, quae illis est demonstratio exitii: vobis autem salutis, idque a Deo.…
a sign to them that they are going to be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved: As translated, the persecutors would be convicted by the Philippians’ example. The same Greek phrase could also be translated a sign to them that you are going to be destroyed, but a sign to you that you are going to be saved. By that interpretation, the persecutors would remain blind to the truth (cp. 2 Cor 2:15-16).
