some or any person or object · indefinite pronoun — nominative singular feminine
fellowship
κοινωνίαkoinōnia
G2842
partnership · noun — nominative singular feminine
Spirit
πνεύματος,pneumatos
G4151
a current of air · noun — genitive singular neuter
if
εἴei
G1487
if · conditional particle
any
τιςtis
G5100
some or any person or object · indefinite pronoun — nominative singular feminine
bowels
σπλάγχναsplagchna
G4698
an intestine (plural) · noun — nominative plural neuter
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
mercies
οἰκτιρμοί,oiktirmoi
G3628
pity · noun — nominative plural masculine
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
Colossians 3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
1 John 4:12 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
1 John 4:7-8 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.
Psalms 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
Colossians 2:2 That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknow…
1 Corinthians 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to d…
Ephesians 2:18-22 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Philippians 2:1-11
The apostle proceeds in this chapter where he left off in the last, with further exhortations to Christian duties. He presses them largely to like-mindedness and lowly-mindedness, in conformity to the example of the Lord Jesus, the great pattern of humility and love. Here we may observe,
I. The great gospel precept passed upon us; that is, to love one another. This is the law of Christ's kingdom, the lesson of his school, the livery of his family. This he represents (Phi 2:2) by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. We are of a like mind when we have the same love. Christians should be one in affection, whether they can be one in apprehension or no. This…
If there be therefore any consolation - The ει, if, does not express any doubt here, but on the contrary is to be considered as a strong affirmation; as there is consolation in Christ, as there is comfort of love, etc.
The word παρακλησις, translated here consolation, is in other places rendered exhortation, and is by several critics understood so here; as if he had said: If exhorting you in the name of Christ have any influence with you, etc. It is extremely difficult to give the force of these expressions; they contain a torrent of most affecting eloquence, the apostle pouring out his whole heart to a people whom with all his heart he loved, and who were worthy of the love even of an apost…
If there be therefore any consolation in Christ,.... Or "exhortation", as the word is sometimes rendered; that is, either if there is any exhortation of Christ to love and unity, as there is in John 13:34, and this is of any weight and value; or if an exhortation hereunto made in the name of Christ, by any of his ministers, messengers, and ambassadors, will be regarded, as it ought to be, then fulfil ye my joy, &c. Philippians 2:2, but as the word is frequently translated "consolation", as it is here in the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions; the sense may be either, if there is any comfort to be given to them that are in Christ Jesus, as every converted man is, and as the apostle wa…
The Church Fathers
These things that he enumerates will, as he shows, be proved realities if the injunctions that he has given below are obeyed: They are of one mind and humble in spirit, not provoking one another but rejoicing in love. If so, the apostle's joy in them may be complete.
But the apostle, writing to us with reference to the endurance of afflictions, says, "And this is of God, that it is given to you on behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake; having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me. If there is therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any communion of spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfil ye my joy, that ye may be of the same mind, having the same love, unanimous, thinking one thing. And if he is offered on the sacrifice and service of faith, joying and rejoicing" with the Philippians, to whom the apostle speaks, calling them "fellow-partakers of joy," how does he say that they are of one soul, and having a soul?
When we are in the midst of ills and labor under the ills of the world, if we have mutual love for one another, God will be our "consolation in love." "If, therefore," he says, "there is this consolation in love, so that, because I love you, you console me in the midst of my ills, make my joy complete." … He has done well to put [the Spirit] third. For the first is to be called in Christ, the next to have love. But when both are true and they have already been called in Christ and enjoy the consolation of loving and being loved, without doubt the fellowship of the Spirit is there.… The church becomes one body when those who have been called are bound to one another in the love of Christ, when they are bound also in the Spirit and have the same "affection and sympathy." The affection corresponds to the calling in Christ and the fellowship of the Spirit, the sympathy to the consolation of love.
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
Apphia — Increasing, a female Christian at Colosse (Philemon 1:2), supposed by some to have been the wife of Philemon.
Archippus — Master of the horse, a “fellow-soldier” of Paul’s (Philemon 1:2), whom he exhorts to renewed activity (Col. 4:17). He was a member of Philemon’s family, probably his son.
Communion — Fellowship with God (Gen. 18:17-33; Ex. 33:9-11; Num. 12:7, 8), between Christ and his people (John 14:23), by the Spirit (2 Cor. 13:14; Phil. 2:1), of believers with one another (Eph. 4:1-6). The…
Afflicted · DUTY TO THE — DUTY TO THE
Bowels · .Of the sensibilities — .Of the sensibilities
Communion · WITH GOD — WITH GOD
Communion With God · Is communion with the Holy Spirit — Is communion with the Holy Spirit
Sympathy · 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 2:1-4
1. If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
1. Si qua igitur consolatio (vel, exhortatio) in Christo, si quod solatium dilectionis, si qua communicatio Spiritus, si qua viscera et misericordiae. [92]
2. Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
2. Implete gaudium meum ut idem sentiatis, eandem habentes caritatem, unanimes, unum sentientes.
3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
3. Nihil per contentionem, aut inanem gloriam, sed per humilitat…
In the midst of their persecution, Paul encourages the Philippians to be united and to live a humble life like Christ.
2:1-2 Is there . . . ? These rhetorical questions expect positive answers. Those who have a real experience of Christ should live together in harmony and love.
