the (sometimes to be supplied · article — nominative plural masculine
Jesus
ἸησοῦIēsou
G2424
Jesus (i.e. Jehoshua) · noun — genitive singular masculine, a proper name
Christ’s
Χριστοῦ·Christou
G5547
anointed · 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
1 Corinthians 10:24 Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s wealth.
1 Corinthians 10:33 Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.
Philippians 2:4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
Matthew 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
1 Corinthians 13:5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
2 Timothy 3:2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
Isaiah 56:11 Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every…
Luke 14:26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, h…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Philippians 2:19–end
Paul takes particular notice of two good ministers; for though he was himself a great apostle, and laboured more abundantly than they all, yet he took all occasions to speak with respect of those who were far his inferiors.
I. He speaks of Timothy, whom he intended to send to the Philippians, that he might have an account of their state. See Paul's care of the churches, and the comfort he had in their well-doing. He was in pain when he had not heard of them for a good while, and therefore would send Timothy to enquire, and bring him an account: For I have no man like-minded, who will naturally care for your state. Timothy was a non-such. There were, no doubt, many good ministers, who were in…
Translate as Greek, "They all" (namely, who are now with me, Phi 1:14, Phi 1:17; Phi 4:21 : such Demas, then with him, proved to be, Col 4:14; compare Ti2 4:10; Plm 1:24).
seek their own--opposed to Paul's precept (Phi 2:4; Co1 10:24, Co1 10:33; Co1 13:5). This is spoken, by comparison with Timothy; for Phi 1:16-17 implies that some of those with Paul at Rome were genuine Christians, though not so self-sacrificing as Timothy. Few come to the help of the Lord's cause, where ease, fame, and gain have to be sacrificed. Most help only when Christ's gain is compatible with their own (Jdg 5:17, Jdg 5:23).
Adam Clarke on Philippians 2:21
For all seek their own - This must relate to the persons who preached Christ even of envy and strife, Phi 1:15; these must be very careless whether souls were saved or not by such preaching; and even those who preached the Gospel out of good will might not be fit for such an embassy as this, which required many sacrifices, and consequently much love and zeal to be able to make them.
John Gill on Philippians 2:21
For all seek their own,.... Meaning not every individual, but the greatest part; and not merely such as were manifestly false teachers, but such as were with the apostle, as ministers of the word; and we may suppose him to be stripped, by one means or another, of the more valuable preachers of the Gospel, and to be in much such a case as he describes himself to be, in 2 Timothy 4:10. He had none with him, excepting a very few, but such as he speaks of in the preceding chapter, that preached Christ of envy, strife, and contention; and these chiefly sought their own worldly interest and advantage; they sought great things for themselves, and looked every man for his gain from his quarter, Dema…
The Church Fathers
To the charge being given to Timothy as one "who is faithfully anxious on your behalf" he adds this explanation: The others "seek after their own interests"; that is, they are anxious to protect and keep what is theirs and in this are not Christians. For what is it to be a Christian? To seek rather in every companion and brother that which is Christ's.
"For they all seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ," their own comfort, their own safety. This too he writes to Timothy. But why doth he lament such things as these? To teach us his hearers not to fall in like sort, to teach his hearers not to seek for remission from toil; for he who seeks remission from toil, seeks not the things that are Christ's, but his own. We ought to be prepared against every toil, against every distress.
That he who has attained to trust, having put off the former man, ought to regard only celestial and spiritual things, and to give no heed to the world which he has already renounced. In Isaiah: "Seek ye the Lord; and when ye have found Him, call upon Him. But when He hath come near unto you, let the wicked forsake his ways, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him be turned unto the Lord, and he shall obtain mercy, because He will plentifully pardon your sins." Of this same thing in Solomon: "I have seen all the works which are done under the sun; and, lo, all are vanity." Of this same thing in Exodus: "But thus shall ye eat it; your loins girt, and your shoes on your feet, and your staves in your hands: and ye shall eat it in haste, for it is the Lord's passover." Of this same thing in the Gospel according to Matthew: "Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewith shall we be clothed? for these things the nations seek after. But your Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. Seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Likewise in the same place: "Think not for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for itself. Sufficient unto the day is its own evil." Likewise in the same place: "No one looking back, and putting his hands to the plough, is fit for the kingdom of God." Also in the same place: "Behold the fowls of the heaven: for they sow not, nor reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of more value than they? " Concerning this same thing, according to Luke: "Let your loins be girded, and your lamps burning; and ye like unto men that wait for their lord, when he cometh from the wedding; that, when he cometh and knocketh, they may open to him. Blessed are those servants, whom their lord, when he cometh, shall find watching." Of this same thing in Matthew: "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven have nests; but the Son of man hath not where He may lay His head." Also in the same place: "Whoso forsaketh not all that he hath, cannot be my disciple." Of this same thing in the first to the Corinthians: "Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a great price. Glorify and bear God in your body." Also in the same place: "The time is limited. It remaineth, therefore, that both they who have…
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.
Devotedness To God · Exemplified: Timothy — Exemplified: Timothy
Selfishness · Exhibited in: Seeking our own — Exhibited in: Seeking our own
Timothy · Confined with Paul in Rome — Confined with Paul in Rome
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 2:17-24
17. Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.
17. Quin etiam si immoler super hostia et sacrificio fidei vestrae, gaudeo et congaudeo vobis omnibus.
18. For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me.
18. De hoc ipso gaudete, et congaudete mihi.
19. But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state.
19. Spero autem in Domino, Timotheum brevi me ad vos missurum, ut ego tranquillo sim animo, postquam statum vestrum cognoverim.
20. For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state.
20. Neminem enim habeo p…
Paul commends Timothy, whom he hopes to send to the Philippians in the near future. Timothy had accompanied Paul on his first trip to Philippi (see Acts 16:1-3, 12; 17:15; 18:5; cp. Acts 19:22). Timothy stood out as a person whose whole life was sacrificially devoted to what matters to Jesus Christ and to the welfare of his people.
