Philippians 4:23

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be] with you all,.... The Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions read, "with your spirit", as in Galatians 6:18; and so the Alexandrian copy and some others read.

Be with you all. (Galatians 6:18) So B C. But 'Aleph (') A Delta G f g, Vulgate, read 'be with your spirit' (the highest of man's three parts, 1 Thessalonians 5:23). Amen. So 'Aleph (') A Delta f, Vulgate. But B G g omit it.

He concludes this (like his other Epistles) much as he began, , praying the same grace of the Lord might abide with them, which he had prayed to them all, . Amen; not at all doubting, but with full confidence trusting, all should be firm, as he had prayed. It was written to the Philippians from Rome by Epaphroditus.

23 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. To the Philippians written from Rome, by Epaphroditus. Ver. 23. The grace of our Lord] With this wish of grace, grace to them, he both begins and ends. Wisdom is the principal thing, Proverbs 4:7.

(23) The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.—The true reading is, be with your spirit (as in Galatians 6:18; Philemon 1:25; 2 Timothy 4:22). The reading of our version is the more ordinary form of salutation. In one form or another it is “the token in every Epistle” (2 Thessalonians 3:17). The grace given by the Spirit of God is received in “the spirit” of man, but in order that the whole man, “body, soul, and spirit, be preserved blameless to the coming of the Lord Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

Verse 23. The grace of our Lord] The usual apostolical benediction, which has often occurred, and been more than once explained. See Clark on "Romans 1:7", and "Galatians 6:18". The word ημων, our, is omitted by many MSS. and several versions, which simply read, The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Be with you all.] Instead of παντων, all, πνευματος, Spirit, is the reading of ADEFG, several others, with the Coptic, Sahidic, AEthiopic, Armenian, Vulgate, and Itala; besides several of the Fathers. There are various subscriptions to this epistle in the different MSS. and versions. In the common GREEK text it stands thus: It was written to the Philippians from Rome by Epaphroditus. The Epistle to the Philippians was written from Rome, and sent by Epaphroditus. - SYRIAC. To the Philippians. - AETHIOPIC. The end of the Epistle; it was written at Rome, and sent by Epaphroditus. - ARABIC. To the Philippians by Timothy and Epaphroditus. - COPTIC. 1. THE MSS. generally agree with the versions, and all unite in stating that this epistle was written and sent from Rome, so that the common subscription may well stand. Yet there have been some strong objections made against this, as far as the place is concerned. Some foreign critics have maintained, that were it to be granted that the apostle was now a prisoner for the testimony of Christ, yet it does not follow that he was a prisoner at Rome, for he himself tells us, 2 Corinthians 11:23, that he was in prisons more abundant; and, consequently, he might be in prison somewhere else: but they have gone farther, and denied that this epistle was written while Paul was a prisoner; affirming that he had been already liberated, and that of this there are several evidences in the epistle itself. J. Christopher Wolf, in his Curae, has considered all these objections in detail, and appears to have answered them in a very satisfactory manner. That St. Paul was now in prison, these words seem clearly to prove, Philippians 1:16: - The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds. This strongly argues that he was then suffering imprisonment, and that certain persons of perverse minds preached the Gospel in such a way as was calculated to make his bonds still more grievous. And, as he sends the salutations of saints which were of Caesar's household, it seems most evident that he was then at Rome; as, had he been a prisoner in any of the provinces, it is not likely that he would send to Philippi the greetings of those who lived at Rome. 2. The cause of this imprisonment has been variously understood. Theodorus Metochita says it was in consequence of his having converted Nero's baker, and one of his concubines; at which the emperor, being enraged, ordered him to be cast into prison: but the authority on which this rests is scarcely sufficient to render it credible. 3.

23. The grace] So every Epistle of St Paul’s closes, or almost closes. In the Ep. to the Romans this benediction occurs twice; Romans 16:20; Romans 16:24. The exact form found here occurs also Galatians 6:18; Philemon 1:25.—Observe the deeply implied testimony to the Divine glory of the Saviour, who is mentioned here alone, and in conclusion, as the Fountain of grace.with you all] Read, with your spirit: the inmost basis of the life and will of man, and here of regenerate man. That “spirit” is not annulled, or absorbed, by the Divine power; the “grace” is to be “with” it (cp. 1 Corinthians 15:10). But it is also to be “in” it (see Philippians 2:12 above), possessing, assimilating, transforming, into the likeness of Him whose presence and power is grace.Amen] The word is probably to be omitted from the text. But though the Apostle did not write it, the reader can supply it as his own response.The SubscriptionIt was written … by Epaphroditus] “Written by” is, of course, “sent by means of, by the hand of.”—The words obviously give the facts of the case correctly. It is equally obvious that they were not in the original copies. Of the many varying “Subscriptions” in extant MSS., the shortest appears to be the oldest; To the Philippians (Philippesians; see on Philippians 4:15 above). Others are, It was written from Rome; It was written &c. by Epaphroditus, or, in one case, by Epaphroditus and Timotheus. In one MS. appears [The Epistle] to the Philippians is fulfilled, in another, is finished.On the Subscriptions to St Paul’s Epistles, see Scrivener’s Introduction to the Criticism of the N.T. (Ed. 1883, p. 62). They are ascribed (in their longer form) to Euthalius, a bishop of the fifth century. See further, note in this Series on the Subscription to the Epistle to the Ephesians.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, ... - notes, Romans 16:20.

23. The grace—The evidence requires, as in Galatians 6:18, the less usual form, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.