King James Version · Under Rome
Philippians 2
Touch any underlined name to see who or where it is. Tap a verse number to see where it is taken up elsewhere.
If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of , if any bowels and , Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one . Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this be in you, which was also in Christ : Who, being in the form of , thought it not robbery to be equal with : But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto , even the of . Wherefore also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of every knee should bow, of things in , and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every should that is , to the of . Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always , not as in my only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own with fear and trembling. For it is which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, , without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in , neither laboured in . Yea, and if I be offered upon the and of your , I joy, and rejoice with you all. For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me. But I in to send shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state. For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are ’s. But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with , he hath with me in . Him therefore I to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me. But I in that I also myself shall come shortly. Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you , my brother, and companion in labour, and fellowsoldier, but your , and he that ministered to my wants. For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick. For indeed he was sick nigh unto : but had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. I sent him therefore the more carefully, that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful. Receive him therefore in with all gladness; and hold such in reputation: Because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto , not regarding his life, to supply your lack of toward me.
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
Christians read this chapter differently
- Is Jesus God? · Philippians 2:5-11
- Can you know you are saved? · Philippians 2:12-13
Every view at its strongest, with who holds it and what it has to answer for.
The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.