Thursday, May 19, 2005

Philippians 2:4

Textus Receptus:
μη τα εαυτων εκαστος σκοπειτε αλλα και τα ετερων εκαστος

King James:
Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

Comments:
Look not: Verse 3's description of what the Philippians ought to be like is made clear by the imperative of this verse. In other words, by putting the description of verse 3 into an imperative in verse 4, Paul makes the Philippians responsible for pursuing altruism (the interests of others) actively. It may not simply "come upon them" as a natural outflow of character. They must take responsibility to act selflessly.

also: It may seem that putting "also" in the command to love others justifies the love of self. However, as is also the case in passages like Matthew 22:39, loving others as self does not imply that the love of self is meritorious, but that it is automatic. The first half of this verse ("stop looking at the things of self") makes that distinction clear.

Expanded Paraphrase:
Stop focusing on what you want--on your goals. Instead, pay as much attention to the things of others as you always have to the things of yourself.

1 comment:

Kc said...

Good to have you back. I really appreciate this study.