Philippians 2:22
As a son with his father
- The gospel’s word εὐαγγέλιον euangelion · gospel
Original
Translations
But you know Timothy’s proven worth, that as a child with his father he has served with me to advance the gospel.
But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel.
and you know his proof, that as a child [serves] a father, he served with me in regard to the good news;
디모데의 연단을 너희가 아나니 자식이 아비에게 함 같이 나와 함께 복음을 위하여 수고하였느니라
오직 그의 증거를 너희가 아나니 아들이 아버지에게 하듯 그가 나와 함께 복음 안에서 섬겨 왔느니라.
Commentaries
Matthew Henry on Phil 2:19-30 as a whole
It is best with us, when our duty becomes natural to us. Naturally, that is, sincerely, and not in pretence only; with a willing heart and upright views. We are apt to prefer our own credit, ease, and safety, before truth, holiness, and duty; but Timothy did not so. …
Read the whole commentary →Wesley Phil 2:22
As a son with his father - He uses an elegant peculiarity of phrase, speaking partly as of a son, partly as of a fellowlabourer.
Read the whole commentary →
Note
Paul hopes to send Timothy to Philippi soon, and he commends him. Among those who look after their own interests Timothy is different, and the Philippians themselves have seen the proof.
But you know Timothy's proven worth, that as a child with his father he has served with me to advance the gospel.
Philippians 2:22Timothy joined Paul at Lystra on the second journey (Acts 16:1–3), and he seems to have been with him when the church at Philippi was founded soon after. The Philippians had known him from the start. The letter opens in the names of both, "Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:1). Set against "all the others look after their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 2:21), Timothy is the mind of Christ that Paul described earlier in the chapter, the one who looks "not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others" (Philippians 2:4), lived out in a person.
Here is in the accusative after eis, "into" or "for": eis to euangelion, the direction of his service. The verb, edouleusen, is the aorist of douleuō, to serve as a slave, the same root as the "servants" of 1:1. "Proven worth" is , character that has been tested, as metal is tried in the fire, and has come through. The grammar is worth a second look. The sentence begins as if it will say "as a child serves his father, so he served me," and ends instead "he has served with me." Timothy is like a son to Paul, yet he did not serve Paul; he served the gospel at Paul's side.
The versions bring out different sides. The KJV reads, "ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel." Its "in the gospel" gives the sphere; the BSB's "to advance the gospel" gives the direction of eis. The LSV fills in the verb Paul leaves out: "as a child [serves] a father, he served with me in regard to the good news," its brackets showing the word it has supplied. The KJV's "proof" is the old sense of the word, a proving, a test passed.
Wesley noticed the turn in the sentence: Paul "uses an elegant peculiarity of phrase, speaking partly as of a son, partly as of a fellowlabourer" Wesley. Matthew Henry looks at what set Timothy apart: "We are apt to prefer our own credit, ease, and safety, before truth, holiness, and duty; but Timothy did not so" Matthew Henry.
Paul and Timothy are as close as father and son, but what the two look at together is not each other; it is the gospel. That is the kind of bond the gospel makes between people.