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Php_1:29. Ὅτι is argumentative. “ Καὶ τοῦτο ἀπὸ Θεοῦ ,” I say, “since indeed to you it was granted,” etc. This grant distinguishing you is the practical proof, that the just expressed ἀπὸ Θεοῦ is indubitably right, and that consequently the ἔνδειξις of your final salvation which is afforded to the adversaries in your undauntedness is a divine ἔνδειξις , a token given by God.[83] Hofmann’s view, that ὅτι specifies the reason why God imparts to them what has been before stated, is based upon the erroneous reading ὑμῖν in Php_1:28; and is itself erroneous, because ὅτι would introduce merely the self-evident thought that they had not sought out their suffering wilfully, but had had it given to them by God, and because, for the purpose of marking the alleged contrast to the wilfulness, not ὑμῖν , but ἀπὸ Θεοῦ again would have been emphatically prefixed, and consequently Paul must have written: ὅτι ἀπὸ Θεοῦ ὑμῖν ἐχαρίσθη κ . τ . λ . Hofmann curiously explains the emphasized ὑμῖν , as if Paul meant to say that with respect to their sufferings the case stood exactly as with his own. In that case he must at least have written, in prospect of Php_1:30, καὶ ὑμῖν , to you also.
ὑμῖν ] emphatically put first, corresponding to the previous ὑμῶν δὲ σωτηρίας .
ἐχαρίσθη ] donatum est; by whom, is self-evident. 1Co_2:12.
τὸ ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ ] as if the πάσχειν was immediately to follow. The apostle does not leave this unwritten purposely, in order to bring into prominence in the first place the idea of ὑπέρ , as Hofmann artificially explains. But here his full heart interposes, after τ . ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ , and before he writes πάσχειν , the fresh thought οὐ μόνον τὸ εἰς αὐτ . πιστεύειν , so that ἀλλὰ καὶ must now be also added; and, on account of the different prepositional relation ( εἰς ) introduced, the τὸ ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ already expressed is again taken up by τὸ ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ . Thus οὐ μόνον … ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ appears as a parenthesis of more special definition, after which the πάσχειν , which had been prepared for by τὸ ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ , but is only now introduced, is to be dwelt upon with emphasis: “to you the gift of grace is granted, in behalf of Christ—not only to believe on Him, but also for Him—to suffer.” Plat. Legg. x. p. 802 C: εἰ δὲ φανήσεται ψυχὴ πρῶτον , οὐ πῦρ οὐδὲ ἀὴρ , ψυχὴ δὲ ἐν πρώτοις γεγενημένη . See also Dissen, ad Dem. de cor. p. 431; Fritzsche, ad Matth. p. 501. It is an awkward construction, to take τὸ ὑπὲρ Χ . absolutely and (notwithstanding the subsequent ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ ) in the sense: as to what concerns Christ (Beza, Camerarius, Calovius, and others, including Matthies and Rilliet). For the conception of suffering for Christ as a high divine distinction, see already Act_5:41; comp. Mat_5:11 f. Comp. on Php_1:7.
[83] At the same time it is to be observed here also (comp. on ver. 28) that this divine pointing to the final salvation of believers was in fact before the adversaries, and that their non-recognition of it altered nothing in this objective relation.