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Php_4:4 f. Without any particle of transition, we have once more general concluding admonitions, which begin by taking up again the encouraging address broken off in Php_3:1, and now strengthened by πάντοτε —the key-note of the epistle. They extend as far as Php_4:9; after which Paul again speaks of the assistance which he had received.
πάντοτε ] not to be connected with πάλιν ἐρῶ (Hofmann), which would make the πάλιν very superfluous, is an essential element of the Christian χαίρειν ; comp. 1Th_5:16; 2Co_6:10. Just at the close of his epistle the apostle brings it in significantly. Paul desires joyfulness at all times on the part of the believer, to whom even tribulation is grace (Php_1:7; Php_1:29) and glory (Rom_5:3), and in whom the pain of sin is overcome by the certainty of atonement (Rom_8:1); to whom everything must serve for good (Rom_8:28; 1Co_3:21 f.), and nothing can separate him from the love of God (Rom_8:38 f.).
πάλιν ἐρῶ ] once more I will say. Observe the future, which exhibits the consideration given to the matter by the writer; consequently not equivalent to πάλιν λέγω , 2Co_11:16; Gal_1:9. Καλῶς ἐδιπλασίασεν , ἐπειδὴ τῶν πραγμάτων ἡ φύσις λύπην ἔτικτε , διὰ τοῦ διπλασιασμοῦ δείκνυσιν , ὅτι πάντως δεῖ χαίρειν , Chrysostom.
Τὸ ἐπιεικὲς ὑμῶν ] your mildness [Lindigkeit, Luther], that is, your gentle character, as opposed to undue sternness (Polyb. v. 10. 1 : ἡ ἐπιείκεια καὶ φιλανθρωπία , Lucian, Phal. Proverbs 2 : ἐπιεικὴς κ . μέτριος , Herodian, ii. 14. 5, ix. 12; 1Ti_3:3; Tit_3:2; Jam_3:17; 1Pe_2:18; Psa_85:5; Add. to Est_6:8; 2Ma_9:27). Comp. on 2Co_10:1. The opposite: ἀκριβοδίκαιος , Arist. Eth. Nic. v. 10. 8, σκληρός . As to the neuter of the adjective taken as a substantive, see on Php_3:8; comp. Soph. O. C. 1127. It might also mean: your becoming behaviour; see e.g. the passages from Plato in Ast, Lex. I. p. 775. But how indefinite would be such a requirement as this! The general duty of the Christian walk (which Matthies finds in the words) is not set forth till Php_4:8. And in the N. T. ἐπιεικ . always occurs in the above-named special sense.
γνωσθήτω πᾶσιν ἀνθρ .] let it be known by all men, through the acquaintance of experience with your conduct. Comp. Mat_5:16. The universality of the expression (which, moreover, is to be taken popularly: “let no man come to know you in a harsh, rigorous aspect”) prohibits our referring it to their relation to the enemies of the cross of Christ, against whom they should not be hatefully disposed (Chrysostom, Oecumenius, Theophylact), or to the enemies of Christianity (Pelagius, Theodoret, Erasmus, and others), or to the Judaists (Rheinwald), although none of these are excluded, and the motive for the exhortation is in part to be found in the outward circumstances full of tribulation, face to face with an inclination to moral pride.
The succession of exhortations without any outward link may be psychologically explained by the fact, that the disposition of Christian joyfulness must elevate men quite as much above strict insisting upon rights and claims as above solicitude (Php_4:6). Neither with the former nor with the latter could the Christian fundamental disposition of the χαίρειν ἐν κυρίῳ subsist, in which the heart enlarges itself to yielding love and casts all care upon God.
ὁ κύριος ἐγγύς ] points to the nearness of Christ’s Parousia, 1Co_16:22. Comp. on ἐγγύς , Mat_24:32 f.; Luk_21:31; Rev_1:3; Rev_22:10; Rom_13:11. The reference to God, by which Paul would bring home to their hearts, as Calvin expresses it, “divinae providentiae fiduciam” (comp. Psa_34:18; Psa_119:151; Psa_145:18; so also Pelagius, Luther, Calovius, Zanchius, Wolf, Rheinwald, Matthies, Rilliet, Cornelius Müller, and others), is not suggested in Php_4:1-2; Php_4:4 by the context, which, on the contrary, does not refer to God until Php_4:6. Usually and rightly, following Chrysostom and Erasmus, the words have been attached to what precedes.[183] If the Lord is at hand, who is coming as the Vindex of every injustice endured and as the σωτήρ of the faithful, how should they not, in this prospect of approaching victory and blessedness (Php_3:20), willingly and cheerfully renounce everything opposed to Christian ἐπιείκεια ! The words therefore convey an encouragement to the latter. What follows has its complete reference, and that to God, pointed out by the antithesis ἀλλʼ ἐν παντὶ κ . τ . λ .
[183] They do not belong, by way of introduction, to what follows, as Hofmann thinks, who understands “the helpful nearness of the Lord” (Mat_28:20; Jam_4:8) in the present, and consequently the assurance of being heard in the individual case. Comp., rather, on the ἐγγύς habitually used of the future final coming, in addition to the above passages, Mat_3:2; Mat_4:17; Mat_10:7; Mar_1:15; Luk_21:8; Luk_21:28; Rom_13:12; Heb_10:25; Jam_5:8; 1Pe_4:7; and the ἔρχομαι ταχύ of the Apocalypse. The simply correct rendering is given after Chrysostom by Erasmus (“instat enim adventus Christi”), Grotius, and others.