Philippians 2:23

Him therefore I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(23) How it will go with me.—An explanatory paraphrase, though probably correct, of the original, the things concerning me. Probably some crisis in the imprisonment was at hand, with which the expectation of release implied in the next verse was connected.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

2:19-30 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. Paul desired liberty, not that he might take pleasure, but that he might do good. Epaphroditus was willing to go to the Philippians, that he might be comforted with those who had sorrowed for him when he was sick. It seems, his illness was caused by the work of God. The apostle urges them to love him the more on that account. It is doubly pleasant to have our mercies restored by God, after great danger of their removal; and this should make them more valued. What is given in answer to prayer, should be received with great thankfulness and joy.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

So soon as I shall see how it will go with me - Paul was a prisoner at Rome, and there was not a little uncertainty whether he would be condemned or acquitted. He was, it is commonly supposed, in fact released on the first trial; 2 Timothy 4:16. He now felt that he would soon be able to send Timothy to them at any rate. If he was condemned and put to death, he would, of course, have no further occasion for his services, and if he was released from his present troubles and dangers, he could spare him for a season to go and visit the churches.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

23. so soon as I shall see—that is, so soon as I shall have known for certain.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Him therefore I hope to send presently; seeing the matter was thus, he thought not of any other to employ in the service of their faith, but hoped, i.e.

in the Lord Jesus as Philippians 2:19, in a short time after his present writing, to send this excellent, humble, and approved young man, who would naturally care for their concerns, Philippians 2:20.

So soon as I shall see how it will go with me; even without any delay, (though as yet, to accompany Epaphroditus, he could not spare him, who was so useful to him in his bonds, to take care for things necessary to the propagation of the gospel, in the ample city of Rome), from the hour he should come to a certainty what would be the issue of his present imprisonment, which if it should end in his being offered up, he had satisfied them before, as it would be for his own advantage, Philippians 1:21, so, by the providence of God, no disservice to their faith, Philippians 2:17,18; from which, with ready submission to God’s will, whatever occurred, it seems he had a greater inclination to conceive a good hope of freedom.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Him therefore I hope to send presently,.... For the reasons now given:

so soon as I shall see how it will go with me; whether he should be released from his bonds or not; whether he should live or die; whether he should be set free, or be called to suffer martyrdom for the sake of Christ; for he expected, that the matter would be determined in a very short time, when, be it at it would, Timothy would be spared.

Geneva Study Bible

Him therefore I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Php 2:23. Μὲν οὖν] οὖν resumes Php 2:19, and to the μέν corresponds the δὲ in Php 2:24.

ὡς ἂν ἀπίδω κ.τ.λ.] when (of the time, see Klotz, ad Devar. p. 759, that is, as soon as, comp. on 1 Corinthians 11:34; Romans 15:24) I anyhow (by ἄν the matter is left to experience) shall have seen to the end (Jonah 4:5). The latter, which expresses the perceiving from a distance (Herod. viii. 37; Dem. 1472. 15; Lucian, D. D. vi. 2), denotes the knowledge of the final course of matters to be expected,—only after which could it be decided whether or not he could spare the faithful Timothy for a time. The form ἀφίδω (Lachmann and Tischendorf) in A B* D* F G א is, on account of this weighty evidence, to be considered not as a copyist’s error, but as the original, and to be derived from the pronunciation of ἰδεῖν (with the digamma). Comp. on Acts 4:29, and see Winer, p. 44 [E. T. p. 48]; J. B. Lightfoot ad loc.; Buttmann, Neut. Gr. p. 7 [E. T. p. 7].

τὰ περὶ ἐμέ] the things about me, that is, the state of my affairs. Substantially not different from τὰ περὶ ἐμοῦ (Php 2:19 f.). See Kühner, ad Xen. Mem. i. 1. 20; Winer, p. 379 [E. T. p. 506].

Expositor's Greek Testament

Php 2:23. μέν. He emphasises the coming of Timothy as distinct from his own.—ὡς ἄν. Cf. Romans 15:24, 1 Corinthians 11:34. “As soon as I shall have thoroughly ascertained my position.” This temporal use of ὡς ἄν seems foreign to classical prose. It almost means “according as I shall”. ἄν marks the uncertainty which surrounds the whole prospect. (See Moulton’s Ed. of Winer’s Grammar, p. 387; Viteau, Le Verbe, p. 126.)—ἀπίδω. On the form see the crit. note supr. ἀπό emphasises his turning away his attention from other things and concentrating it upon his own situation, i.e., gaining a definite knowledge of how his affairs stand. Mynster (Kleine Theolog. Schriften, p. 173) points out that this verse proves that the Epistle could not have been written at Cæsarea.—ἐξαυτῆς. Chiefly in Acts in N.T. = Latin ilico. A Hellenistic word. See Phrynichus (ed. Lobeck), 47.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

23. presently] Better, with R.V., forthwith, promptly, on ascertaining the issue of his trial.

so soon as I shall see] He is sure, au fond, of the prospect of continued life (Php 1:25 and note); but this leaves him as much as ever obliged to wait the development of the Roman legal process. And it needs no very subtle psychology to see the possibility of the presence, in the same person, of certainties and uncertainties about the same event.—Observe that Divine inspiration is far from conveying universal prescience.

how it will go with me] A good paraphrase for the lit., “the things around me,” my circumstances.

Bengel's Gnomen

Php 2:23. Ὡς ἂν ἀπίδω) ἀπιδεῖν,[26] to carry off or acquire, to obtain information.—ἐξαυτῆς, presently) The relative force implied in the αὐτῆς of the compound has regard to the phrase, I shall have obtained the information (of your state).

[26] Wahl, Clavis, translates, “Simulac cognovero rerum mearum eventum.”—ED.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 23. - Him therefore I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me. Presently; rather, forthwith, as R.V. Dr. Farrar translates, "As soon as I get a glimpse." The oldest manuscripts here read ἀφίδω (remarkable for the aspirate) instead of ἀπίδω. Philippians 2:23

Vincent's Word Studies

I shall see (ἀφίδω)

The compounded preposition ἀπό gives the sense of looking away from the present condition of affairs to what is going to turn out.