By the time Paul arrived to preach the gospel (around AD 50), the city’s culture and institutions would have been decidedly Roman, with civic power concentrated in the hands of a relatively small number of elites who owned property in the surrounding countryside. These estates and farms would have been served by a large underclass that lived mainly in the city—non-Roman laborers, tradesmen, and service workers. Unlike many cities that Paul visited (e.g., Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Thessalonica, Ephesus), Philippi does not seem to have had a synagogue. Neither the text of Acts 16 nor the book of Philippians indicate a Jewish community (aside from several God-fearing women meeting for prayer outside the city; Acts 16:13).

2:1–11 Paul encourages the Philippians to continue practicing love and humility among one another (Phil 2:1–4). This topic leads into the hymn of vv. 5–11, which praises Jesus as the ultimate example of self-emptying love. This hymn might have been composed by Paul, or it could be from an early Christian liturgy

ex•hort \ig-ˈzȯrt\ verb

[Middle English, from Anglo-French exorter, from Latin exhortari, from ex- + hortari to incite—more at YEARN] verb transitive 15th century: to incite by argument or advice: urge strongly 〈exhorting voters to do the right thing〉 verb intransitive: to give warnings or advice:

Your will agrees with God, but in your flesh there is a disposition which renders you powerless to do what you know you ought to do. When the Lord is presented to the conscience, the first thing conscience does is to rouse the will, and the will always agrees with God. You say—‘But I do not know whether my will is in agreement with God.’ Look to Jesus and you will find that your will and your conscience are in agreement with Him every time.

So what exactly does fear and trembling really mean? Does it mean outright fear or just simple respect? When we bought our first house, there were some issues with the electrical panels that needed to be fixed before our loan would be approved. Being sort of a handy person and wanting to save some money, I decided to do the work myself. It involved installing a new circuit breaker box. The day of the project, the power company came to disconnect the power and said they would come back at 4:00 PM to hook it back up. The linemen explained to me the consequences of touching the 220 volt cables, wished me well, and then drove off. The cold sweat and knot in my stomach demonstrated my fear. It was not a debilitating fear, but one that drove me to pay the utmost attention to what I was doing—to make sure I did exactly what was expected of me. The fear was grounded (pun intended) in an accurate view of my limitations and what 220 volts could do to me.

The translation “awe and reverence” was chosen to portray the attitude the believer should have toward God as they consider their behavior in light of God working through Jesus Christ (2:6–11) and in the believer’s life (2:13) to accomplish their salvation.

en•able \i-ˈnā-bəl\ verb transitive

en•abled; en•abling \-b(ə-)liŋ\ 15th century

1 a: to provide with the means or opportunity 〈training that enables people to earn a living〉

b: to make possible, practical, or easy 〈a deal that would enable passage of a new law〉

c: to cause to operate 〈software that enables the keyboard〉

2: to give legal power, capacity, or sanction to 〈a law enabling admission of a state〉

Philippians 4:13 (LEB): I am able to do all things by the one who strengthens me.

John 15:5 (LEB): I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him—this one bears much fruit, for apart from me you are not able to do anything.