Tool Beta
The Ancient World Behind the Text
Pick a passage anywhere in the New Testament. See the customs and ideas a first reader knew without being told.
Philippians 4:2-9, Two women at odds, names in the book of life, and whatever is true
Paul pleads with two women who worked beside him to agree, asks a companion to help them, notes that their names are in the book of life, and urges joy, prayer instead of worry, and thoughts fixed on whatever is true and excellent.
Philippians 4:2-9, in every translation this tool compares.
Paul urges two women who once worked hard beside him, Euodia and Syntyche, to settle their disagreement, and asks a trusted companion to help them. He calls the whole church to rejoice, to be gentle, and to replace worry with prayer and thanks, so that God's peace guards them. He closes by telling them to fill their minds with what is true and good and to practice what they saw in him.
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/women-in-public\/","n":"Women in public","s":"Custom kept unrelated men and women apart in public. Teachers warned men against talking much with women, a stranger was not to speak with a woman alone, and a woman's word counted for little in court. Most women were also taught far less than men, so a call for women to learn stood out.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/book-of-life\/","n":"The book of life","s":"An old picture of God keeping a register of the names of those who belong to him. Jewish writers developed it, and the New Testament uses it from Luke to Revelation.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/day-of-the-lord\/","n":"The day of the Lord","s":"The prophets spoke of a coming day when God would judge the world and rescue his people. Paul calls it the day of Christ, giving Jesus the place the prophets gave to God.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/sages-and-philosophers\/","n":"Philosophers and their schools","s":"Stoics, Epicureans and other schools taught a whole way of life in lecture halls and marketplaces. A traveling teacher with a message about God would be heard, and judged, as one more philosopher.","r":""}
Euodia and Syntyche are Greek names in a Roman colony, perhaps merchants like Lydia, though that is a guess; some suggest they led separate house churches (Keener and his notes). Inscriptions show women active in Philippi's religious life (Keener and his notes). Their role is read differently: the ESV Study Bible thinks they ministered mainly among women, the CSB Study Bible that they were influential without a known office. Wright notes that the quarrel must have run for some time, since Paul heard of it from Epaphroditus. The loyal companion has been read as a proper name (the ESV Study Bible), for which the Zondervan dictionary finds no evidence, or as Epaphroditus or a known leader (Wright). Tradition links Clement with the author of 1 Clement (Keener and his notes), but the Zondervan dictionary adds that "most scholars think this is unlikely". Rejoice, Wright writes, meant public celebration in cities that held festivals for their gods and for Caesar. The Stoics held anxiety pointless because Fate could not be resisted (the cultural backgrounds notes), and Wright adds that "Anxiety was a way of life for many in the ancient pagan world", with gods who might be offended unawares.
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, introduction to Philippians, Situation, introduction to 4:2-9, and on Philippians 4:2, 4:3, 4:6-7 and 4:8
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, note on Philippians 4:6
- ESV Study Bible, Introduction to Philippians, Purpose, Occasion, and Background, and study note on Philippians 4:3
- CSB Study Bible, note on Philippians 4:2
- N. T. Wright, Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters, comment on Philippians 4:2-9
- J. D. Douglas and Merrill C. Tenney, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary, entries yokefellow and Clement
