Verse 2
Euodia ("Success") and Syntyche ("Lucky") were evidently two women in the Philippian congregation. Other less acceptable identifications are that they were two men (Theodore of Mopsuestia) or that they were symbols of Jewish and Gentile Christians (the Tübingen school).
"For the Pauline letters, this is a remarkable moment indeed, since Paul does here what he seldom does elsewhere in ’conflict’ settings-he names names." [Note: Fee, Paul’s Letter . . ., p. 389.]
God did not reveal the reason for the estrangement that existed between these two women. Regardless of the reason, the will of God for them was to establish a harmonious relationship. Unanimity in the church is not always possible, but unity is. Paul urged each of these two women individually, perhaps so neither would feel that responsibility for healing the breach lay with the other. Urging was all Paul felt he had to do, not commanding (cf. Philippians 1:27 to Philippians 2:4). He assumed they would respond to gentle persuasion. The addition of "in the Lord" would remind them that they were under His authority and had much in common as sisters in Christ. [Note: See A. Boyd Luter, "Partnership in the Gospel: The Role of Women in the Church at Philippi," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 39:3 (September 1996):411-20.]
"Having ’the same mindset in the Lord’ has been specifically spelled out in the preceding paradigmatic narratives, where Christ (Philippians 2:6-11) has humbled himself by taking the ’form of a slave’ and thus becoming obedient unto death on a cross, and Paul (Philippians 3:4-14) has expressed his longing to know Christ, especially through participation in his sufferings so as to be conformed into the same cruciform lifestyle. The ways such a ’mindset’ takes feet is by humbly ’looking out for the interests of others’ within the believing community (Philippians 2:3-4)." [Note: Fee, Paul’s Letter . . ., p. 392.]
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