Philippians 4:10 - Exposition

But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again . St. Paul thanks the Philippian Church for the gifts brought by Epaphroditus; his expressions, so courteous and yet so dignified, bespeak, like the Epistle to Phlippians, like all his writings, the perfect gentleman in the best sense of the word. I rejoiced in the Lord ; he fulfils his own precept ( Phlippians 1:4 ). His joy rises kern the gift to the love which prompted the gift, and thence to the Divine Giver of that love. Greatly. Bengel says, "Hoc vix placuerit Stoico. Paulus ingentes affectns habuit, sed in Domino." The R.V. rendering of the following words is more literal: "Ye revived your thought for me . " The verb is properly used of a tree putting forth fresh shoots after its winter sleep. Bengel thinks that the metaphor was derived from the season; the apostle was writing in the spring. Offsets, as Meyer, render differently, " Ye flourished again ( i.e. in your circumstances) so as to mind my interests." As the words might seem to imply some degree of blame, St. Paul hastens to ascribe the delay of the Philippians to causes beyond their own control. Wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity; more literally, wherein ye did indeed take thought , as R.V. It may be that they had no suitable messenger; but St. Paul speaks of the "deep poverty" of the Macedonian Churches in 2 Corinthians 8:1 , 2 Corinthians 8:2 , where he also praises their liberality.