JD
Puritan Board Freshman
My first goal for 2023 is to memorize Philippians. Only six days in so far, but I am finding myself constantly ruminating on Paul's specific choice of phrase in certain circumstances. It has been very enjoyable and edfiying!
I noticed that Paul alternates between using the general "you" and the seemingly more emphatic "you all" very frequently in Chapter 1:
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (Phil 1:1-11 ESV)
In modern English the word "you" is ambiguous, since we do not have a second person plural noun. Depending on your locality people might say "you guys," "you all," "ya'll," "yinz" etc. Now I do not know any Greek, but in checking the interlinear it seems like these nouns are already plural. Paul is adding the descriptor "all" to the noun "ya'll" for emphasis. "All ya'll."
This seems like something somewhat unique to Philippians. The ESV has only 18 instances of the phrase "you all" in the Epistles. 6 of those are benedictory. 6 more are found in the first two chapters of Philippians. The only other book with more than one non-benediction "you all" is 2 Corinthians, with three. The NASB has roughly the same.
So is Paul ephasizing something specific here? I'm imagining something like the general "you" connoting the church at Philippi corporately, while the "you all" speaks more directly to the individual members. It'd be one thing for Paul to say he prays for the Philippian church. It's another thing for him to say he prays for every member of the church.
Or is there a stylistic choice happening in the Greek that I cannot understand? Even in English if speaking at length to or about someone we would change up the nouns for variety.
If I am totally off base please let me know! I don't want to give undue emphasis in my own mind to something the Scripture doesn't intend!
I noticed that Paul alternates between using the general "you" and the seemingly more emphatic "you all" very frequently in Chapter 1:
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (Phil 1:1-11 ESV)
In modern English the word "you" is ambiguous, since we do not have a second person plural noun. Depending on your locality people might say "you guys," "you all," "ya'll," "yinz" etc. Now I do not know any Greek, but in checking the interlinear it seems like these nouns are already plural. Paul is adding the descriptor "all" to the noun "ya'll" for emphasis. "All ya'll."
This seems like something somewhat unique to Philippians. The ESV has only 18 instances of the phrase "you all" in the Epistles. 6 of those are benedictory. 6 more are found in the first two chapters of Philippians. The only other book with more than one non-benediction "you all" is 2 Corinthians, with three. The NASB has roughly the same.
So is Paul ephasizing something specific here? I'm imagining something like the general "you" connoting the church at Philippi corporately, while the "you all" speaks more directly to the individual members. It'd be one thing for Paul to say he prays for the Philippian church. It's another thing for him to say he prays for every member of the church.
Or is there a stylistic choice happening in the Greek that I cannot understand? Even in English if speaking at length to or about someone we would change up the nouns for variety.
If I am totally off base please let me know! I don't want to give undue emphasis in my own mind to something the Scripture doesn't intend!
