Philippians 1:13Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

This not only did not close the mouths of others or make them timid. On the contrary, it made them still more bold.

Therefore, if those who were near danger suffered no harm, but rather gained greater boldness, you should be all the more bold. If the one in bonds had borne his bonds with grief and kept silent, then naturally they also would have been in the same condition.

But since the one in bonds acted still more boldly, he gave them more boldness than if he had not been bound. How, then, did the bonds serve the progress of the Gospel?

That is, although I am bound, I speak with still greater boldness and do not keep silence. My preaching has reached even the praetorium itself, that is, the royal palace, and has spread through the whole city. This happened in Christ, that is, it is not my work, but Christ’s. Or else: my bonds are in Christ, that is, the bonds that I endure for Christ.

So that my bonds became known in Christ in the splendid and great praetorium of Rome, and they were disclosed before the eyes of the whole world.

Although above Paul called them partakers of his joy, he now also mentions as a joy what helped his preaching. His bonds in Christ became known to all. He shows that such humiliation brought him glory, so that those who love him might have cause for joy. When others bear witness to his bonds in Christ, his dignity also increases. By “the whole praetorium and all the rest,” he means all the Jews and all the churches of the Gentiles. Yet first of all he means the Jews, since the promise was given to them. As it is said: “for salvation is from the Jews” (Jn 4:22).

Because the Philippians, out of great solicitude, sent blessed Epaphroditus, the Apostle comforts them by informing them that the bonds laid upon him became for many an occasion of salvation. By “the progress of the Gospel,” he meant the multitude of believers. He says that the cause of his bonds became known to all in the royal house, for by “praetorium” (πραιτώριον) he meant the royal house. It is likely that it was so called at that time because Roman power prevailed.

“In the whole praetorium,” ε̉ν όλω τω πραιτωρίω. Usually the praetorium is taken to mean Caesar’s palace, since the Apostle himself says that his preaching reached Caesar’s household (Phil 4:22).

Strictly speaking, however, the name praetorium cannot be applied to the palace of the Emperors. It was the name of the palace or court of the praetors, that is, the chief provincial or city governors and judges.

It also named the praetorian unit, the bodyguard attached to the praetors, praetoriani milites, and the place of their residence. In Rome this formed a distinct quarter, the castra praetoriana.

In Phil 1:12-13, the Apostle hastens to reassure the Philippians concerning his safety and the favorable outcome of his evangelical labors in Roman imprisonment. By his example he wishes to encourage them to confess Christ’s faith courageously, in distant Philippi, during his absence.

“I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have served for the greater progress of the Gospel. Thus my bonds in Christ have become known throughout the whole praetorium,” which was what the royal palace was formerly called (St. Chrysostom), “and to all the rest.”

That is, not only in the judgment hall, but also in the whole city, as St. Chrysostom says on verse 13. All understood that his bonds were not those of some criminal. They were evangelical and innocent bonds in Christ.

Informing them of the progress of the Gospel, the Apostle says that his bonds served the broad spread of Christianity. They stirred many to zealous preaching, so that the Gospel reached Caesar’s guard and many others.

At the same time, the Apostle reports about himself only insofar as this concerns the work of the Gospel. “God so ordered it, says the Apostle, that my bonds in Christ and for Christ did not remain unknown ‘in the whole praetorium.’

“This was what the royal palace was formerly called. And not only in the praetorium, but also in the whole city” (St. John Chrysostom; cf. Acts 28:30-31).

“The word of the Gospel was spread both by him personally and by his fellow workers. Going farther and farther, it reached even Caesar’s household” (Bishop Theophan; cf. 4:22).

Turning now to describe his condition, about which the Philippians who loved the Apostle were certainly greatly troubled, he first tells them that the work of the Gospel suffered nothing through his imprisonment.

On the contrary, all the soldiers from the praetorian barracks who guarded Paul in turn learned and became convinced that he was suffering not as a criminal, and not as a political agitator, but solely as a servant of Christ.

The same conviction was formed by all the other Romans who managed to hear Paul. On the other hand, the Apostle’s brethren in the faith, seeing his courage, were also filled with fearlessness and showed it in proclaiming the Gospel.

“God so ordered it, says the Apostle, that my bonds in Christ and for Christ did not remain unknown in the whole praetorium. This was what the royal palace was formerly called. And not only in the praetorium, but also in the whole city” (St. Chrysostom).

The Apostle did not keep silent while in bonds. As St. Luke testifies, he received all who came to him, “preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things concerning our Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance” (cf. Acts 28:30-31).

The word of the Gospel spread from him personally and from his fellow workers. Those who heard passed on to one another what they had heard. Going farther and farther, it reached even Caesar’s household.