I beg of Evodia and I beseech Syntyche to be of one mind in the Lord.
ευοδιαν παρακαλω και συντυχην παρακαλω το αυτο φρονειν εν κυριω
9 Church Fathers comment on this verse
"So," in what manner? As you stood unbending. See how, after the exhortation, he adds praises: "my joy and crown." Not only joy, but glory; not only glory, but a crown.
Nothing is equal to that glory, when they make up Paul's crown. "So stand in the Lord, beloved," that is, in hope in God. "I entreat Euodia, and I entreat Syntyche, to be of the same mind in the Lord."
"I implore Euodia, and I implore Syntyche, to be of the same mind in the Lord." It seems to me that these women held a distinguished position in the Church there. Therefore he entrusts them to a certain admirable man, who was either the brother of one of them or her husband. Perhaps he was the jailer in Philippi (Acts 16:23-40). The Apostle speaks as if to say: now you become a true brother and a true husband, if in the Lord's work you bear the same burden, ζυγόν, by helping them. Some say, quite wrongly, that Paul is here addressing an exhortation to his own wife. But, apart from many other reasons, if this were so, he would have said γνησια σύζυγε, not γνησιε.
"Who labored together with me in the Gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers." He says that they too helped me not a little, though with the help of many others. Therefore the Apostle says, "who labored together with me." Truly, at that time the Churches were in firm union with one another, because each honored the other and helped the other. But now, alas, in what state do we find ourselves? We cast one another down, and in this we differ completely from those who lived then. "Whose names are in the book of life." Do you see what virtue he ascribes to a woman? What the Lord said to the Apostles, "Your names are written in heaven" (Lk 10:20), Paul ascribes also to women. Their names too, together with the others, are written in the book of life, that is, in the knowledge and judgment of God. Or else he has assigned life to them, looking to their faith, just as the unbeliever is already condemned (Jn 3:18). Consequently, he is written in the book of death. This alludes to the preceding word σύζυγον, literally, one who draws the same yoke.
Therefore I ask you, genuine fellow worker Chenesios, that is, an exile and elder like myself, assist Euodia and Syntyche. They struggled together and became sharers in my contest in the Gospel.
That is, they shared in the persecution stirred up against me in their city, when I was making my defense for the Gospel (Acts 16:12ff.).
And not they alone became participants in my struggle, but Clement also, with the rest of my fellow workers. I have not written their names here, because they are many, but they are inscribed in the book of life.
Paul is not afraid, in one of his epistles, to speak of his wife, whom he did not take about with him for the sake of freedom in ministry.
"I entreat Euodia, and I entreat Syntyche." Many conjectures have been made about the meaning and even the sex of these persons.
Yet the Apostle's further request that others assist them, αὐταῖς, those women, αἵτινες, who struggled together with me in the Gospel, seems to leave no doubt. They were women, fellow workers of the Apostle Paul.
They were like the woman whom the Evangelist Luke mentions when speaking of the Apostle's first preaching in Philippi (Acts 16:14-15). Some consider them deaconesses.
"I entreat Euodia, and I entreat Syntyche, to be of the same mind in the Lord" (Phil 4:2). Who Euodia and Syntyche were is not known with certainty.
There is an opinion that they held the office of deaconesses, who, among other things, cared for the sick.
These women, as is evident, had influence over others. Therefore their disagreement could be harmful. For this reason the Apostle deliberately sought their reconciliation, so that they would act in harmony and with one soul.
Giving his concluding instructions to the Philippians, the Apostle exhorts them to stand firm in the Lord according to the admonitions already given. He addresses them with various affectionate names: beloved and longed-for brethren, his consolation and crown of glory in the Lord. It is "as though his soul were insatiable in expressions of warm and sweet love. In no other Epistle are such declarations of heartfelt union with those to whom he writes made so often" (Bishop Theophan). In particular, the Apostle exhorts two women, Euodia and Syntyche, to unity of mind in faith. They had once been distinguished by their zeal in assisting the preaching of the Apostle Paul, Saint Clement, and the other Apostles, who gained eternal remembrance from God.
He asks one of his closest fellow workers, whom he calls his yokefellow, to guide these women. Saint Methodius used the same kind of name for his brother Cyril. This fellow worker shared in plowing the soil for the planting of Christian teaching. Though these women were renowned, by their feminine nature they needed strengthening for a firm and unshakable standing in the faith. Saint John Chrysostom says: "It seems to me that those women were important in the Church of Philippi. The Apostle entrusts them to a man, certainly worthy of admiration, whom he also calls a fellow worker. Perhaps he was accustomed to entrust the local Church to him as a helper, companion in struggle, participant, and brother." "There is no need to investigate with complete precision who he was. It is enough to know: a sincere brother, a true man." "He calls him a fellow worker as one who draws with him the same yoke of piety." "And how does he testify to the virtue of the other Apostles? What Christ said to the Apostles, 'Do not rejoice that the demons are subject to you, but that your names are written in heaven' (Lk 10:20). Saint Paul gives as the same testimony in the words used there: whose names are in the book of life." During persecutions of Christians, the heads of the Church were the first to be exposed to danger. Therefore it is understandable why the Apostle does not name the one to whom he entrusts pastoral guidance in the newly founded Church of Philippi. To him this Epistle had first to be entrusted.
Having told the dear Philippians to hold firmly to what he had taught them (v. 1), the Apostle turns with a special exhortation to two women and to a certain sincere fellow worker of his, whose name, however, he does not mention.
He asks them to help his fellow workers in the work of preaching Christ (vv. 2-3).
Euodia and Syntyche, it appears, were very important persons in the Church of Philippi, as Saint Chrysostom says. They were important both by outward position and by influence on the faith. But there was something in them because of which it was necessary to address them with the words: "I implore you to be of the same mind in the Lord." The exhortation to oneness of mind in the Lord does not point to some worldly discord. It points to some disagreement in faith, not between the two of them, but of both with all, and with the principles of faith preached by the Apostle. Does this not indicate that Euodia and Syntyche fell under the influence of the Judaizers, whether in Philippi or somewhere outside?
If they did not incline to their false teaching, perhaps they wondered, and not only wondered, but expressed before others: is it not really so? Perhaps the matter went no further. Therefore Saint Paul thought it necessary only to hint at it and did not speak at length about it. Then, having clarified the foundations on which Christian hopes must rest, he offers in conclusion only a brief exhortation to these women, distinguishing them from the whole body. Even here he does not speak at length, but is satisfied with one word: "I implore you to be of the same mind in the Lord." Their thought had not gone far, but had only slipped, as it were, to the tip of the tongue. Yet he mentioned it, because falsehood is contagious. He reminded not only them, but also asked someone else to help them if the matter should go further. All this, however, expresses Saint Paul's extreme care, not a special danger for the faith of these women or for the faith of the Philippians. The words "to be of the same mind in the Lord" mean to understand the work of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ in the same way as all. It means to think the same thing as all, or what he taught everywhere. For if all think this way, they think so because they were taught by Saint Paul.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 10 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS