Section 4:21–23

Paul and those with him sent greetings to all the Philippian believers

With these verses, Paul ended his letter to the Philippian believers. As he did in many of his letters, he sent his greetings and the greetings of the believers who were with him. He ended the letter with a brief prayer or blessing (4:23).

Paragraph 4:21–23

4:21a

Greet all the saints in Christ Jesus: Paul told those who would read or hear his letter to give his greetings to the rest of the believers in Philippi.

Greet: This is a command addressed to more than one person. Probably Paul was addressing the church leaders, who would have read the letter first.

all the saints: See notes on 1:1b for the meaning of saints. Paul wanted to greet every believer in Philippi. In some languages it may be necessary to supply the word “other” to indicate that those who would pass on Paul’s greetings were also Christians.

in Christ Jesus: There are three main ways that this phrase can be understood here:

(1) It explains the word “saints.” The “saints” are those who are united with or are in Christ Jesus. For example:

Greetings to each one of God’s people who belong to Christ Jesus. (Good News Translation) (God’s Word, New Living Translation (2004), Good News Translation)

(2) It relates to the verb “greet.” This would mean, “Greet in Christ Jesus’ name all God’s people.” For example:

Give my greetings, in the fellowship of Christ Jesus. (Revised English Bible)

(3) It means “because of Christ Jesus.” For example:

Give my greetings to all who are God’s people because of Christ Jesus. (Contemporary English Version)

The first interpretation is the most likely, and it is recommended that you follow it (1).

4:21b

The brothers who are with me send you greetings: This probably refers to the believers who worked closely with Paul. They also sent their greetings to the believers in Philippi. It does not mean that these believers were with Paul in the Roman prison. But they would have been in the city of Rome. These co-workers were probably all men, and it is not necessary to translate brothers as “brothers and sisters” here.

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