Philippians - 2:20



20 For I have no one else like-minded, who will truly care about you.

Verse In-Depth

Explanation and meaning of Philippians 2:20.

Differing Translations

Compare verses for better understanding.
For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state.
For I have no man likeminded, who will care truly for your state.
For I have no man so of the same mind, who with sincere affection is solicitous for you.
For I have no one like-minded who will care with genuine feeling how ye get on.
For I have no man like-minded, who will naturally care for your state.
for I have no one like-minded, who sincerely for the things concerning you will care,
For I have no one likeminded with him, who will cherish a genuine care for you.
For I have no man of like mind who will truly have care for you.
For I have no one else with such an agreeable mind, who, with sincere affection, is solicitous for you.
For I have no one but him to send – no one of kindred spirit who would take the same genuine interest in your welfare.
Neminem enim habeo pari animo praeditum, qui germane res vestras curaturus sit.

*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.


Historical Commentaries

Scholarly Analysis and Interpretation.

I have no man like-minded. While some draw another meaning from the passage, I interpret it thus: "I have no one equally well-affected for attending to your interests." For Paul, in my opinion, compares Timothy with others, rather than with himself, and he pronounces this eulogium upon him, with the express design that he may be the more highly esteemed by them for his rare excellence.

For I have no man like-minded - Margin, "so dear unto me." The Greek is, ἰσόψυχον isopsuchon - similar in mind, or like-minded. The meaning is, that there was no one with him who would feel so deep an interest in their welfare.
Who will naturally care - The word rendered "naturally" - γνησίως gnēsiōs - means sincerely and the idea is, that he would regard their interests with a sincere tenderness and concern. He might be depended on to enter heartily into their concerns. This arose doubtless from the fact that he had been with them when the church was founded there, and that he felt a deeper interest in what related to the apostle Paul than any other man. Paul regarded Timothy as a son, and Paul's sending him on such an occasion would evince the feelings of a father who should send a beloved son on an important message.

For I have no man like-minded - None of all my fellow helpers in the Gospel have the same zeal and affectionate concern for your prosperity in every respect as he has. He is ισοψυχος· of the same soul; a man after my own heart.

For I have no man likeminded,.... With myself; as my soul, so the Syriac version renders it. Timothy had a soul like the apostle's, which none that were with him, besides him, had; he was of the same judgment with him in the doctrines of grace; he received and preached the same Gospel as he did; he preached the same Christ, the Son of God, without yea and nay; he had the same affection for the apostle, and the souls of men, as he had; his soul was knit to his, and they had, as it were, but one soul in two bodies; he was engaged in the same work of the Lord, and pursued it with the same zeal and diligence: he was a second Paul in the pulpit; and there was no man likeminded as he, or so well disposed to the Philippians as he was, that had their good and cause at heart, and was willing to take so long a journey to do them service; for he had a particular affection for them, having been among them with the apostle, when he first preached the Gospel to them:
who will naturally care for your state. There were none like him that would; many were like the shepherds of Israel, that fed themselves and not the flock; but he was one that was diligent to know the state of the flock, and looked well to the herd under his care; and had an anxious care and solicitude, as the word signifies, for the good of souls. The work of a faithful Gospel minister is a work of care; one of his characteristics is, that he cares for the church of God; and though anxious care in worldly things is forbidden, yet in the affairs of Christ's house it is highly commendable, and especially when it is natural, or genuine and sincere, as Timothy's was: he had a sincere love, an hearty and real concern for their good; and which he would show by delivering to them the sincere milk of the word, by preaching the Gospel in the power and purity of it, with all sincerity and uprightness, with a single eye to the glory of Christ, and the good of their souls; and which is the apostle's reason for sending him unto them.

His reason for sending Timothy above all others: I have none so "like-minded," literally, "like-souled," with myself as is Timothy. Compare Deuteronomy 13:6, "Thy friend which is as thine own soul" (Psalm 55:14). Paul's second self.
naturally--Greek, "genuinely"; "with sincere solicitude." A case wherein the Spirit of God so changed man's nature, that to be natural was with him to be spiritual: the great point to be aimed at.

I have none - Of those who are now with me.

*More commentary available at chapter level.


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