Philippians Chapter 1 verse 13 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 13. - So that my bonds in Christ are manifest; rather, as R.V., so that my bonds became manifest in Christ. At first he seemed like ether prisoners; afterwards it became known that he suffered bonds, not for any crime, but in Christ, i.e. in fellowship with Christ and in consequence of the relation in which he stood to Christ. In all the palace; rather, as R.V., throughout the whole Praetorian Guard; literally, in the whole praetorium, The word elsewhere means a governor's house: Pilate's house in the Gospels, Herod's palace in Acts 23:35. But at Rome the name so used would give unnecessary offense, and there is no proof that it was ever used for the palatium there. St. Paul must have heard it constantly as the name of the Praetorian regiment; he was kept chained to a soldier of that corps (Acts 28:16); and as his guard was continually relieved, his name and sufferings for Christ would become gradually known throughout the force. Others, on the authority of a passage in Dion Cassius, understand the word of the barracks of that part of the Praetorian guard attached to the imperial residence on the Palatine. But the passage relates to the time of Augustus, before the Praetorian cohorts were established by Tiberius in the camp outside of the Colline Gate. And in all other places; rather, as R.V. and to all the rest; generally, that is, throughout the city.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(13) My bonds in Christ are manifest.--Properly, My bonds are made manifest as in Christ--i.e., my captivity is understood as being a part of my Christian life and work, and so becomes a starting-point for the preaching of the gospel. So St. Paul made it to the Jews (Acts 28:20), "For the hope of Israel am I bound in this chain." (Comp. Ephesians 6:20, "I am an ambassador in bonds.")In all the palace, and in all other places.--The word "palace" is praetorium. It is elsewhere used in the New Testament: first, of the palace of Pilate; in Matthew 27:27, Mark 15:16, apparently, of the soldiers' guardroom, or barrack; in John 18:28; John 18:33; John 19:9, of "the hall of judgment;" and next in Acts 23:35, of the "judgment hall of Herod," evidently forming a part of the palace of Felix. (It may be noted that coincidence with this last passage is the chief, and almost the sole, argument for the untenable idea that this Epistle belongs to the Caesarean and not the Roman captivity.) Its sense here has been disputed. It has been variously interpreted as the emperor's palace, or the praetorian barrack attached to it, or the praetorian camp outside the walls. Its original meaning of "the head-quarters of a general" would lend itself well enough to any of these, as a derivative sense. The first or the second sense (which is virtually the same) is the interpretation of all ancient commentators, and suits best with the mention of "Caesar's household" in Philippians 4:22, but not very well with the historical statement in Acts 28:16-30, that St. Paul dwelt "in his own hired house," "with a soldier that kept him." The other sense suits better with this last statement, and also with the delivery of the prisoner "to the captain of the guard," i.e., literally, the commander of the camp, or praetorian prefect, and perhaps with abstract probability in the case of an obscure Jewish prisoner. But the difficulty is that, although the word might be applied to any of these places, yet, as a matter of fact, it is not found to be so applied. Moreover, we notice here that the words "in all other places" are an inaccurate rendering of a phrase really meaning "to all the rest" (see marginal reading). The connection therefore seems even in itself to suggest that the "praetorium" may more properly refer to a body of men than to a place. Accordingly (following Dr. Lightfoot), since the word "praetorium" is undoubtedly used for the "praetorian guard," it seems best to take that sense here. "My bonds" (says the Apostle) "are known in all the praetorian regiments"--for the soldiers, no doubt, guarded him by turns--"and to all the rest of the world, whether of soldiers or of citizens." This would leave it an open question where St. Paul was imprisoned, only telling us that it was under praetorian surveillance; . . .