Philippians 4:10 · Berean Standard Bible Now I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.
Matthew Henry reads the letter's closing paragraph as an acknowledgment of the kindness of
the Philippians in sending him a present for his support
— a parcel delivered to a man in
custody. Though Paul was imprisoned at Rome, for preaching the gospel, by the emperor's
command
, Henry writes at the end of the chapter, some of the emperor's own household had
nevertheless become Christians.
The support had been slow in coming
Henry notes that after a long gap their care of him flourished again
, and that Paul
refuses to read the gap as indifference: the apostle is willing to suppose, in favour of them,
that they would have done it if a fair opportunity had offered
. The gift itself was small.
It was but little which they sent; they sent only to his necessity, just such things as he had
need of
.
Then comes the qualification verse 13 completes
Philippians 4:11–12 · Berean Standard Bible I am not saying this out of need, for I have learned to be content regardless of my circumstances. I know how to live humbly, and I know how to abound. In any and every situation I have learned the secret of being filled and being hungry, of having plenty and having need.
Henry explains why it is there at all: Paul takes care to obviate the bad use some might
make of his taking so much notice of what was sent him
. Thanking donors warmly could be
misread as need, or as greed, so Paul states that his equilibrium never depended on the parcel.
Verse 13 is the last clause of that argument.