What Happened to Me
12 Now I desire to have you know, brothers, that the things which happened to me have turned out rather to the progress of the Good News, 13 so that it became evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my bonds are in Christ, 14 and that most of the brothers in the Lord, being confident through my bonds, are more abundantly bold to speak the word of God without fear.
The imprisonment that looked like the end of the mission turns out to have been a delivery system.
I desire to have you know, brothers, that the things which happened to me have turned out rather to the progress of the Good News.
The phrasing is careful — rather concedes what everyone assumed. An imprisoned apostle is a stopped apostle, and the Philippians had evidently been anxious about it. Paul reports the opposite, and gives two pieces of evidence.
First, the reach: my bonds became apparent in Christ throughout the whole praetorian guard, and to all the rest. The praetorian guard was the imperial garrison, and a prisoner under military custody was chained to a rotating series of soldiers. Paul describes his guard detail as an audience delivered to him in shifts.
Second, the effect on others: most of the brothers, confident through his bonds, are more abundantly bold to speak the word without fear. That is the reverse of what a leader's arrest normally produces.
Both results depend on one fact: the reason for his chains was known. The imprisonment preached before Paul opened his mouth.
settled What this mark means