Biblion Bible Commentary
Read the introduction to Philippians · About this commentary
I Have You in My Heart
Philippians 1:7-8
7 It is even right for me to think this way on behalf of all of you, because I have you in my heart, because both in my bonds and in the defense and confirmation of the Good News, you all are partakers with me of grace. · WEB
Paul says his affection is not sentiment but a right judgment — and then calls God as witness to how much he misses them.
It is even right for me to think this way about you all. The verb is phronein, to be minded — the letter's key word, appearing here for the first time and returning at every turn of the argument Philippians 2:5.
His reason is a shared position: because I have you in my heart, since both in my bonds and in the defense and confirmation of the Good News, you all are partakers with me of grace. The Philippians are not spectators of his imprisonment. They are described as sharing in it, which is what their gifts and their messenger had made true in practice.
And the grace is named as something they hold with him — the chains and the defense are called grace, which is not how a man in custody would ordinarily describe his circumstances.
Verse 8 calls a witness for something no one could verify: God is my witness, how I long after you all in the tender mercies of Christ Jesus. The noun is the inward parts, the seat of feeling, and the phrase says the longing is not merely his own — he yearns for them with Christ's own affection, as though borrowing the capacity.
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