Biblion Bible Commentary
Read the introduction to Philippians · About this commentary
An Odor of a Sweet Smell
Philippians 4:17-18
17 Not that I seek for the gift, but I seek for the fruit that increases to your account. · WEB
Paul says what he is actually after — a credit in their account — and then reclassifies their money as a sacrifice.
Not that I seek for the gift, but I seek for the fruit that increases to your account.
The commercial vocabulary continues, and Paul turns it around. He is not pursuing the money but the interest accruing to the givers — the benefit runs toward them rather than toward him, which is the last removal of any sense that they were being solicited.
Verse 18 closes the books with three terms from receipting: I have all things and abound. I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things that came from you.
The middle phrase is the ordinary word for a receipt marked paid in full. The account is settled and nothing further is owed, which is a courteous way of saying they need not send more.
Then the reclassification, and it changes the category entirely: a sweet-smelling fragrance, an acceptable and well-pleasing sacrifice to God.
The language is the sanctuary's, used of offerings that ascend and are received Genesis 8:21 Ephesians 5:2. What the Philippians gave to a prisoner is described as having gone somewhere else and been accepted there. The transaction was never really between them and Paul.
settled What this mark means