Albert Barnes Commentary Philippians 2:27

"for indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, that I might not have sorrow upon sorrow." — Philippians 2:27 (ASV)

For indeed he was sick nigh unto death. Dr. Paley has remarked (Horae Paulinae, on Philippians, No. ii.) that the account of Epaphroditus's sickness and recovery leads us to suppose he was not restored by miracle. He infers that the power of healing the sick was conferred on the apostles only occasionally and did not depend at all on their will. For if it had, there is every reason to believe Paul would have immediately restored him to health.

This account, Paley adds, also shows that this epistle is not the work of an impostor. Had it been, a miracle would not have been spared. Paul would not have been introduced as showing such anxiety about a friend lying at the point of death and being unable to restore him. It would have been said that he intervened immediately and raised him to health.

But God had mercy on him. By restoring him to health, evidently not by miracle, but by the use of ordinary means.

On me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. In addition to all the sorrows of imprisonment, the prospect of a trial, and the lack of friends. The sources of his sorrow, had Epaphroditus died, would have been such as these:

1. He would have lost a valued friend, and one whom he esteemed as a brother and worthy fellow-labourer.
2. He would have felt that the church at Philippi had lost a valuable member.
3. His grief might have been aggravated by the thought that Epaphroditus's life had been lost in endeavouring to help him. He would have felt that he was the occasion, though innocent, of his friend's exposure to danger.