Charles Ellicott Commentary Philippians 4:3

"Yea, I beseech thee also, true yokefellow, help these women, for they labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow-workers, whose names are in the book of life." — Philippians 4:3 (ASV)

I intreat.—This rendering is too strong. It is, I ask, or request. The word properly means to ask a question; secondarily, to make a request on equal terms, as if by right. Hence, it is never used (except, perhaps, in 1 John 5:16) of prayer from us to God.

True yokefellow.—This obscure phrase has greatly prompted conjecture.

1. It is historically curious to note the opinion, as old as Clement of Alexandria, that St. Paul referred to his own wife; but this opinion is clearly untenable in light of 1 Corinthians 7:8 and 1 Corinthians 9:5.
2. The word is never elsewhere applied by St. Paul to a fellow Christian and must denote some particular fellowship. Many guesses about its meaning have been made. Some refer it to St. Luke, who seems to be closely connected with Philippi in the historical accounts; others to Lydia, the first-fruits of the gospel in that city. Perhaps the most likely supposition is that it may refer to Epaphroditus, the bearer and perhaps the amanuensis of the Epistle. He had certainly come to help St. Paul bear his yoke of suffering, and in his case, the sudden address in the second person would cause no ambiguity.
3. However, a not improbable conjecture is that the word is a proper name—Syzygus (a name, it is true, not actually known)—and that the word “true” (properly, genuine) means “Syzygus, rightly so-called.” It is obvious to compare this with the play on the name “Onesimus” in Philemon 1:11.

Those women . . .—It should be, help them (Euodia and Syntyche), since they laboured with me. The word “laboured” signifies “joined with me in my struggle” and probably refers to something more than ordinary labour, during the critical times of suffering at Philippi.

Clement.—From the time of Origen onward, this Clement has been identified with the famous Clement, bishop of Rome, and author of the well-known Epistle to the Church at Corinth.

Irenæus expressly states that this Clement had seen and been in company with “the blessed Apostles.” In his own Epistle, Clement refers emphatically to the examples of both St. Peter and St. Paul as belonging to times “very near at hand.”

He dwells especially on St. Paul, describing him as “seven times a prisoner in chains, exiled, stoned,” “a herald of the gospel in the East and the West,” “a teacher of righteousness to the whole world,” and one who “penetrated to the farthest border of the West” (see Clement’s Epistle, chapter 5).

The fact that he was working at Philippi at this time—considering that Philippi, as a Roman colony, was virtually a part of Rome—is no objection to this identification. Nor is the chronology decisive against it, though it would make Clement an old man when he wrote his Epistle. The identification may stand as not improbable, while the commonness of the name Clemens makes it far from certain.

Whose names are in the book of life.—For “the Book of Life,” see Daniel 12:1; Revelation 3:5; Revelation 13:8; Revelation 17:8; Revelation 20:12; and Revelation 21:27. From that Book a name may be blotted out at present (Revelation 3:5) until the end fixes it forever.

There is (as has always been noticed) a particular beauty in this allusion. The Apostle does not mention his fellow-labourers by name, but it does not matter; their names are written before God in the Book of Life.

If they continue in His service, those names will shine out in the time to come, when the great names of the earth fade into nothingness.