so that it became evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my bonds are in Christ,
Parallel Translations
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so that it became evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my bonds are in Christ,
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So that my bondes in Christ are manyfest thorow out all the iudgement hall and in all other places:
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So that my bandes in Christ are famous throughout all the iudgement hall, and in all other places,
Cross-references (16)
Passages linked to Philippians 1:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Timothy 2:9 in which I suffer hardship to the point of chains as a criminal. But God’s word isn’t chained.
- Ephesians 3:1 For this cause I, Paul, am the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles,
- Acts 26:29 Paul said, “I pray to God, that whether with little or with much, not only you, but also all that hear me today, might become such as I am, except for these bonds.”
- Ephesians 6:20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
- Philippians 1:7 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.
- Philippians 4:22 All the saints greet you, especially those who are of Caesar’s household.
- 1 Peter 4:12-16 Beloved, don’t be astonished at the fiery trial which has come upon you to test you, as though a strange thing happened to you. But because you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings, rejoice, that at the revelation of his glory you also may rejoice with exceeding joy. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed; because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. On their part he is blasphemed, but on your part he is glorified. For let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or an evil doer, or a meddler in other men’s matters. But if one of you suffers for being a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God in this matter.
- Acts 20:23-24 except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions wait for me. But these things don’t count; nor do I hold my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to fully testify to the Good News of the grace of God.
- Acts 21:11-13 Coming to us and taking Paul’s belt, he bound his own feet and hands, and said, “The Holy Spirit says: ‘So the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt, and will deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’ ” When we heard these things, both we and the people of that place begged him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
- Acts 26:31 When they had withdrawn, they spoke to one another, saying, “This man does nothing worthy of death or of bonds.”
- Acts 28:17 After three days Paul called together those who were the leaders of the Jews. When they had come together, he said to them, “I, brothers, though I had done nothing against the people or the customs of our fathers, still was delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans,
- Acts 28:20 For this cause therefore I asked to see you and to speak with you. For because of the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.”
- Acts 28:30 Paul stayed two whole years in his own rented house and received all who were coming to him,
- Colossians 4:3-18 praying together for us also, that God may open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds, that I may reveal it as I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. All my affairs will be made known to you by Tychicus, the beloved brother, faithful servant, and fellow bondservant in the Lord. I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that he may know your circumstances and comfort your hearts, together with Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will make known to you everything that is going on here. Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you, and Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you received commandments, “if he comes to you, receive him”), and Jesus who is called Justus. These are my only fellow workers for God’s Kingdom who are of the circumcision, men who have been a comfort to me. Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, salutes you, always striving for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. For I testify about him that he has great zeal for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for those in Hierapolis. Luke the beloved physician and Demas greet you. Greet the brothers who are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the assembly that is in his house. When this letter has been read among you, cause it to be read also in the assembly of the Laodiceans, and that you also read the letter from Laodicea. Tell Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you fulfill it.” The salutation of me, Paul, with my own hand: remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen.
- Ephesians 4:1 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called,
- 1 Thessalonians 1:8-9 For from you the word of the Lord has been declared, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone out, so that we need not to say anything. For they themselves report concerning us what kind of a reception we had from you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God,
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 13 So that my bonds He employs the expression…
13 So that my bonds He employs the expression — in Christ, to mean, in the affairs, or in the cause of Christ, for he intimates that his bonds had become illustrious, so as to promote the honor of Christ. The rendering given by some — through Christ, seems forced. I have also employed the word illustria (illustrious) in preference to manifesta, (manifest,) — as having ennobled the gospel by their fame. “Satan, indeed, has attempted it, and the wicked have thought that it would turn out so, that the gospel would be destroyed; but God has frustrated both the attempts of the former and the expectations of the latter, and that in two ways, for while the gospel was previously obscure and unknown, it has come to be well known, and not only so, but has even been rendered honorable in the Praetorium, no less than in the rest of the city.” By the praetorium I understand the hall and palace of Nero, which Fabius and writers of that age call Augustale, (the Augustal.) For as the name praetor was at first a general term, and denoted all magistrates who held the chief sway, (hence it came that the dictator was called the sovereign praetor, ) it, consequently, became customary to employ the term praetorium in war to mean the tent, either of the consul, or of the person who presided, while in the city it denoted the palace of Caesar, from the time that the Cesars took possession of the monarchy. Independently of this, the bench of praetor is also called the praetorium
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain In the Emperor’s court.
In the Emperor’s court.
For Christ’s sake.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 13 So that my bonds in Christ are manifest…
13 So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places;
Ver. 13. In all the palace] So in the Diet held at Augsburgh in Germany, A.D. 1530. Caesar reading the Protestants’ confession, and sending it abroad to other Christian princes, as desiring their advice about it, dispersed and spread it more in all parts than all the Lutheran preachers could have done. For which cause Luther laughs agood (heartily) at the foolish wisdom of the Papists, in a certain epistle of his to the elector of Saxony. When Bonner allowed William Hunter, martyr, no more than a half penny a day in prison, he confessed that he lacked nothing, but had meat and clothing enough, yea, even out of the court, both money, meat, clothes, wood and coals, and all things necessary. What friends John Wycliffe found, both in the court of England and in the court of Bohemia, is famously known; and yet the proverb is,
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" Exeat aula qui velit esse pius-"
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing…
And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds; and here again, contrary to the expectation of those persecutors, who designed to make havoc of the church, his innocent carriage and constancy in bearing the cross, had all influence upon the greater part of
the brethren (not according to the flesh, Rom 9:3, but) in the service of Christ.
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Are much more bold to speak the word without fear; pastors, and teachers, who had been timorous at the first, were greatly imboldened to shake of carnal fear, and to profess and preach Christ crucified, or the cross of Christ, 1Co 1:18,23, which is the power of God to salvation, Rom 1:16, more confidently than ever; as he and Barnabas had done elsewhere, Act 13:46; and as Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, who were but secret disciples before Christ’s sufferings, upon his death owned him openly for their Lord, Mat 27:57, with Joh 19:39.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain So that my bonds in Christ,.... What he had…
So that my bonds in Christ,.... What he had more darkly hinted before, he more clearly expresses here; the things that happened to him were his bonds; he was now a prisoner at Rome and in chains; though he had the liberty of dwelling alone in his own hired house, and of his friends coming to see him and hear him, yet he was bound with a chain, and under the care and guard of a soldier continually, who held one end of it. These bonds of his were not for debt, which he took care not to run into, but chose rather to work with his own hands, and so ministering to his own and the necessities of others, that he might not eat any man's bread for nought; nor for any capital crime, as murder, or theft, or anything that was worthy of death or of bonds; but his bonds were in Christ, or for Christ's sake, for professing Christ and preaching his Gospel; he was a prisoner in the Lord, or for his sake; see Eph 4:1. The use of his sufferings, which is more generally signified in Phi 1:12, is here and in Phi 1:14 more particularly related, and the several instances of it given, these his bonds for the sake of Christ, he says,
are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places, or "my bonds are manifest in Christ", as the words may be read; that is, by the means of Christ, he causing them to be taken notice of by men, and some of the first rank: by his bonds being manifest may be meant he himself who was bound; who by his bonds became known to persons, to whom in all probability he would otherwise have remained unknown; as to Felix, and Festus, and King Agrippa, and others in Caesar's court: or the Gospel for the sake of which he was bound; this was made manifest and became known, not barely notionally, but savingly and experimentally; and even Christ himself the substance of it, for whom he was laid in bonds, by this means came to be known, "in all the palace". The Arabic version reads it, "in the palace of the emperor". The word "praetorium", here used, signifies sometimes the judgment hall, or court of judicature belonging to the Roman governors, as Herod and Pilate; see Act 23:35; and if it designs any such court at Rome, then the sense is, that through the apostle's being sent a prisoner to Rome, and his cause heard in the praetorium, or judgment hall, he and the cause of his bonds came to be known by the judges in that court; and which might be the means of the conversion of some of them: sometimes it signifies the general's pavilion in the camp, and sometimes the emperor's palace at Rome, he being the chief "praetor", or magistrate; and so here it seems to design Nero's house or court, where the Gospel, through the apostle's bonds, had made its way to the conversion of many there; see Phi 4:22; and in all other places; or as the Arabic version renders it, "with all other men"; for it may be understood either of men or places; and that Christ and his Gospel came to be known through the apostle's sufferings, not only in the court of judicature where his cause was tried, or in Caesar's palace, and to many of his courtiers, but in other places in Rome, and parts of the empire, and to many persons there, both Jews and Gentiles; so that what was intended for the disadvantage of the Gospel, proved for the service of it.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain My bonds in Christ - Endured for his sake.…
My bonds in Christ - Endured for his sake. Have been made manifest - Much taken notice of. In the whole palace - Of the Roman emperor.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 13. My bonds - are manifest in all…
Verse 13. My bonds - are manifest in all the palace] In consequence of the public defence which he was obliged to make, his doctrines must be fully known in the court, and throughout the whole city, as on his trial he would necessarily explain the whole. The praetorium, πραιτωριον, which we here translate palace, signifies the court where causes were heard and judged by the praetor or civil magistrate; it sometimes signifies the general's tent, and at others, the emperor's palace. It is supposed that it is used in this latter sense here. There were, no doubt, persons belonging to the emperor's household who would bring the news of so remarkable a case to the palace; for we find that there were Christians even in Caesar's household; Php 4:22.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain So that my bonds in Christ - Margin, “for.”…
So that my bonds in Christ - Margin, “for.” The meaning is, his bonds in the cause of Christ. He was imprisoned because he preached Christ (see the notes, Eph 6:20), and was really suffering because of his attachment to the Redeemer. It was not for crime, but for being a Christian for had he not been a Christian, he would have escaped all this. The manner of Paul’s imprisonment was, that he was permitted to occupy a house by himself, though chained to a soldier who was his guard; Act 28:16. He was not in a dungeon indeed, but he was not at liberty, and this was a severe mode of confinement. Who would wish to be chained night and day to a living witness of all that he did; to a spy on all his movements? Who would wish to have such a man always with him, to hear all he said, and to see all that he did? Who could well bear the feeling that he could never be alone - and never be at liberty to do anything without the permission of one too who probably had little disposition to be indulgent?
Are manifest - That is, it has become known that I am imprisoned only for the sake of Christ - Grotius. The true reason why I am thus accused and imprisoned begins to be understood, and this has awakened sympathy for me as an injured man. They see that it is not for crime, but that it is on account of my religious opinions, and the conviction of my innocence has spread abroad, and has produced a favorable impression in regard to Christianity itself. It must have been a matter of much importance for Paul to have this knowledge of the real cause why he was imprisoned go abroad. Such a knowledge would do much to prepare others to listen to what he had to say - for there is no man to whom we listen more readily than to one who is suffering wrongfully.
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In all the palace - Margin, “Or, Caesar’s court.” Greek, ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ πραιτωρίῳ en holō tō praitōriō - in all the praetorium. This word properly denotes the general’s tent in a camp; then the house or palace of a governor of a province, then any large hall, house, or palace. It occurs in the New Testament only in the following places: Mat 27:27, where it is rendered “common hall”; Mar 15:16, rendered “Praetorium”; Joh 18:28, Joh 18:33; Joh 19:9; Act 23:35, rendered “judgment hall”; and here in Phi 1:13. It is employed to denote:
(1)The palace of Herod at Jerusalem, built with great magnificence at the northern part of the upper city, westward of the temple, and overlooking the temple;
(2)The palace of Herod at Caesarea, which was probably occupied by the Roman procurator; and,
(3)In the place before us to denote either the palace of the emperor at Rome, or the praetorian camp, the headquarters of the praetorian guards or cohorts.
These cohorts were a body of select troops instituted by Augustus to guard his person, and have charge of the city; see Robinson (Lexicon), Bloomfield, Rosenmuller, and some others, understand this of the praetorian camp, and suppose that Paul meant to say that the cause of his imprisonment had become known to all the band of the praetorians.
Grotius says that the usual word to denote the residence of the emperor at Rome was palatium - palace, but that those who resided in the provinces were accustomed to the word “praetorium,” and would use it when speaking of the palace of the emperor. Chrysostom says that the palace of the emperor was called praetorium, by a Latin word derived from the Greek; see Erasmus in loc. Calvin supposes that the palace of Nero is intended. The question about the meaning of the word is important, as it bears on the inquiry to what extent the gospel was made known at Rome in the time of Paul, and perhaps as to the question why he was released from his imprisonment. It the knowledge of his innocence had reached the palace, it was a ground of hope that he might be acquitted; and if that palace is here intended, it is an interesting fact, as showing that in some way the gospel had been introduced into the family of the emperor himself. That the palace or residence of the emperor is intended here, may be considered at least probable from the following considerations:
(1) It is the name which would be likely to be used by the Jews who came up from Judea and other provinces, to denote the chief place of judgment, or the principal residence of the highest magistrate. So it was used in Jerusalem, in Cesarea, and in the provinces generally, to denote the residence of the general in the camp, or the procurator in the cities - the highest representative of the Roman power.
(2) If the remark of Chrysostom, above referred to, be well founded, that this was a common name given to the palace in Rome, then this goes far to determine the question.
(3) In Phi 4:22, Paul, in the salutation of the saints at Rome to those of Philippi, mentions particularly those of “Caesar’s household.” From this it would seem that some of the family of the emperor had been made acquainted with the Christian religion, and had been converted. In what way the knowledge of the true cause of Paul’s imprisonment had been circulated in the “palace,” is not now known. There was, however, close intimacy between the military officers and the government, and it was probably by means of some of the soldiers or officers who had the special charge of Paul, that this had been communicated. To Paul, in his bonds, it must have been a subject of great rejoicing, that the government became thus apprised of the true character of the opposition which had been excited against him; and it must have done much to reconcile him to the sorrows and privations of imprisonment, that he was thus the means of introducing religion to the very palace of the emperor.
And in all other places - Margin, to all others. The Greek will bear either construction. But if, as has been supposed, the reference in the word praetorium is to the palace, then this should be rendered “all other places.” It then means, that the knowledge of his innocence, and the consequences of that knowledge in its happy influence in spreading religion, were not confined to the palace, but were extended to other places. The subject was generally understood, so that it might be said that correct views of the matter pervaded the city, and the fact of his imprisonment was accomplishing extensively the most happy effects on the public mind.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain In all the court,[2] or in the whole palace…
In all the court,[2] or in the whole palace of the emperor, and to all others, or in all other places at and near Rome. (Witham)
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
In omni Prætorio, Greek: en olo to praitorio.
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George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain my bonds in Christ--rather as Greek, "So that my…
my bonds in Christ--rather as Greek, "So that my bonds have become manifest in Christ," that is, known, as endured in Christ's cause.
palace--literally, "Prætorium," that is, the barrack of the Prætorian guards attached to the palace of Nero, on the Palatine hill at Rome; not the general Prætorian camp outside of the city; for this was not connected with "Cæsar's household," which Phi 4:22 shows the Prætorium here meant was. The emperor was "Prætor," or Commander-in-Chief; naturally then the barrack of his bodyguard was called the Prætorium. Paul seems now not to have been at large in his own hired house, though chained to a soldier, as in Act 28:16, Act 28:20, Act 28:30-31, but in strict custody in the Prætorium; a change which probably took place on Tigellinus becoming Prætorian Prefect. See Introduction.
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in all other places--so CHRYSOSTOM. Or else, "TO all the rest," that is, "manifest to all the other" Prætorian soldiers stationed elsewhere, through the instrumentality of the Prætorian household guards who might for the time be attached to the emperor's palace, and who relieved one another in succession. Paul had been now upwards of two years a prisoner, so that there was time for his cause and the Gospel having become widely known at Rome.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 13. My bonds in Christ—The first result of his…
13. My bonds in Christ—The first result of his imprisonment was a correct and wide-spread intelligence of its true cause and character. We prefer to read, my bonds have become manifest in Christ. Men had come to know that they were connected with Christ, and endured in his service; and that Paul himself was not seditious, turbulent, or a traitor.
All the palace—Probably the pretorian camp is meant, the barracks of the imperial lifeguard, perhaps including the detachment quartered near Nero’s palace. The word is never used for the palace of the emperor. See note on Act_28:16, and the cut of Rome.
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All other—Literally, and to all the rest. Very likely the people who had become familiar with his case; as to-day we say, “every body else.” Soldier after soldier had attended him, to whom he had spoken of the great salvation; visitors—Jews, Christians, and pagans—had freely received from his lips the “things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ.” Act_28:31. Thus soldiers and visitors had learned the true cause of Paul’s imprisonment. To them Christ was preached.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 13. So that, &c.] Render, So that my bonds…
13. So that, &c.] Render, So that my bonds are become manifest (as being) in Christ. In other words, his imprisonment has come to be seen in its true significance, as no mere political or ecclesiastical matter, but due to his union of life and action with a promised and manifested Messiah.
in all the palace] Greek, “in the whole Prœtorium (praitôrion).” The word occurs elsewhere in N. T., Mat_27:27; Mar_15:16; Joh_18:28; Joh_18:33; Joh_19:9; Act_23:35; in the sense of the residence, or a part of it, of an official grandee, regarded as a prœtor, a military commander. (Not that the word, in Latin usage, always keeps a military reference; it is sometimes the near equivalent of the word villa, the country residence of a Roman gentleman.) The A.V. rendering here is obviously an inference from these cases, and it assumes that St Paul was imprisoned within the precincts of the residence of the supreme Prætor, the Emperor; within the Palatium, the mansion of the Cæsars on the Mons Palatinus, the Hill of the goddess Pales. In Nero’s time this mansion (whose name is the original of all “palaces”) had come to occupy the whole hill, and was called the Golden House.—The rendering of the A.V. is accepted by high authorities, as Dean Merivale (Hist. Rom. vi. ch. 54), and Mr Lewin (Life and Epistles of St Paul, ii. p. 282). On the other hand Bp Lightfoot (on this verse, Philippians, p. 99) prefers to render “in all the Prætorian Guard,” the Roman life-guard of the Cæsar; and gives full evidence for this use of the word Prœtorium. And there is no evidence for the application of the word by Romans to the imperial Palace. To this last reason, however, it is fair to reply, with Mr Lewin, that St Paul, as a Provincial, might very possibly apply to the Palace a word meaning a residency in the provinces, especially after his long imprisonment in the royal Prœtorium at Cæsarea (Act_23:35; Act_24:27). But again it is extremely likely, as Bp Lightfoot remarks, that the word Prœtorium, in the sense of the Guard, would be often on the lips of the “soldiers that kept” St Paul (Act_28:16); and thus this would be now the more familiar reference. On the whole, we incline to the rendering of Lightfoot, (and of the R.V.) throughout the (whole) Prætorian Guard. Warder after warder came on duty to the Apostle’s chamber (whose locality, on this theory, is nowhere certainly defined in N. T.), and carried from it, when relieved, information and often, doubtless, deep impressions, which gave his comrades knowledge of the Prisoner’s message and of the claims of the Saviour.
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Other explanations of the word Prœtorium are (a) the Barrack within the Palatium where a detachment of Prætorians was stationed, and within which St Paul may have been lodged; (b) the great Camp of the Guard, just outside the eastern walls of Rome. But the barrack was a space too limited to account for the strong phrase, “in all the Prætorium”; and there is no evidence that the great Camp was ever called Prætorium.
Wyclif renders, curiously, “in eche moot (council) halle”; Tyndale, Cranmer, and Geneva, “throughout all the judgment hall.”
in all other places] Better, to all other (men); to the Roman “public,” as distinguished from this special class. The phrase points to a large development of St Paul’s personal influence.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (13) My bonds in Christ are manifest.—Properly, My bonds…
(13) My bonds in Christ are manifest.—Properly, My bonds are made manifest as in Christ—i.e., my captivity is understood as being a part of my Christian life and work, and so becomes a starting-point for the preaching of the gospel. So St. Paul made it to the Jews (Act_28:20), “For the hope of Israel am I bound in this chain.” (Comp. Eph_6:20, “I am an ambassador in bonds.”)
In all the palace, and in all other places.—The word “palace” is prætorium. It is elsewhere used in the New Testament: first, of the palace of Pilate; in Mat_27:27, Mar_15:16, apparently, of the soldiers’ guardroom, or barrack; in Joh_18:28; Joh_18:33; Joh_19:9, of “the hall of judgment;” and next in Act_23:35, of the “judgment hall of Herod,” evidently forming a part of the palace of Felix. (It may be noted that coincidence with this last passage is the chief, and almost the sole, argument for the untenable idea that this Epistle belongs to the Cæsarean and not the Roman captivity.) Its sense here has been disputed. It has been variously interpreted as the emperor’s palace, or the praetorian barrack attached to it, or the prætorian camp outside the walls. Its original meaning of “the head-quarters of a general” would lend itself well enough to any of these, as a derivative sense. The first or the second sense (which is virtually the same) is the interpretation of all ancient commentators, and suits best with the mention of “Caesar’s household” in Php_4:22, but not very well with the historical statement in Act_28:16-30, that St. Paul dwelt “in his own hired house,” “with a soldier that kept him.” The other sense suits better with this last statement, and also with the delivery of the prisoner “to the captain of the guard,” i.e., literally, the commander of the camp, or prætorian prefect, and perhaps with abstract probability in the case of an obscure Jewish prisoner. But the difficulty is that, although the word might be applied to any of these places, yet, as a matter of fact, it is not found to be so applied. Moreover, we notice here that the words “in all other places” are an inaccurate rendering of a phrase really meaning “to all the rest” (see marginal reading). The connection therefore seems even in itself to suggest that the “prætorium” may more properly refer to a body of men than to a place. Accordingly (following Dr. Lightfoot), since the word “prætorium” is undoubtedly used for the “prætorian guard,” it seems best to take that sense here. “My bonds” (says the Apostle) “are known in all the prætorian regiments”—for the soldiers, no doubt, guarded him by turns—“and to all the rest of the world, whether of soldiers or of citizens.” This would leave it an open question where St. Paul was imprisoned, only telling us that it was under praetorian surveillance;
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain So that my bonds in Christ are manifest; rather,…
So that my bonds in Christ are manifest; rather, as R.V, so that my bonds became manifest in Christ. At first he seemed like ether prisoners; afterwards it became known that he suffered bonds, not for any crime, but in Christ, i.e. in fellowship with Christ and in consequence of the relation in which he stood to Christ. In all the palace; rather, as R.V, throughout the whole Praetorian Guard; literally, in the whole praetorium, The word elsewhere means a governor"s house: Pilate"s house in the Gospels, Herod"s palace in Act_23:35. But at Rome the name so used would give unnecessary offense, and there is no proof that it was ever used for the palatium there. St. Paul must have heard it constantly as the name of the Praetorian regiment; he was kept chained to a soldier of that corps; (Act_28:16) and as his guard was continually relieved, his name and sufferings for Christ would become gradually known throughout the force. Others, on the authority of a passage in Dion Cassius, understand the word of the barracks of that part of the Praetorian guard attached to the imperial residence on the Palatine. But the passage relates to the time of Augustus, before the Praetorian cohorts were established by Tiberius in the camp outside of the Colline Gate. And in all other places; rather, as R.V and to all the rest; generally, that is, throughout the city.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 13. So that my bonds in Christ are manifest…
13. So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace. Prætorium in the Greek, rendered by the Revision, “Prætorian guard.” The prætorian camp was the great military camp of a body of soldiers stationed permanently at Rome, called the prætorian guards. Paul, as a military prisoner, was under charge of its commander, the præfect. The necessity of reporting regularly would make him well known, and would give him many opportunities to preach Christ there and elsewhere. Compare Acts 28:16.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain the palace
the palace
Or, Caesar’s court. Php 4:22.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 1:13 The whole palace guard were workers in the…
1:13 The whole palace guard were workers in the emperor’s or provincial governor’s official residence (see 4:22). • Paul was in prison because of Christ—that is, because of preaching the Good News of Christ (cp. Acts 21:26–28:31).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.