What is it for Paul to be poured out on the sacrifice of their faith?

Explanation:

Paul says that he rejoices, even if he is poured out upon the sacrificial offering of the Philippians’ faith. To understand what Paul means by this, we must first recognize that he is speaking metaphorically through the image of the Old Testament sacrificial system.⁴ According to Numbers 28:1–8, the priests were expected to make daily sacrifices, which included the offering of a lamb. Along with the lamb, a drink offering was offered, which meant pouring out a strong drink. In other words, the drink offering was a cup of wine or other strong drink that was poured out onto the animal sacrifice.⁵ Now, what Paul is saying in Philippians 2:17 is that the Philippians are like the priests, and their act of service involves making a sacrifice of faith. So the Philippians offer a sacrifice to God, and that sacrifice is faith. Paul also says that if he is the drink offering that is poured out, he would rejoice. In other words, in order for the Philippians to make a sacrifice they need something to sacrifice. Paul is saying that he would gladly contribute to the Philippians' sacrifice, as the portion that is the drink offering, which is poured out on the lamb. Interestingly, we know from 2 Timothy 4:6 that when Paul refers to being poured out as a drink offering, he likely implies his death, in the sense that his blood is poured out as the wine is.

Thus, the Philippians place their faith in God and Paul would gladly contribute to that act of faith, even if his contribution results in his death.

Counterargument:

Paul seems to be suggesting not that he would like to contribute to the Philippians’ sacrifice but that there is common suffering between them.⁶ We can deduce this because in Philippians 1:30 he says that he and the Philippians are engaged in the same struggle, one that has to do with suffering for the gospel.⁷ And now he says that he is a drink offering, which implies a close association with their suffering.⁸ Thus, Paul is saying that just as the Philippians make sacrifices for the gospel and suffer, so does Paul.

Response to Counterargument:

The problem with this is that it does not take seriously the elements of the metaphor, which have it that Paul is the drink offering. That is, Paul is not saying that the Philippians make a sacrifice and so does he. Rather, he is saying that he is the drink offering that contributes to the Philippians’ sacrifice. Thus, he not only suffers alongside the Philippians, but he contributes to their sacrifice in some way. And the immediate context supports this, for the context has to do with the notion that the Philippians hold fast to the gospel so that Paul should not have to run in vain (Philippians 2:16). In other words, Paul is more than willing to labour for the Philippians’ faith, and thus contribute to their sacrifice, but exhorts them to hold fast to the end. So, we should not refer back to Philippians 1:30 to understand Philippians 2:17, as the counterargument does, but rather Philippians 2:16, which offers clearer insight into the meaning of the metaphor.

Explanation:

Paul says that he would gladly be poured out as the drink offering of the Philippians’ sacrifice, and then he adds, of your faith. In other words, Paul offers us a hint at what the metaphor means when he characterizes the Philippians’ sacrifice as a sacrifice of faith.⁹ That suggest that the Philippians’ sacrifice has to do with trusting God in the midst of a crooked pagan society. Trusting in God could result in persecution and suffering, as Paul alludes to in Philippians 1:30 when he says the Philippians are engaged in the same conflict in which he is engaged. Thus, the sacrifice of the Philippians is their faith in God that leads to suffering. Now, Paul says that he glad to be the drink offering of the Philippians’ sacrifice. While he is not specific, since we know that the drink offering contributes to the sacrifice and the sacrifice is the Philippians’ faith, Paul seems to be saying that he is willing to contribute to the Philippians’ faith.

Counterargument:

While it is true that Paul characterizes the Philippians’ offering and service as their faith, we know from other portions of Philippians that this faith is displayed by the Philippians’ giving.¹⁰ We can deduce this because in Philippians 2:30, Paul explains that Epaphroditus risked his life to complete the Philippians’ service to Paul. The term Paul uses for service is the same term is used to characterize the Philippians’ sacrifice in Philippians 2:17 Thus the sacrifice and service of the Philippians faith is their willingness to give to Paul’s ministry (see Interpretation 2, argument 1).

Response to counterargument:

While it is true that the Philippians make a sacrifice of faith in the sense that they sacrifice their material wealth in order to support Paul’s ministry, this is not the only act of faith apparent in the letter. For in Philippians 1:27–30, Paul encourages the Philippians to stand firm in the face of opposition, and in Philippians 2:14–16 he calls them to hold fast to the word of life in the midst of a crooked generation. In other words, Paul encourages the Philippians to trust in God, even when it is difficult to do so. And he is glad to contribute to the Philippians’ sacrifice of faith, even if it means his death.

Once one understands the elements of the metaphor, it is hard to see what the weakness of this view might be.

Explanation:

It is important to note that Paul refers to the Philippians’ sacrifice service. The term for service was used in the Greek world to denote something like public service. It is used in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) to denote the activities of the Israelite priests.¹³ So the term has something to do with service.

Interestingly, Paul uses the same term in other places to denote giving gifts to his ministry. For example, in 2 Corinthians 9:12, Paul says that the ministry of this service, referring to the generous gifts of the Corinthians, is used to supply the needs of the saints. Also, in Philippians 2:30 it is used to denote the fact that Epaphroditus nearly died while he was serving Paul in order to fulfill what was lacking in the Philippians’ service. And in Philippians 2:25, Paul says that Epaphroditus was the Philippians’ messenger and minister to Paul’s needs.¹⁴ Thus, Paul is saying that the Philippians offered a gift to help support his ministry, which Epaphroditus helped to deliver, and Paul refers to this gift as service, which is the same term he uses to describe the sacrifice and service of the Philippians’ faith.

Thus, Paul is saying that he would willingly be the drink offering of the Philippians’ sacrifice to offer gifts.

Counterargument:

The problem with this interpretation is that while it might offer good reasons to explain what Paul means by the term service, it cannot make sense of the metaphor as a whole. So it is better to take it that Paul means not ministerial gift but something different. Let us take each item in turn.

This view has it that when Paul refers to the Philippians’ sacrifice and service of faith, the terms sacrifice and service are metaphorical for ministerial gifts that the Philippians offer to support his ministry. The problem is that the metaphor not only mentions the sacrifice and service of the Philippians’ (which this view construes as ministerial gifts to Paul’s ministry), but it also refers to Paul’s being poured out like a drink offering upon the Philippians’ sacrifice and service. Now, we know from the Old Testament that the drink offering was when a priest took a cup of wine and poured it out onto the animal sacrifice. So, according to this view, Paul is saying that he is the drink offering of the Philippians’ ministerial gift. But what does that mean? This argument does not offer an answer to this.

Response to counterargument:

We can make sense of what Paul means when he says that he is willing to be the drink offering of the Philippians’ ministerial gift. For the ministerial gift is a sacrifice of faith, which empowers Paul to preach the gospel. And because of Paul’s preaching the gospel, he is imprisoned and could be put to death. Thus, he contributes to the Philippians’ ministerial gift by using their financial sacrifice to proclaim the gospel. Paul stewards the financial gift of the Philippians, earmarked for the gospel, by preaching and proclaiming, which has led to his arrest. Thus, Paul is the drink offering of the Philippians’ gift in that he contributes to it by preaching.

The weakness of this view is that it strains the meaning of the metaphor. For while it is possible to explain how Paul is the drink offering of the Philippians’ ministerial gift, the explanation is not intuitive. For if we construe things in terms of financial gifts to Paul’s ministry, it seems that Paul is the one making a sacrifice of faith, and the Philippians contribute as the drink offering by offering their financial gifts. Thus, when Paul refers to the Philippians’ sacrifice and service of faith, he likely means their trust in God, not their ministerial gift.