Paul now turns to speak about Epaphroditus, commending him and explaining his situation. It is difficult to be certain whether Epaphroditus is still with Paul as this letter is being written or has already begun his journey back to Philippi. If he is still with Paul, he will be the bearer of this letter. The verb I have thought, which is in the aorist tense, is then taken as a so-called “epistolary” aorist; that is, the writer puts himself in the position of the reader for whom, when the letter arrives, the writer’s present thoughts and actions would be matters of the past. In English, however, one would normally render the verb in the present or the perfect tense. This view is favored by most modern translators, thus “I feel” (New English Bible), “I think” (Moffatt Jerusalem Bible), or I have thought (“I have decided” New American Bible).
Since Epaphroditus is obviously a member of the Philippian community, both New English Bible and Good News Translation render our brother (inclusive our) rather than the exclusive “my brother” (Revised Standard Version New American Bible). The expression means “our fellow-Christian” (Barclay) Our brother may be expressed in some languages as “our fellow believer.” But such an expression must be extended even further in some languages as “one who believes in Jesus even as we do.”
Who has worked and fought by my side translates two Greek compound nouns, literally, “my fellow-worker and fellow-soldier.” These terms refer to Epaphroditus as Paul’s partner in his labor and fight for the cause of Christ and the gospel (Barclay “who has done Christ’s work and fought Christ’s battle with me”). The expression “fellow-soldier,” occurring elsewhere only in Philemon 2, reminds us that Christian work is a battle (cf. 1.27 ff).
A rendering of the verb has worked should not suggest mere physical activity—“tent making,” for example. What is important here is that Epaphroditus had “worked for the gospel.” Also, it may be misleading to use the military figure of speech suggested by fought by my side. This could suggest to some readers that Paul and Epaphroditus were actually soldiers, or that they had fought together against lions in some arena where Christians were being persecuted. One can, however, preserve something of the concept of a struggle by rendering fought by my side as “joined me in defending the good news.”
Epaphroditus is further described as “your apostle and minister of my need.” In the New Testament “apostle” is often used in the technical sense of “the Twelve,” that is, the apostles chosen by Jesus, and “minister” is understood as “one who performs priestly functions.” It is not likely that the special sense of either of these terms is intended here. Furthermore, the coordinate construction “apostle and minister” is best taken as forming one event, the latter being the semantic goal of the former. Thus one can render “your messenger to serve my need” (cf. New English Bible Jerusalem Bible New American Bible). By transforming this phrase into a relative clause parallel to the preceding clause, we have the Good News Translation rendering, who has served as your messenger in helping me. This may be rendered in some languages as “who has been your messenger in coming to help me,” or “he has been your messenger who has come and helped me.”
Quoted with permission from Luo, I-Jin. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Philippians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1977. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .