What Paul goes on to say is literally, “And you yourselves also know, Philippians….” The you is emphatic in Greek, and so one can render “you Philippians yourselves….” “Also know” has the force of know very well (so also Translator’s New Testament; cf. Jerusalem Bible Barclay). Even though Paul does not often address his readers by name, there seems to be no need to suppose a tone of rebuke as sometimes has been suggested (see 2 Cor 6.11; Gal 3.1). Paul simply desires to express his affectionate feeling toward his friends (New American Bible “my dear Philippians”; Barclay “my Philippian friends”).
It is rather difficult to translate the next two temporal references; literally, “in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia.” The relation of these clauses is appositional, but since the latter is more specific in mentioning a place name, it is probably better to reverse the clause order as in Good News Translation (cf. Knox “when I left Macedonia in those early days of gospel preaching”).
The clause when I left Macedonia can be understood in two different ways. Those who connect the gifts mentioned here with the ones referred to in 2 Cor 11.9 generally take the verb as a pluperfect, “when I had left Macedonia,” meaning “after my departure from Macedonia” (Moffatt Goodspeed Barclay). It is also possible, with the majority of modern translations, to take the clause to mean “at the time of my departure from Macedonia.” According to this interpretation, the gifts are none other than those mentioned in verse 16, for Thessalonica was in the province of Macedonia. It is equally possible that the reference in verse 16 is to a still earlier instance. The translation is not affected in either case.
The clause “in the beginning of the gospel” does not seem to refer to the beginning of Paul’s Christian life or to the beginning of his missionary work. Paul seems to say simply “when the gospel was first preached among you,” that is, in the early days preaching the Good News among you.
In some languages it may be awkward to have two temporal expressions, one following the other. Therefore one may translate the first part of verse 15 as “You Philippians know very well that when I left Macedonia you were the only church to help me; those were the early days of my preaching the Good News,” or “… that was at the beginning of the time when I was preaching the Good News in that part of the world,” or “… in that region.”
What Paul says in the remainder of the verse is a negative statement in Greek, literally, “no church entered into partnership with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only.” To bring out the proper emphasis of “except you only,” one may restructure the sentence as Good News Translation does, you were the only church to help me; you were the only ones…. The church here is, of course, the local congregation (New English Bible “you were the only congregation”). In some languages “congregation” may be rendered a “group of believers.”
The phrase “in the matter of giving and receiving,” taken from commercial language, is equivalent to “on account of credit and debit.” It can be understood in various ways. (1) As a reference to financial transactions in a general sense; for example, “no church but yours went into partnership and opened an account with me” (Goodspeed), or “no church but yourselves had any financial dealings with me” (Moffatt). (2) One can take “giving” as the specific giving by the Philippians and “receiving” as the receiving by Paul; thus “you were the only church by whom in partnership I was offered, and from whom I accepted, any financial help” (Barclay). (3) Since Paul is obviously referring to the financial help he received from the Philippians, it is possible to take the phrase as alluding to the gifts of money, for example, “no other church helped me with gifts of money” (Jerusalem Bible). (4) In view of the fact that the picture here is that of “sharing” or “partnership” in a business venture, it is possible to take the two terms in the figurative sense of “profits” and “losses,” as Good News Translation does, you were the only ones who shared my profits and losses.
In some languages a literal rendering of who shared my profits and losses may be too specific, giving the impression that the church in Philippi was actually in some kind of business agreement with Paul—for example, that when he made money at tentmaking, the church in Philippi received profits, but when he lost money, they made up for his losses. Such an interpretation would go far beyond the implications of this text. Accordingly, most translators render the final clause of verse 15 as “the only ones who made gifts of money to 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 .