So then3, my friends, how dear you are to me and how I miss you! How happy you make me, and how proud I am of you!—this, dear friends, is how you should stand firm in your life in the Lord. Euodia and Syntyche, please, I beg you, try to agree as sisters in the Lord. And you too, my faithful partner, I want you to help these women; for they have worked hard with me to spread the gospel, together with Clement and all my other fellow workers, whose names are in God’s book of life.
Phil 4:1-3
We have a list of people who are mentioned, some of them by name:-
- Euodia
- Syntyche
- You / My faithful partner
- Clement
- All my other fellow workers, whose names are in God’s book of life
A few of you picked up on the challenge I left you in Gem 1989. If you missed the last Gem but want the chance to try your investigative skills then don’t read anymore. Click the link to the previous Gem and try the challenge; you will like it and you will feel so much better knowing you cracked the case on your own. There is treasure to find. Remember to ask your questions of the text in front of you. Did you find yourself wanting to know the answers to the questions you came with? Do you still have them?
There is much debate over these three verses.
- It seems that Paul was being deliberately obtuse or perhaps discretionary in not giving us any more information. He referred to two women in the church in Philippi and a disagreement that was going on between them. But he didn’t tell us what the dispute was about nor give us any hints. Or does he?
- Paul then refers the matter to his faithful partner in order for him or her to help Euodia and Syntyche, but he doesn’t let on as to who he was talking to. So debate rages among the commentators and those of us who want to know as to who Paul’s faithful partner was.
- What was Paul’s special partner to do? Were they to help Euodia and Syntych only or did the task include Clement and all the other workers for the gospel as well?
- Or were the two women to be helped by the whole body?
- Or is the whole body: Euodia, Syntyche, Paul’s faithful partner, Clement and all the other workers being reminded to live in harmony and agreement?
- Or put another way: who was Suzugos?
- Paul refers to Clement. Who was he and why is he mentioned by name here?
- Why did Paul tag Clement and all his fellow workers in the way he did?
- What was Clement to do?
- Was he to help or was he to be helped?
- Just whose names are written in the Book of Life?
- What is the Book of Life anyway?
- Is it a reference to departed saints as some suggest?
Oh Ian!!!!
“Why did you do that? I spent the time on these three verses and thought I had it sussed and now you have thrown me into utter confusion.”
“I looked at the passage and figured there was nothing in there I needed to ask. Everything looked ok to me. I didn’t have any questions at all.”
Let’s start with the two protagonists.
Euodia and Syntyche
You have seen the problem if you bothered to follow up. Both of these women are mentioned once each in Scripture. You guessed it; they are mentioned in Paul’s letter to the Philippians only and no other place. What we know about them is what Paul wrote here in this letter. We know:
- They were sisters in the Lord.
- They both worked hard with Paul to spread the gospel.
From those two comments Bible readers and commentators alike have come up with the following:
- These two women were believers and followed Jesus
- These women likely held leadership roles in the church in Philippi
- They may have been hosts of house churches
- They may have been deaconesses in the church in Philippi
- They worked hard with Paul in spreading the Gospel
Beyond that we have no more information as to exactly what they did other than what we might glean by reading between the lines of the words in Paul’s letter. We do know Paul has introduced them as examples likely as not because they had a disagreement. Paul is still talking about standing firm and having the same mind, inferred from the context. However there is something else available to us. I hinted at it in the previous Gem. The meaning of their names.
The Meaning of Euodia
Mounce
Εὐοδία (euodia) 1x: Euodia, pr. name, Phil 4:2.
Strong
Εὐοδία (Euodia) yoo-od-ee’-ah – From the same as G2137; fine travelling; Euodia, a Christian woman: – Euodias. Total KJV occurrences: 1
Thayer
Εὐοδία (Euodia) Definition: Euodias = “fragrant” 1) a Christian woman at Philippi Part of Speech: noun proper feminine A Related Word by Thayer’s/Strong’s Number: from the same as G2137
Other sources I have1
Euodia – fine travelling Her name is a compound name made up of Εὐ + οδία,
or from a different root odia can refer to a scent or fragrance, i.e. a good smell. from which we get odour or odious in English.
Εὐ = good οδία is the femine form of the root word; hodos which means “a way”, “route”.
Hodos · a way, a travelled way, road, a traveller’s way, journey, travelling – a metaphor for a course of conduct, a way (i.e. manner) of thinking, feeling, living.
The Exodus is literally “the way out” – but we should not overlook a connection to Euodia being a follower of The Way.
It is highly likely that she was named Euodia for that very reason.
The Meaning of Syntyche
Mounce
Συντύχη (Syntychē) 1x: Syntyche, pr. name, Phil 4:2.
Strong
Συντύχη (Suntuchē) soon-too’-khay – From G4940; an accident; Syntyche, a Christian female: – Syntyche. Total KJV occurrences: 1
Thayer
Συντύχη (Suntuchē) Definition: Syntyche = “with fate” 1) a female member of the church of Philippi Part of Speech: noun proper feminine A Related Word by Thayer’s/Strong’s Number: from G4940
Other sources I have1
Suntuchē – Whose name is a compound name made up of Sun + tuchē
Sun = with, in sync with, according to, linked with; tuchē fate, accident, incidence, incidental, coincidental, a chance incident, “an accident waiting to happen”, fated
Much conjecture has been offered by way of information about these two women. It is clear they were spiritual, influential, fellow labourers with Paul and others.
They have been linked as rivals: one leading a Jewish-Christian church, the other a Gentile-Christian church, influential in Macedonia, there may have been accidental friction between them, even slight differences of opinion would stand out in a pure church like that in Philippi.
Noted is the fact that the word to “entreat, plead, beg, beseech” occurs twice in this verse that the dispute was on going.
1 My Sources:
- A variety of Dictionaries, Lexicons and Handbooks including:-
- All the Names in the Bible – Published by Nelson
- Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names, Alfred Jones
- The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament, Rogers and Rogers
- Exegetical Helps on Philippians
My Conclusion
My hunch is that their differences were found more in their approach to life and their character traits. Euodia was from the meaning of her name, a good follower of The Way. Some suspect she was a Jewish Christian although her name is decidedly Greek. However, it is also likely that if she was a Jew that she may well have taken a Christian name at her baptism, hence ending up with Euodia (from Good Way). Syntychē could well have been an entirely different kind of character, with a markedly different approach to life. Given her name meant “an accident waiting to happening”, or linked to “incidences” and “coincidences”, perhaps she was a “fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants” kind of woman for whom things just kept happening. Put two women with entirely different outlooks on life together and they would have likely rubbed one another up the wrong way. One commentator suggests the reason Paul didn’t tell us what the issue was between them was because there was no specific matter they disagreed on. They just didn’t get on. But all of this is speculation because frankly we were not told.
All that to answer the first question. Promise I will speed up as we look at the other matters these three verses contain.
A name pronounced is the recognition of the individual to whom it belongs. He, who can pronounce my name aright, he can call me, and is entitled to my love and service.
Henry David Thoreau
They say we die twice – once when the last breath leaves our body and once when the last person we know says our name.
Al Pacino
Do you not know that a man is not dead while his name is still spoken?
Terry Pratchett
Your name is the most important thing you own. Don’t ever do anything to disgrace or cheapen it.
Ben Hogan
So Euodia and Syntychē live on, but not by virtue of Al Pacino or Terry Pratchett’s opinion but because their names are written in God’s Book of Life.