Additional Notes §13
§13 Paul’s Libation on the Philippians’ Sacrifice (Phil. 2:17–18a)
The life of the Philippian church is viewed as an offering to God: if one thing remains to make that offering perfectly acceptable, Paul is willing that the sacrifice of his own life should be that one thing—credited to their account, not to his.
2:17 / Paul comes back to his present situation. He hopes for a favorable verdict in the imperial court, but he cannot be sure: the case might go the other way, and he might be sentenced to death. If so, the sentence would probably be carried out by decapitation. How would Paul view that prospect?
The life and service of Christians could be described as a sacrifice. Paul urges the Roman Christians to present themselves “as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God” (Rom. 12:1). The Philippians’ monetary gift to Paul is compared to “a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God” (Phil. 4:18). If, then, their life of faith is offered as a sacrifice to God, can anything be added to complete its acceptance? When a sacrifice, such as a burnt offering with its accompanying cereal offering, was presented in the temple at Jerusalem, a drink-offering or libation of wine or olive oil might be poured over it or beside it. This was added last, and completed the sacrifice. If I am being poured out like a drink offering, says Paul, let me be poured out as a libation on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith. When Paul says if I am being poured out like a drink offering (Gk. ei kai spendomai), he is not thinking of a literal libation of blood such as was poured out in some pagan cults (cf. Ps. 16:4: “their libations of blood”); he is thinking of the willing yielding up of his life to God.
Charles Wesley, in memorable lines, prays that his life may be a perpetual sacrifice, kindled “on the mean altar of my heart” by the flame of the Spirit:
Ready for all thy perfect will,
My acts of faith and love repeat,
Till death thy endless mercies seal,
And make the sacrifice complete.
Paul’s imagery is similar, with one material difference: his death should make their sacrifice complete. A martyr death would be the crown of his own life of apostolic service, but he is willing that it should be reckoned not to his credit but to theirs. If so, “nothing is here for tears”; such a prospect causes him to rejoice, as it should them.
2:18 / Paul has said earlier that he hopes to be released so as to increase their “progress and joy in the faith” (1:25). But they must rejoice no less if matters turn out otherwise. Whatever the outcome of the trial, honor will be brought to the name of Christ (1:20), and that should give them cause for rejoicing, even if it is by Paul’s death, not by his survival, that Christ is to be honored. So, he says, you too should be glad and rejoice with me.
2:17 / For libations of wine (NIV: “drink offering”) to Yahweh cf. Hos. 9:4 and especially Sirach 50:15, in the description of the temple ministry of Simon the high priest (ca. 200 B.C.):
He reached out his hand to the cup
and poured a libation of the blood of the grape;
he poured it out at the foot of the altar,
a pleasing odor to the Most High, the King of all (RSV).
Other OT references to libations express disapprobation because of their pagan associations (cf. Jer. 7:18; 2 Kings 16:13).
For this use of spendomai cf. 2 Tim. 4:6 (probably a deliberate echo of the present passage), where Paul’s being “poured out” is no longer a possibility to be reckoned with, but an imminent certainty; also the related verb spondizomai in Ignatius, To the Romans 2:2, where Ignatius begs the Christians of Rome not to try to avert his martyrdom in their city: “grant me nothing more than to be poured out [spondisthēnai] to God”; they can be the temple choir, singing while the sacrifice is being offered on the altar.
The word offering renders Gk. leitourgia, religious service (used again in v. 30 below).
J.-F. Collange (ad loc.) thinks that the reference is not to Paul’s martyrdom but to his life, expended in service to God; he compares W. Michaelis (ad loc.); A. M. Denis, “Versé en libation (Phil. II, 17). Versé en son sang?” RSR 45 (1957), pp. 567–70 and “La fonction apostolique et la liturgie nouvelle en esprit,” RSPT 42 (1958), pp. 617–50; T. W. Manson, Studies in the Gospels and Epistles, pp. 151, 152.