independentparticipialrelativecausecontentconditionalphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended
Flush-left = a main (independent) clause. Each dependent line begins directly beneath the word it attaches to in the line above — the anchor word is dotted-underlined, and lights up when you hover its dependent clause; each tag also names the attachment. A dashed border marks verbless, elliptical, or suspended lines. Where a long sentence's staircase runs wider than the page, the diagram scrolls sideways. (In print, or without JavaScript, lines fall back to stepped indent columns.)
Stand firm — and agree in the Lord 4:1–3
1
Ὥστε, ἀδελφοί μου ἀγαπητοὶ καὶ ἐπιπόθητοι, χαρὰ καὶ στέφανός μου,independent — the packed vocatives, suspended over the command — Ὥστε draws the inference from 3:20–21
οὕτως στήκετε ἐν κυρίῳ, ἀγαπητοί.independent — the standing command — οὕτως: as citizens of the heavenly πολίτευμα
vv. 2–3 — Euodia and Syntyche: the double appeal, and the helper enlisted
2
Εὐοδίαν παρακαλῶindependent — the first appeal
καὶ Συντύχην παρακαλῶindependent — παρακαλῶ repeated — each woman receives her own appeal, neither is blamed alone
τὸ αὐτὸ φρονεῖν ἐν κυρίῳ.content — complement infinitive — the one content of both appeals: the letter's φρονεῖν theme (2:2, 5)
3
ναὶ ἐρωτῶ καὶ σέ, γνήσιε σύζυγε,independent — the helper request — σύζυγε read as address, possibly a proper name
συλλαμβάνου αὐταῖς,content — the request's content — an imperative standing where an infinitive might
αἵτινες ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ συνήθλησάν μοι μετὰ καὶ Κλήμεντος καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν συνεργῶν μου,relative — αἵτινες — the women dignified: athletes of the gospel (συναθλέω, as 1:27)
ὧν τὰ ὀνόματα ἐν βίβλῳ ζωῆς.relative — ὧν — the whole company enrolled: the book of life (Exod 32:32; Dan 12:1)
Rejoice, be gentle, pray — and the peace of God 4:4–7
4
Χαίρετε ἐν κυρίῳ πάντοτε·independent — the keynote command — the letter's refrain (2:18; 3:1)
πάλιν ἐρῶ,independent — the herald pauses to repeat himself
χαίρετε.content — the command doubled — quoted under ἐρῶ
5
τὸ ἐπιεικὲς ὑμῶν γνωσθήτω πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις.independent — third-person imperative — forbearance on public display
ὁ κύριος ἐγγύς.independent — verbless watchword — near in time and presence; facing both the gentleness and the prayer
vv. 6–7 — anxiety exchanged for the garrisoning peace
6
μηδὲν μεριμνᾶτε,independent — the prohibition — μηδέν fronted: nothing at all
ἀλλ’ ἐν παντὶ τῇ προσευχῇ καὶ τῇ δεήσει μετὰ εὐχαριστίας τὰ αἰτήματα ὑμῶν γνωριζέσθω πρὸς τὸν θεόν·independent — the ἀλλά-antithesis — μηδέν answered by ἐν παντί: anxiety displaced by asking
7
καὶ ἡ εἰρήνη τοῦ θεοῦindependent — the promise's subject, suspended
ἡ ὑπερέχουσα πάντα νοῦνparticipial — attributive — beyond every mind's reach (or: better than any human planning)
φρουρήσει τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν καὶ τὰ νοήματα ὑμῶν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ.independent — the promise — φρουρήσει, a military word: the peace stands garrison
Whatever is true — reckon on these things, practice them 4:8–9
8
Τὸ λοιπόν, ἀδελφοί,independent — the transition — suspended over the catalogue
ὅσα ἐστὶν ἀληθῆ,relative — the catalogue opens — fronted, leaning on ταῦτα λογίζεσθε below (like a protasis, so no anchor)
ὅσα σεμνά,relative — ἐστίν carried over — the dignified
ὅσα δίκαια,relative — the just
ὅσα ἁγνά,relative — the pure
ὅσα προσφιλῆ,relative — the winsome
ὅσα εὔφημα,relative — the well-spoken-of
εἴ τις ἀρετὴ καὶ εἴ τις ἔπαινος,conditional — verbless protases sweeping up the list — leaning on the command below
ταῦτα λογίζεσθε·independent — the landing — ταῦτα gathers the whole catalogue into the ledger-verb λογίζεσθε
9
ἃ καὶ ἐμάθετε καὶ παρελάβετε καὶ ἠκούσατε καὶ εἴδετε ἐν ἐμοί,relative — fronted again — four verbs of apprenticeship, resumed by ταῦτα below (no anchor)
ταῦτα πράσσετε·independent — the landing — from reckoning to doing
καὶ ὁ θεὸς τῆς εἰρήνης ἔσται μεθ’ ὑμῶν.independent — the promise — v. 7's peace of God becomes the God of peace himself
Contentment learned in every circumstance 4:10–13
10
Ἐχάρην δὲ ἐν κυρίῳ μεγάλωςindependent — the thank-you opens — an epistolary aorist of joy
ὅτι ἤδη ποτὲ ἀνεθάλετε τὸ ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ φρονεῖν,content — the joy's content — ἀναθάλλω, a horticultural word: the concern flowered again
ἐφ’ ᾧ καὶ ἐφρονεῖτεrelative — ἐφ’ ᾧ on τὸ φρονεῖν — the concern was there all along
ἠκαιρεῖσθε δέ.relative — the relative's second limb — willing, but without a καιρός; kept inside the ἐφ’ ᾧ clause
11
οὐχ ὅτι καθ’ ὑστέρησιν λέγω,independent — the οὐχ ὅτι corrective — elliptical: '(I do not say this) as though from want'
ἐγὼ γὰρ ἔμαθονcause — the ground — contentment is a lesson, not a temperament
ἐν οἷς εἰμι αὐτάρκης εἶναι.content — complement infinitive — αὐτάρκης, the Stoic word, relocated into Christ (v. 13)
vv. 12–13 — the secret, and its capstone
12
οἶδα καὶ ταπεινοῦσθαι,independent — the lesson's first half
οἶδα καὶ περισσεύειν·independent — οἶδα repeated — abundance needs learning too
ἐν παντὶ καὶ ἐν πᾶσιν μεμύημαιindependent — μεμύημαι — mystery-cult vocabulary: initiated
καὶ χορτάζεσθαι καὶ πεινᾶν,content — the secret's content — fullness and hunger
καὶ περισσεύειν καὶ ὑστερεῖσθαι·content — the second pair — plenty and want
13
πάντα ἰσχύω ἐν τῷ ἐνδυναμοῦντί με.independent — the capstone — πάντα bounded by vv. 11–12; the strength located outside himself
The partnership accounting — gift, fruit, sacrifice, supply 4:14–20
vv. 14–16 — the history: you alone entered the partnership
14
πλὴν καλῶς ἐποιήσατεindependent — πλήν — the contentment claim balanced: the gift was still good
συγκοινωνήσαντές μου τῇ θλίψει.participial — the well-doing specified — κοινωνία with his affliction itself
15
οἴδατε δὲ καὶ ὑμεῖς, Φιλιππήσιοι,independent — the direct address — only here does he name them
ὅτι ἐν ἀρχῇ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου,content — the content opens — suspended over the temporal clause
ὅτε ἐξῆλθον ἀπὸ Μακεδονίας,relative — ὅτε-temporal — fixing ἐν ἀρχῇ: the departure of Acts 17
οὐδεμία μοι ἐκκλησία ἐκοινώνησεν εἰς λόγον δόσεως καὶ λήμψεωςcontent — the content resumed — the ledger opened: δόσις and λῆμψις, debit and credit
εἰ μὴ ὑμεῖς μόνοι,conditional — εἰ μή — the exception, elliptical: backward-leaning, so anchored on οὐδεμία
16
ὅτι καὶ ἐν Θεσσαλονίκῃ καὶ ἅπαξ καὶ δὶς εἰς τὴν χρείαν μοι ἐπέμψατε.cause — ὅτι read as substantiating 'you alone' — gifts already in Thessalonica (not a third ὅτι of οἴδατε)
vv. 17–18 — not the gift but the fruit; the receipt written in full
17
οὐχ ὅτι ἐπιζητῶ τὸ δόμα,independent — the second οὐχ ὅτι corrective — elliptical, guarding the thank-you from greed
ἀλλὰ ἐπιζητῶ τὸν καρπὸν τὸν πλεονάζοντα εἰς λόγον ὑμῶν.independent — the ἀλλά — the fruit accrues to their λόγος: v. 15's ledger again
18
ἀπέχω δὲ πάντα καὶ περισσεύω·independent — ἀπέχω — the commercial receipt-word: 'paid in full'
πεπλήρωμαιindependent — the third verb of fullness — a perfect of settled state
δεξάμενος παρὰ Ἐπαφροδίτου τὰ παρ’ ὑμῶν,participial — the occasion — Epaphroditus's delivery (2:25–30)
ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας, θυσίαν δεκτήν, εὐάρεστον τῷ θεῷ.phrase modifier — apposition — the gift become liturgy: sacrificial language (Gen 8:21; Exod 29:18)
vv. 19–20 — God's supply; the doxology
19
ὁ δὲ θεός μου πληρώσει πᾶσαν χρείαν ὑμῶνindependent — the promise — their emptying answered: πληρώσει echoes πεπλήρωμαι
κατὰ τὸ πλοῦτος αὐτοῦ ἐν δόξῃ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ.phrase modifier — the measure — ἐν δόξῃ read with τὸ πλοῦτος, not adverbially with the verb
20
τῷ δὲ θεῷ καὶ πατρὶ ἡμῶν ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων· ἀμήν.independent — the doxology — verbless ('be' supplied); the accounting ends in worship
Greetings and grace 4:21–23
21
Ἀσπάσασθε πάντα ἅγιον ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ.independent — the greeting command — every saint, singular: one by one
ἀσπάζονται ὑμᾶς οἱ σὺν ἐμοὶ ἀδελφοί.independent — the inner circle's greeting
22
ἀσπάζονται ὑμᾶς πάντες οἱ ἅγιοι,independent — the wider church's greeting
μάλιστα δὲ οἱ ἐκ τῆς Καίσαρος οἰκίας.phrase modifier — the singled-out group — believers inside the imperial service
23
Ἡ χάρις τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ μετὰ τοῦ πνεύματος ὑμῶν.independent — the grace-benediction — verbless; 'with your spirit' read (singular πνεῦμα of the one body)
Analysis. Philippians 4 is imperative country, and the page shows it: flush-left purple dominates — the Ὥστε-command στήκετε under its packed vocative address, παρακαλῶ said twice so that Euodia and Syntyche each receive her own appeal, then the staccato commands of vv. 4–9 (Χαίρετε doubled across πάλιν ἐρῶ, γνωσθήτω, μηδὲν μεριμνᾶτε with its ἀλλά-answer), the greetings, and the closing grace. Almost nothing chains deep: the maximum indent is three steps, the opposite of Ephesians 1's staircase. Two shapes stand out. In vv. 8–9 the coral ὅσα-catalogue and the ἃ-relative are fronted: they hang indented with no anchor, leaning forward — like conditional protases — on the flush-left landings ταῦτα λογίζεσθε and ταῦτα πράσσετε that resume them, and the verbless εἴ-τις pair sweeps the list up just before the first landing. In vv. 10–20 the testimony and the accounting run in short, shallow sentences whose vocabulary is commercial — εἰς λόγον δόσεως καὶ λήμψεως, εἰς λόγον ὑμῶν, the receipt-word ἀπέχω, πεπλήρωμαι answered by God's πληρώσει — twice interrupted by an elliptical οὐχ ὅτι corrective (vv. 11, 17) set flush left with a dashed border. Cruxes the layout takes a side on: γνήσιε σύζυγε (v. 3) is read as a genuine address to an individual yokefellow (possibly a proper name); ὁ κύριος ἐγγύς (v. 5) is left a free-standing verbless watchword facing both ways — motive for the gentleness before it, ground for the prayer after it; ἠκαιρεῖσθε δέ (v. 10) is kept inside the ἐφ’ ᾧ relative as its second limb rather than made a new main clause; the ὅτι of v. 16 is read as substantiating 'you alone' (v. 15) rather than continuing the ὅτι of οἴδατε; ἐν δόξῃ (v. 19) is read with τὸ πλοῦτος rather than adverbially with πληρώσει; and the sacrifice-triplet of v. 18 hangs as verbless apposition to τὰ παρ’ ὑμῶν — the gift become liturgy.