What Does Philippians 2:23 Mean?
Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see how it will stand with me.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Him therefore I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me.THE KEY
Hope here is a real intention whose timing stays open until the situation comes into view.
THE MEANING
A next step can be genuinely intended while its timing remains open. The sending has direction, but waits until what is happening becomes clear. Hope and perception occupy the same moment.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
If I cannot act immediately, then my intention is not real.
THE ROOT
ἐλπίζω
elpizō
GROWS FROM
ἐλπ-
elp-
to hope, expect, or look toward what may happen
Hope here is attached to a concrete intention: sending Timothy. The timing remains conditional, so hope points toward a possibility without pretending its outcome is already certain.
ALSO GROWS
elpís: hope, expectation
ἐλπίς
The related noun shows hope as an orientation toward what is expected, which gives the planned sending direction while leaving its timing open.
apelpízō: expect or hope for; in Luke 6:35, expect nothing in return
ἀπελπίζω
This related form also joins hope to an anticipated outcome, illuminating how hope can shape an action without guaranteeing what follows.
πέμψαι
pémpsai
GROWS FROM
πεμπ-
pemp-
to send or dispatch
“send” in this verse is pémpsai. The sending is already the shape of the hope: this is not a vague wish but a contemplated movement toward someone. The verse lets that movement remain real even while its departure waits on what becomes clear.
ALSO GROWS
ekpémpō: send out
ἐκπέμπω
The same sending family makes visible the outward movement contained in the plan.
propémpō: send ahead or on one’s way
προπέμπω
This branch can describe sending someone forward, echoing the intended movement while the verse leaves its precise moment open.
THE PATTERN
A real intention can remain open in its timing until the next step comes into view.
A person's heart plans his way, but the LORD sets his steps firm.And when he had perceived the vision, at once we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to bring them good news.Instead, you ought to say, "If the LORD wills, we will live, and do this or that."THE THREAD
But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy swiftly to you, that I too may be of good living soul, when I know the things concerning you.The same words for hope and send appear here: the intention to send Timothy is already present, alongside the desire to know how others are doing. The next verse turns that same care toward the speaker’s own circumstances, so the sending waits on what can be perceived.
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