“If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,”
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind — four parallel conditionals ('if there is...') structure the appeal to unity: encouragement from Christ, comfort from love, communion (koinōnia) in the Spirit, and affection/sympathy together. The conditions are not hypothetical but establish already-possessed grounds for the exhortation. 'Complete my joy' (plērōsatē mou tēn charan) makes unity itself Paul's deepest satisfaction. The fourfold repetition of unity ('same mind,' 'same love,' 'full accord,' 'one mind') emphasizes this as the letter's chief concern.
Church Fathers on Philippians 2:1
There is nothing better, there is nothing more affectionate, than a spiritual teacher; such an one surpasses the kindness of any natural father. Do but consider, how this blessed one entreats the Philippians concerning the things which were to their own advantage. What says he, in exhorting them concerning concord, that cause of all good things? See how earnestly, how vehemently, with how much sympathy he speaks, “If there be therefore any comfort in Christ,” that is, if you…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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