Philippians 1:5

ἐπὶ τῇ κοινωνίᾳ ὑμῶν. “Over (on account of) your fellowship,” your making yourselves one with me, whether in deed or in spirit. See further just below, Philippians 1:7 and notes. The immediate but by no means whole reference was no doubt to their generous gifts of money; cp. Philippians 4:10-19.

εἰς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον. “For the Gospel”; i.e. for its furtherance. For the phrase cp. 2 Corinthians 2:12, and below, Philippians 2:22. For εὐαγγέλιον denoting practically the work of evangelization cp. 2 Corinthians 8:18; Galatians 2:7; below, Philippians 2:22; Philippians 4:3; Philippians 4:15; 1 Thessalonians 3:2.

ἀπὸ τῆς πρώτης ἡμέρας. On the reading, see critical note. If ἀπὸ πρ. ἡμ. is read, cp. Acts 10:30; Acts 20:18, for such absence of the article; it is perhaps an unconscious nuance of idiom, refusing analysis. See Lightfoot however on this verse: “the article is frequently omitted, because the numeral is sufficiently definite in itself.” With this assertion of the Philippians’ original and steady sympathy cp. ch. Philippians 4:15-16.