Philippians 2:26 Pun

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Philippians 2:26 For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick. [kjv]

In Philippians, as elsewhere, Paul makes many puns, play-on-words, verse references, etc. In chapter 2, Paul talks at length of two possible helpers.

"Timothy" is truly of God. The name means "honoring God".
"Epaphroditus" was near death. The name means "charming".

Reading carefully (verses omitted), Paul does not clearly say who is being sent. Pronouns can be ambiguous. Who is "him"? What is the "heaviness"?

Does Paul ask them which one they want? Does Paul ask them which name they want to be more like?

Philippians 2:26 For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick. [kjv]

Where does Paul ask them which one they want to be more like? Anyone who uses play-on-words knows that one often needs to do a longer set-up for the pun, joke, etc.

There is an interesting pun right before that verse. One tip-off is the somewhat strange wording of the verse and the use of one or more somewhat unique words.

More: Pronouns

Some movies use this ambiguity as humor. Some people like this humor. Some do not. Here is an example from one of the Airplane movies.

Be hospitable and not hostile!

Person A: There's a problem at the hospital.
Person B: What is it?
Person A: It's a big building with patients, but that's not important now.

The pronoun "it" is somewhat ambiguous. Pronouns usually refers to the nearest noun, but not always. This is an example of one problem that makes NLP (Natural Language Processing) by computers difficult.

More: Matthew 25:38 Hosting strange and hostile guests and ghosts

More: Pronouns

Philippians 2:26 For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick. [kjv]

επειδη επιποθων ην παντας υμας ιδειν και αδημονων διοτι ηκουσατε οτι ησθενησεν [gnt]

Paul's "southern" roots come through as he says "you all". Who is "you"? Who is the "he"? Can we substitute one of the leadership for "he" and have the thought still be meaningful? The "full of" is inferred.

Why did Epaphroditus "long for" and be "full of heaviness" for those at Philippi? Might it be because he missed the leadership and atmosphere at Philippi? The Greek for "sick" has the more general meaning of being "weak". How can someone else hearing about you make you "heavy"?

The Greek word for "full of heaviness" describes Jesus in Matthew and Mark.

In Matthew and Mark, in the Garden after the Last Supper, while Jesus prays, the same Greek word is used in the sense of Jesus becoming "heavy".

In Matthew, Jesus is "sorrowful" and "heavy".

Matthew 26:37 And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. [kjv]

και παραλαβων τον πετρον και τους δυο υιους ζεβεδαιου ηρξατο λυπεισθαι και αδημονειν [gnt]

Was Jesus "sorrowful"? The Greek word means "annoyed" or, in context, "distressed".

In Mark, Jesus is "sore amazed" and "heavy".

Mark 14:33 And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy; [kjv]

και παραλαμβανει τον πετρον και τον τον ιακωβον και τον ιωαννην αυτου και ηρξατο εκθαμβεισθαι και αδημονειν [gnt]

Perhaps Paul is making what appear to be puns without knowing he is doing it.

How likely is that?

Growing up, a kids saying about English class poetry was "I'm a poet and don't know it!".

Does this apply to Paul? (in terms of puns, not poetry)