INTRODUCTION Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi is very tame when compared to those he wrote to other churches, such as those at Galatia and Corinth (292). This proves to be the case in Philippians 2:19-24. In these six verses Paul is intending to communicate two main points: (1) He believes that Timothy is a respectable teacher of God’s word, and he wants the Philippian congregation to recognize this (Phil 2:22); (2) Paul intends for Timothy’s visit to be encouraging to the Philippian brethren, and for their encouragement to be reciprocated in himself. In writing this section of verses, Paul also communicates another message through implication. Paul is sending Timothy to the church in Philippi because he is unable to go himself. While writing this letter, Paul is under house arrest (Phil. 1:7). His place of imprisonment is either Rome, or a closer province to Philippi, such as Ephesus (Phil. 1:13). However, in the face of the impending danger of death, Paul remains hopeful and demonstrates his faith in The Lord (Phil. 2:24). Paul is not able to go to the Philippian brethren at the time of his writing. However, he sends Timothy, and also Epaphroditus, with a message that he hopes to be coming to them as well. This all pends upon the will of Christ, which Paul explicitly states he follows regardless of his own desires. EXEGESIS 19 Ἐλπίζω δὲ ἐν κυρίῳ Ἰησοῦ Τιμόθεον ταχέως πέμψαι ὑμῖν, ἵνα κἀγὼ εὐψυχῶ γνοὺς τὰ περὶ ὑμῶν. 20 οὐδένα γὰρ ἔχω ἰσόψυχον ὅστις γνησίως τὰ περὶ ὑμῶν μεριμνήσει, 21 οἱ πάντες γὰρ τὰ ἑαυτῶν ζητοῦσιν, οὐ τὰ [a]Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. 22 τὴν δὲ δοκιμὴν αὐτοῦ γινώσκετε, ὅτι ὡς πατρὶ τέκνον σὺν ἐμοὶ ἐδούλευσεν εἰς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον. 23 τοῦτον μὲν οὖν ἐλπίζω πέμψαι ὡς ἂν ἀφίδω τὰ περὶ ἐμὲ ἐξαυτῆς· 24 πέποιθα δὲ ... ... middle of paper ... ...d Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005. Thielman, Frank S. The NIV Application Commentary. Edited by Terry Muck. Grand Rapids: ZondervanPublishingHouse, 1995. Thompson, James W. “Preaching to Philippians.” Pages 306–7 in Interpretation. Abilene: John Knox Press, 2007. Thurston, BB, JM Ryan, and DJ Harrington. Philippians and Philemon. Edited by Daniel J. Harrington. Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2009. Vincent, Marvin R. “The Epistles to the Philippians and to Philemon.” Pages 10–194 in The International Critical Commentary on the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. 2nd ed. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1904. Watson, F. “A Rhetorical Analysis of Philippians and Its Implications for the Unity Question Author ( S ): Duane F . Watson Stable URL : http://www.jstor.org/stable/1560841 . A RHETORICAL ANALYSIS OF PHILIPPIANS AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE UNITY” 30 (2014): 57–88.
Aquinas, St. Thomas. COMMENTARY on SAINT PAUL'S EPISTLE to the GALATIANS. Trans. F. R. Larcher. Albany: Magi Books, 1996.
Throughout many of Paul’s letters there are many debates pertaining to the authorship, destination, date, and the purpose. In the book of Ephesians many scholars debate on the authorship and if Paul actually wrote the letter, or if it was a scribe. Although there are some debates on whether Paul actually wrote it or not, he does refer to himself twice in the letter. In 1:1 and in 3:1 Paul states himself, 1:3 states, “For this reason, I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles” (NIV) In verse 1:3 Paul states that he is a prisoner, therefore it is debated that he did not specifically write this because he was imprisoned in Rome at this time. According to Wallace “This, of course, is not to say that the letter must be by Paul, but it is to argue that without such internal testimony, no such claim could be made” (Wallace). Many scholars also debate on the vocabulary usage and the structure of the letter. Some believe that the structure is similar, but the vocabulary seems to be different than his New Testament epistles. Hoehner claims that,” Though the book has a close affinity with Colossians, critics claim that Ephesians is uncharacteristic of Paul” (Hoehner 613). The destination of Ephesians is somewhat debated, but many do believe that the letter was sent to the church of Ephesus. “Some to claim that Ephesus is a better starting point, others suggest Caesarea.” (Wallace) Although this is an argument that has many valid points, it is obvious that Paul was imprisoned in Rome while he wrote Ephesians. It is said by Hoehner that “Ephesians was probably delivered by Tychicus (Eph. 6:21-22), who also took Paul’s letter to Colossians (Col. 4:7-9)” (Hoehner 613). As for the date goes m...
A major problem that needs to be addressed is the question of setting. Was the letter to the Ephesians only written to the church at Ephesus? Most sources suggest that it was not. The oldest manuscripts, such as codex Vaticanus and codex Sinaiticus, do not have the church at Ephesus as the recipient of the letter; this was added into later manuscripts (Donzé et al, 534). Many state that Ephesians was a circular letter, a letter that was meant to circulate among all of the churches in the area and not meant to be specifically addressed to one church. This theory is supported by the fact that there are very few proper names in the letter, unlike the other letters Paul wrote, and the fact that it does not address specific problems of the church, only general statements are mentioned. Also, if the letter were, in fact written solely to the Ephesians, Paul would probably have included some reference to the fact that he was the pastor of the Ephesian church for two years (Ramsay, 454). Instead of doing this, the author uses phrases such as “I have heard of your faith” (1:15), implyi...
Morgan, G. Campbell. Studies in the Four Gospels. 3rd ed. Old Tappan: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1931.
Philemon is a personal letter from the Apostle Paul written approximately AD 61 while Paul was under house arrest in Rome. It was here in prison where he met Onesimus, a runaway slave from Colossae. Apparently, he had stolen money from his master, Philemon, and fled to R...
The Interpreter's One Volume Commentary on the Bible. (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1971). Lenski, R. C. H. Interpretation of St. Luke's Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing). House, 1961.
Literary Context In trying to understand Philippians 2:5-11 it is equally important to understand what is going on both before this passage occurs and what happens after. Paul is writing a letter to the church in Philippi and unlike some of his other letters he is filled with joy when writing to them. Immediately his letter begins with praise and thanksgiving directed towards the Philippians due to their kindness and provisions that they had consistently provided for Paul while he was in Prison. Paul then goes on to write about the fact that his imprisonment has advanced the Gospel of Christ.
Many scholars believe the address to the Ephesians was not included in the original writing. Since the city was in such a key area with a lot of important surrounding places the letter was not addressed for one place. It is believed the letter was not addressed to just one church because it traveled to all the people in the Asia region. The letter was written generally just to the “saints.” Since the letter was for all of the saints, chances are it was eventually addressed to the Ephesians because the location was central. Since the letter is for many different people and Paul was stuck in prison it reflected in his letter a non-real acquaintanceship with the recipients. A great example of this is in Ephesians 1:15 it says, “he heard”. The word heard shows that he has not seen it for himself. There are many elements to keep in mind while trying to interpretive scripture in the letter of Ephesians. The author and their situation, the recipients and the environment they live in, and ways the letter was written can have a huge influence on the meaning of the
Metzger, B.M. & Coogan, M.D. “The Oxford Companion to the Bible”. Oxford University Press. New York, NY. (1993). P. 806-818.
Bromiley, Geoffrey William, Fredrich, Gerhard, Kittel, Gerhard. “Theological Dictionary of the New Testament.” Struttgart, Germany. W. Kohlhammer Verlag. 1995. Print.
St. Matthew. “The Sermon on the Mount”. A World of Ideas. Ed. Lee Jacobus. 9th e. Boston: Bedford,
Paul reasserts the authenticity and authority of his apostleship in this section. He does so by describing the unique manner by which he was called to into the Lord’s service (cf. Acts 9:1- 18). Years subsequent to the apostle’s special call (i.e., 3 and 14 years, respectively), he met some of the other apostles (i.e., Peter, James). It was crucial that Paul reassert and defend his divine appointment so that his message to the deceived Galatian believers would be regarded as legitimately apostolic and thus authorative. ...
Holy Bible: Contemporary English Version. New York: American Bible Society, 1995. Print. (BS195 .C66 1995)
Lea, Thomas D., and David Alan Black. The New Testament Its Background and message. 2nd edition. Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2003.
Jobes, Karen H. Letters to the Church: A Survey of Hebrews and the General Epistles. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2011.