Epistle to the Philippians
Introduction/Overview
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Jan 8, 2012 Bob Eckel
Epistle to the Philippians
Introduction/Overview
Market, Basilica
Forum
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Jan 8, 2012 Bob Eckel
Epistle to the Philippians
Introduction/Overview
Kavala, Greece
Phillipi in 9 miles NW
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Jan 8, 2012 Bob Eckel
Epistle to the Philippians
Introduction/Overview
• Primary Source: Notes on Philippians by Dr. Thomas
L. Constable, 2010
– Also Introduction, Background, and Outline to Philippians,
Greg Herrick, 2009
• Some call this epistle The Epistle of Mental Attitude.
– Your thoughts here?
• Original name of the city was Krinides
– (literally ‘springs’).
• It stood about 10 miles inland from the Aegean Sea in
the Roman province of Macedonia.
• In 356 B.C. Philip II, King of Macedonia and father of
Alexander the Great, renamed the town after himself
and enlarged it.
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Jan 8, 2012 Bob Eckel
Epistle to the Philippians
Introduction/Overview
• In 168 BC Philippi became part of the Roman empire when
Rome defeated the Persians at the battle of Pydna.
– Macedonia was then divided into four districts, Philippi belonging to the
first.
• In 42 B.C. the Romans Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus defeated
Brutus and Cassius in a battle fought just west of Philippi.
– Philippi would then became a military colony.
• Subsequent battles in 42 and 31 B.C. resulted in Philippi
receiving even higher status.
– The citizens enjoyed autonomous government, immunity from taxes, and
treatment as if they lived in Italy.
– Pride the Philippians took in their city is suggested in scripture.
• Acts 16:20-21, Phil 3:20.
• Described in Acts 16:12 as a "leading city of the district of Macedonia"
– This may refer to its colonial status - it was the only Roman colony in the area.
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Jan 8, 2012 Bob Eckel
Epistle to the Philippians
Introduction/Overview
• The Via Egnatia, the main highway from Rome to the east, ran through Philippi
and brought much commerce and many travelers to Philippi.
• Also the nearby Gangites (modern Angitis) River constituted another ancient
thoroughfare (Acts 16:13).
• The church at Philippi
– Philippi was the first town in which Paul preached after he crossed the
Aegean Sea from Troas and entered what we now call Europe (~49 A.D.,
Acts 16:11-40).
– The religious life of those in Philippi was marked by very syncretistic
practices including the worship of the emperor (Julius, Augustus, and
Claudius), the Egyptian gods Isis and Serapis, as well as many other deities.
– A.D. 50 - the city had few Jewish residents and the first converts were
Lydia, a Gentile businesswoman from Thyatira in the province of Asia
Minor, and the Philippian jailer.
• Lydia was a dealer in purple cloth and a proselyte to Judaism (Acts 16:14).
– She had probably converted to Judaism (since her name is a Gentile name) when
living in Thyatira and brought her faith with her to Philippi. .
• The church evidently met in Lydia's home at first (Acts 16:15).
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Jan 8, 2012 Bob Eckel
Epistle to the Philippians
Introduction/Overview
– Paul's companions on his first visit to Philippi
• Silas, Timothy, and Luke.
• Luke may have stayed in Philippi to establish the new converts when the other
members of Paul's missionary team moved on to Thessalonica.
– Luke dropped the use of "we" from Acts 17:1 - 20:4.
– Two events worth noting:
• In Acts 16:16-18 Paul encountered a slave girl with a demonic spirit which
could foretell the future and by which she earned for her masters a great deal of
money.
– Paul eventually rebuked the spirit and it left her.
– As a result she also lost the ability to foretell the future which created anger on the
part of her owners.
• Paul and Silas were then brought before the magistrates charging that the
missionaries were forcing them, as Roman citizens, to follow customs which
were unlawful.
– Paul and Silas were thrown into prison after being stripped, beaten, and severely
flogged (Acts 16:20-24).
– Around midnight there was an earthquake and all the prison doors flew open.
» Paul and Silas did not flee, but instead stayed and shared the gospel with the jailer who
subsequently, and his entire family, came to the Lord (Acts 16:25-34).
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Jan 8, 2012 Bob Eckel
Epistle to the Philippians
Introduction/Overview
» After Paul had made a point about his Roman citizenship to the magistrates, he
was released.
– The Philippian Christians sent financial support to Paul in Thessalonica
(Phil 4:15,16)
– A.D. 57- Paul may have visited Philippi again during his 3rd missionary
journey.
• He traveled from Ephesus to Corinth by land and then from Corinth back to
Miletus, mostly by land.
• From there he took a ship to Jerusalem.
• The land route he took on both occasions would have led him through Philippi.
– Is Paul the author of Philippians?
• Paul claimed to have written the epistle (Phil. 1:1), and references to his
acquaintances, events in his life, and way of thinking point to him as the writer.
• The apostle was a prisoner at the time of the writing (Phil. 1:7, 13, 16).
• References to the palace guard (1:13) and Caesar's household (4:22) have led
most interpreters to conclude that Paul wrote it from Rome
– Although some have defended a Caesarean or Ephesian origin for this epistle.
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Jan 8, 2012 Bob Eckel
Epistle to the Philippians
Introduction/Overview
• In ~A.D. 170, The Marcionite Prologue refers to Paul writing
Philippians from Rome
– Evidently he did so during his first Roman imprisonment (A.D. 60-62) during which
time he also wrote Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon (the Prison Epistles)
• Gordon Fee believed the internal evidence of Philippians puts its writing toward
the end of this period.
• Rationale for the Epistle
– The primary purpose of Philippians was to reassure the Philippians.
• Epaphroditus, whom they had sent with a gift for Paul and to minister to his
needs in prison, had recovered from a serious illness and was about to return to
Philippi.
• Paul built up Epaphroditus in the eyes of his readers (2:25-30), which suggests
that they may not have appreciated him adequately for some reason.
– Secondary reasons for sending this letter include
• Expressing thanks for the Philippians' gift to Paul in prison (4:10-14) and
• Announcing Timothy's approaching visit (2:19).
– Robert Lightner suggested that the book “might even be called a thank-you
note to saints in Philippi for their generous gifts.”
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Jan 8, 2012 Bob Eckel
Epistle to the Philippians
Introduction/Overview
– Paul also wanted to explain his desire to revisit his readers (2:24) and to
deal with the problem of the two women in the church who needed to
reconcile (4:2).
– One commentator identified the genre of this epistle as a letter of friendship
and moral exhortation.
– Without much doubt, of all Paul's epistles Philippians is the most
consistently positive and personal.
• It reflects a joyful spirit.
• One popular exposition of Philippians stresses the importance of living
joyfully in spite of circumstances.
– Paul did not rebuke this church sharply nor did he refer to any major
problems there.
• His warnings are of a precautionary nature.
– His occupation with Jesus Christ also stands out.
• In 104 verses there are 51 references to the Lord Jesus by name.
• There are also many references to the gospel (1:5, 7, 12, 27; 2:22; 4:3, 15)
– And the fellowship that Paul and the Philippians shared in the gospel
ministry if frequently noted (1:5, 7; 2:1; 3:10; 4:14, 16).
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Jan 8, 2012 Bob Eckel
Epistle to the Philippians
Introduction/Overview
• The epitomes of this Epistle:
– Phil 1:6 ‘being confident of this very thing, that He who has
begun a good work in you will complete [it] until the day of
Jesus Christ’.
– Phil 1:21 ‘For to me, to live [is] Christ, and to die [is] gain.’
– Phil 2:5-8 ‘Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ
Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it
robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no
reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, [and] coming in
the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man,
He humbled Himself and became obedient to [the point of]
death, even the death of the cross.’
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Jan 8, 2012 Bob Eckel
Epistle to the Philippians
Introduction/Overview
– Phil 2:13 ‘for it is God who works in you both to will
and to do for [His] good pleasure.’
– Phil 3:7 ‘But what things were gain to me, these I
have counted loss for Christ.’
– Phil 3:10 ‘that I may know Him and the power of His
resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings,
being conformed to His death,’
– Phil 3:14 ‘I press toward the goal for the prize of the
upward call of God in Christ Jesus.’
– Phil 3:20 ‘For our citizenship is in heaven, from
which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ,’
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Jan 8, 2012 Bob Eckel
Epistle to the Philippians
Introduction/Overview
– Phil 4:6 ‘Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by
prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your
requests be made known to God;’
– Phil 4:12 ‘I know how to be abased, and I know how
to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have
learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to
abound and to suffer need.’
– Phil 4:19 ‘And my God shall supply all your need
according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
• Which verse, or another, would be your favorite?
• Now let’s get on with it!
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Jan 8, 2012 Bob Eckel