Philippians
Home > New Testament > Philippians Philippians At a Glance Treatise Genre: (5/5) ***** Reliability of Dating: (2/5) ** Length of Text: Greek Original Language: Ancient Translations: Modern Translations: Estimated Range of Dating: 50-60 A.D. Chronological List of Early Christian Writings Discuss this text on the Early Writings forum. Text American Standard Version King James Version World English Bible Resources e-Catena: References to the New Testament in the Church FathersPatristic References to Philippians 1 2 3 4 Edgar Goodspeed: The Letter to the Philippians Offsite Links Perseus NT (English/Greek/Latin) Letter of Joy: An EasyEnglish Commentary NAB Introduction Daniel Wallace's Introduction IVP Commentary The Epistle to the Philippians Epistles to the Philippians Citizens of Heaven.
Philippians 3:2-21 as a Deutero-Pauline Passage The Background of the Philippians Hymn (2:6-11) Books Peter T. O'Brien, The Epistle to the Philippians : A Commentary on the Greek Text (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 1991) Gordon D. Fee, Paul's Letter to the Philippians (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 1995) Burton L. Mack, Who Wrote the New Testament? : The Making of the Christian Myth (San Francisco, CA: HarperCollins, 1996), pp. 144-146. Raymond Edward Brown, An Introduction to the New Testament (New York: Doubleday, 1997), pp. 483-501. Udo Schnelle, translated by M. Eugene Boring, The History and Theology of the New Testament Writings (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1998), pp. 129-143.
Recommended Books for the Study of Early Christian Writings Information on Philippians Philippians is generally accepted to be authentic Pauline correspondence. Edgar J. Goodspeed indicates that there are a few problems with thinking that Philippians is a unity (An Introduction to the New Testament, pp. 90-92). The first problem is that the thoughts in this letter appear out of order. "In chapter 1 he is making the best of his imprisonment; in chapter 2 he is sending Epaphroditus back to them; in chapter 3 he bursts forth against the Judaizers; in chapter 4 he acknowledges the gift Epaphroditus has brought him. Paul is usually much more orderly than this."The second problem is that there is a sharp break between 3:1 and 3:2.
"In 3:1 all is serene; they must not mind Paul's repeating himself, for it is for their good. But in the next verse he breaks out against the Judaizers with an intensity unsurpassed even in Galatians."Finally, Polycarp in his letter to the Philippians states in 3:2 that Paul "wrote letters" to the church at Philippi. Thus, the external evidence confirms the internal evidence that Paul wrote more than one letter to the Philippians. Norman Perrin would divide the letter into three fragments (The New Testament: An Introduction, pp. 105-6). In his scheme, 4:10-20 is part "of a letter of thanks to the Philippians for revival of their concern for Paul and the gifts sent to him at the hands of Epaphroditus." Verses 1:1-3:1 contain another letter expressing thanks "for the concern the Philippians have expressed for Paul, who is now enduring a considerable period of imprisonment." Finally, in 3:2-4:9 we have a letter with polemical intent "warning the Philippians of the dangers of the 'circumcision party'" in a situation similar to the one that Paul faced in his letter to the Galatians.
Perrin suggests that this letter was the first written, while the other two have an "attitude of thanksgiving for dangers passed and harmony achieved." Udo Schnelle argues that the letter to the Philippians is to be understood as a literary unity (The History and Theology, pp. 135-137). Burton Mack writes (Who Wrote the New Testament?, pp. 144-145): The letter is actually composed of three letter fragments, accidentally saved as it appears and crudely joined together at some later time by those who collected the letters of Paul in the name of the Pauline school (Phil. 4:10-20; 1:1-3:1; 3:2-4:9). The first two seem to have been written from Ephesus around the time of Paul's imprisonment there (ca.