Philippians

Believers Church Bible Commentary

Gordon Zerbe

• Publisher: Herald Press
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781513800349
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Commentary

What if rather than only reading Philippians, we allowed Philippians to read us? In this 31st volume in the Believers Church Bible Commentary series, New Testament scholar Gordon Zerbe challenges readers to allow Paul's prison letter to interpret our own lives—not by extracting lessons out of historical and cultural context but by imagining ourselves into the ancient Roman world... and back again.

Philippians 1:1–2

Address and Grace-Peace Blessing

PREVIEW

Take note of the beginning! Opening words of an exchange are always vital. In any communication, whether formal or informal, whether verbally or nonverbally, how one presents oneself or characterizes the conversation partner makes a huge impact. Paul follows the customary form of a letter prescript: A, to B, greeting. But in every letter, he inserts varied content into these fields to suit the occasion, relationship, and theme.

This prescript is distinctive among Paul’s letters in three ways, each requiring some explanation: (1) Paul identifies both himself and his cosender Timothy as slaves of Messiah Jesus; (2) Paul characterizes the recipients as those who are consecrated (saints), emphasizing that this depiction applies to all of them and that they have that identity in Messiah Jesus; and (3) Paul specifically addresses a leadership group within the assembly as a subset of all of them.

The depth of meaning of Paul’s formulaic grace-peace blessing that follows must not be overlooked.

OUTLINE

Sender and Addressee, 1:1

Grace and Peace Blessing, 1:2

EXPLANATORY NOTES

What might an opening prescript communicate directly or indirectly? In what way, for instance, are matters of status or role differences acknowledged or emphasized? Might the self-presentation of the sender be designed to evoke an aura of status or power to enhance a letter’s authority or significance? Or does the characterization of an addressee include multiple honorific characterizations to ingratiate the sender with the addressee? What relational bonds are assumed or invoked by seemingly incidental comments? Does the prescript highlight horizontal relational connections or imbalanced ones? These are some of the things carefully considered in prescripts in both formal and informal letters of the ancient world (see, e.g., Klauck).

Senders: Slaves of Messiah Jesus

Paul’s self-presentation is brief and provocative. Both he and his cosender Timothy are slaves of Messiah Jesus. This depiction is crucial for Paul’s persuasive purposes in Philippians. A pivotal theme to come is how, in the realm of Christ, Paul inverts prevailing social assumptions about what counts for real status in Roman Philippi, and thus what constitutes grounds for either shame or boasting (esp. 2:2–11; 3:2–14, 18–21; cf. shame and boasting in 1:20, 26). Not accidentally, the word slave (doulos) will occur one more time in the letter: in the letter’s shocking centerpiece, which declares the exemplary pathway of Messiah (2:5–11). Jesus is the one who has deliberately taken the form of a slave (2:7) as the necessary self-humbling course that precedes his own exaltation and acclamation from all humankind (2:9–11; 3:19–21). Moreover, that messianic example will be modeled both in the life and ministry of Paul (3:2–17; 4:9) and in the ministry of Timothy (2:19–23), who as a son with a father has served as a slave [douleuō] with me for the gospel (v. 22). Both Paul and Timothy, then, display the way of lowly status divestment (2:20–22; 3:3–11) instead of selfish, rivalrous ambition (1:15–17; 2:3–4, 20–21), thereby embracing Messiah’s cause and pathway.

The decision of the NRSV translation committee to translate doulos (slave) with the softer word servant is unfortunate. Slavery in the ancient world of Paul, from Judea to Rome, was chattel slavery, in which slaves were treated as the personal property of the owners. In the social world of Paul and of the congregation in Philippi, the most immediate and obvious meaning of slave (doulos) would be a person who is owned by, subservient to, completely responsible to, and without identity apart from a master (lord) of a household. The actual status or circumstances of a slave could vary greatly, from those who labored in chain gangs in the mines or on large agricultural estates to those who worked in small manufacturing businesses or in domestic settings, to those educated slaves who were the business managers, accountants, or even physicians of the aristocracy. Slaves of this last type could often anticipate manumission (the technical term for buying someone out of slavery) and could leave slavery with a considerable fortune after a significant period of service. Business management, for instance, was a domain largely staffed by legal slaves in the Roman world (as in the parable of the talents, Matt 25:14–30).

Paul’s remarkable identity claim cuts in more than one way and holds plenty of irony. First, it signifies his deliberate dispossession of rank and status in his embrace of weakness and lowliness. It implies a solidarity with the “humiliated” (from Latin humiliores, “lowered”), in marked contrast to those whose pursuit is simply for “selfish ambition” and “vainglory” (cf. 1:15–16; 2:3–8; 3:7–11, 18–19; cf. Paul’s shaming irony in 1 Cor 4:6–14). While the name Paul was usually associated with a relatively high social status, here Paul associates with the rank of slaves (see TBC, “The Name Paul”). Second, it expresses his utter dependency on and complete obligation to a master with whom he nevertheless enjoys a deep relational bond more valuable than any other measure of status (my Lord, 3:8)—the term translated Lord (kyrios) also denotes a “master.” The image signals that he has indeed been “seized” by another (Phil 3:12), against his will (1 Cor 9:16–17). Third, Paul’s claim of identity as a slave also invokes a role of privilege and status. Many of those in the imperial civil service (Caesar’s household, Phil 4:22) were designated “slaves of Caesar.” Just as they could claim significant status within the Roman imperial administration, Paul as “slave of Messiah” in effect likewise claims a key role in the administrative service of world-ruler-to-come, Messiah Jesus. Indeed, being a “slave of Jesus” means that he is actually a “slave of all” (1 Cor 9:19; 2 Cor 4:5)—under obligation to all people.

Curiously, Paul does not refer to himself as “special envoy” (apostolos, apostle) in Philippians. Nor does Paul appeal to any formal apostolic authority later in the letter. This silence may reflect the atmosphere of mutuality in the letter and his warm relationship with the assembly in Philippi (similarly to 1–2 Thessalonians; Philemon). The only occurrence of the word apostolos actually applies to the ministry of Epaphroditus (your envoy [apostolos] and public servant for my need, 2:25), and perhaps implies an ironic reversal of “apostolicity” in the immediate circumstances: the apostle receives apostolic ministry from a non­apostle. Nevertheless, Paul’s apostolic role is certainly implicit throughout the letter (e.g., 1:20–26; 2:16–17; 4:1), and this framework provides the basis for his specific and direct exhortation in the letter (1:27–2:18; 3:1–4:9), including his call that they follow his example (3:15–17; 4:9). His role as apostle also provides the context for understanding his acknowledgment of their assistance (2:25–30; 4:10–20). In the remainder of the letter, Paul’s language shows a kind of midpoint between formal and informal, public and personal, apostolic and mutual. (Similarly, Paul’s authority as apostle is also operative in the semipersonal letter to Philemon, even as he highlights his mutual relationship with Philemon as “partner” and avoids the title apostolos; Philem 8, 19–21.)

Paul includes Timothy as cosender, thereby testifying to Timothy’s close working relationship with Paul, yet also acknowledging his role in the founding of the congregation (Acts 16) and endorsing his anticipated ministry among the Philippian congregation on Paul’s behalf (2:19–24; see TBC on 2:19–30, “Timothy”). Although he names Timothy as a cosender, Paul remains the actual author of the letter as the one addressing the Philippian community, as the one composing the letter, and as the primary one with a crucial relationship with the Philippian assembly (e.g., 1:25, 27; 2:12, 19; 4:10–20). Paul takes the role of the sole writer in 1:3, communicating in the first-person singular (“I,” not “we”). Later he shares information about Timothy, providing a character reference in the third person (“he”) while continuing to speak of himself in the first person (2:19–24).

Addressees: To All Those Who Are Consecrated in Messiah Jesus

In his address, Paul characterizes the entire community with the honorific plural term hagioi, which is impossible to render into English with a good one-word equivalent (NABRE: holy ones; NIV: God’s holy people; NRSV: saints). The singular word hagios in Greek (and the Hebrew kadoš that it translates) commonly describes those things (e.g., temples, rites) or persons (e.g., priests) that are “devoted,” “consecrated” (lit. “deemed sacred”), or “specially dedicated” to the cultic (ritual) service of God (or the gods). They are “sacred” or “holy” by virtue of being distinct from what is common, ordinary, or unclean. Already in the Hebrew Bible, the word designated the distinctive, set-apart identity, conduct, and mission of the people as a whole, as a “priestly kingdom and holy nation” (Exod 19:6; cf. Lev 11:44–45; 19:2; 20:7, 26; Num 16:3).

Drawing on this biblical tradition, Paul adopts this plural designation hagioi (consecrated ones) as a key term for the community of those loyal to Messiah. It implies (1) a special status, identity, and belonging (as “consecrated”); (2) an alternative character and manner of life (“holiness”); and (3) a distinctive vocation and mission (as “devoted”). When one considers the force of this simple designation in the context of Greco-Roman conceptions and practices, it appears that Paul is using those who are consecrated to highlight a special sense of priestly honor that all adherents of Messiah Jesus share. Civic citizen communities in Paul’s world were also liturgical communities devoted to the service of a city’s patron god or goddess (with the religious and the political intertwined). In the same way, Paul begins with the sacral, priestly dimension of devotion and dedication to Christ and later will emphasize its communal, sociopolitical aspects (1:27–4:9).

For Paul, this distinctive identity, ethos, and mission is established and enabled only by incorporation, calling, election, and rebirth in Messiah Jesus (cf. 1 Cor 1:2). Just as Paul and Timothy’s identity and mission are tied specifically to Messiah Jesus as slaves of Messiah Jesus, so also is the identity and mission of the entire congregation as those who are consecrated in Messiah Jesus. Paul uses the word hagios again only at the close of the letter (4:21, 22; another theme by which the whole letter is enclosed). But imagery closely associated with the biblical notion of a sacred, consecrated people re­appears a few times in the letter: in his prayer that they might be pure and blameless (1:10); in his hopes that they are blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked generation, in which you shine like stars in the world (2:15); in his hopes for their quest for maturity (3:12) toward receiving the prize of the upward call (3:14); in his assertion of the coming conformity to the body of his glory (3:21); in his call that they do an audit of the things that pertain to virtue (4:8); and in his congratulations for their performance of a sacrifice pleasing and acceptable to God (4:18).

The phrase who are in Philippi specifies a particular location of saints while also implying that this local group is part of a broader, global sacred citizen community in Messiah Jesus. Their identity as consecrated is far more important than their residential identity as Philippians (4:15), in the same way that being known as Canadian or American, or in relation to any other nation-state, pales in relation to one’s fundamental identity as a Christian.

Both to All and Specifically to Leaders

Paul emphasizes that he is speaking to all those who are specially consecrated in Messiah. This emphatic all will recur (1:4, 7 [2x], 8, 25; 2:17; 4:21), expressing Paul’s consistent concern for unity and inclusion in the letter.

But while addressing all, Paul also makes special reference to the leaders among them: together with the overseers and ministers. The translation bishops and deacons (NRSV) is misleading, freighted with modern assumptions about what those terms mean; better is supervisors and servants (CEB). Paul uses two terms (episkopoi, diakonoi) that refer to leaders in general. These terms do not imply formal offices with sharp role differentiation at this stage in the emerging structure of communities devoted in allegiance to Christ. Although singled out, these leaders are part of the all, not separate from the rest. Paul specifically addresses the leaders both as a way to recognize the special role of leaders in their current situation and as a way to promote unity and mutuality between leaders and the rest. Paul also seems interested in singling out leaders specifically to heed his exhortation on divestment of status and rank (e.g., 2:1–5; 3:2–21), anticipating his words directed to particular leaders (his “coworkers”), including the feuding women Euodia and Syntyche and the designated mediator (4:2–3).

Greeting: Grace and Peace Blessing

The salutation (“wish of good health”) is the most consistent in all of Paul’s letters, and the most distinctive in relation to letters from that world. The standard salutation in a Greek letter was “be glad” (chairō; see Acts 15:23; 23:26; James 1:1), the very same verb regularly translated “rejoice” in the NT. In other words, the letter writer sends his “Be glad,” that is, “May you be in good spirits, may you be joyful.” This was the normal greeting on the street. In Latin contexts, the standard greeting was saluto (health, well-being, safety, salvation!), from which we get the term “salutation.”

Paul, however, greets with the traditional Middle Eastern blessing. The blessing Grace and peace to you is from the standard words of greeting in Aramaic, the common language of the region of Syria-Palestine, closely related to Hebrew. Paul’s greeting is not a blend of Greek and Aramaic-Hebrew patterns, as regularly asserted. While the most common Aramaic greeting was šalom (shalom, peace, well-being, good health) by itself, the combination of šalom along with ḥin (grace, favor, prosperity; Heb. ḥen), in either order, is also attested (Alexander).

More significantly, Paul’s blessing echoes the priestly blessing of Aaron (Num 6:24–26): “May the Lord … be gracious to you … and give you peace” (Martens). This stereotyped blessing is not just a literary device. Rather, it was undoubtedly used in the exchanging of blessings in face-to-face meeting or leave-taking in the context of messianic (Christian) communal gatherings. Paul’s letter form most likely reflects actual in-person exchanges.

A regular feature of Paul’s blessing is the stress on its divine source: from God our Father and Lord Jesus Messiah, again drawing on the theology of the Aaronic blessing. But Paul elaborates christologically, encapsulating the substance of an early creedal affirmation: “For us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for [unto] whom we exist, and one Lord Jesus Messiah, through whom are all things and through whom we exist” (1 Cor 8:6). Here at the outset, then, Paul specifies the full titles of both God and Messiah, something he will do again at the end of the letter (4:20, 23) and at major points along the way (of God, 2:11; of Messiah, 2:11; 3:20; cf. 3:8).

Messiah Jesus is emphatically the central reference point of all three elements of the opening prescript. Paul’s opening thereby conjures up a triangulated relational dynamic: a mutual relationship of sender and recipients, intimately correlated in and through Christ Jesus. They are more than dearly beloved f...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Abbreviations
• Contents
• Series Foreword
• Author's Preface
• Introduction to Philippians
• Address and Grace-Peace Blessing, 1:1–2
• Thanksgiving and Prayer, 1:3–11
• Disclosure: The Gospel's Advance and Paul's Confidence despite Adversity, 1:12–26
• EXHORTATION 1:Practicing Messianic Citizenship, Part 1, 1:27–2:18
• Being a Citizen Body Worthy of the Gospel of Messiah, 1:27–30
• A Citizen Body Marked by Unity and Status Inversion, 2:1–5
• Tribute to Messiah: Self-Emptied Divinity and Exalted Slave, 2:6–11
• The Citizen Community's Agency in the Drama of Salvation, 2:12–18
• Travel-Talk Interlude:Timothy and Epaphroditus as Models of Messianic Citizenship, 2:19–30
• EXHORTATION 2:Practicing Messianic Citizenship, Part 2, 3:1–4:9
• Israelite-Messianic Citizenship Contrasted with (Roman) Adversaries, 3:1–3
• Demonstrating Messianic Citizenship: The Model of Paul, 3:4–17
• Contrasting Regimes and Destinies, 3:18–4:1
• Closing Exhortations, 4:2–9
• Celebrating the Mutuality of Partnership and God's Rich Provision, 4:10–20
• Final Greetings and Grace Blessing, 4:21–23
• Outline of Philippians
• Essays
• Map of the New Testament World
• Bibliography
• Selected Resources
• Index of Ancient Sources
• The Author