The epistle seems to have been composed on the occasion of the return to Philippi of Epaphroditus, a member of the church in that place, who had been deputed to Rome with a pecuniary contribu tion from the church in aid of the apostle. Full of gratitude for this work of friendly remembrance and regard, Paul addressed to the church in Philippi this epistle, in which, besides expressing his thanks for their kindness, he pours out a flood of eloquence and pathetic exhortation, suggested partly by his own circumstances, and partly by what he had learned of their state as a church. That state ap pears to have been on the whole very prosperous, as there is much commendation of the Philippians in the epistle, and no censure is expressed in any Dart of it, either of the church as a whole, or of any individuals connected with it. At the same time, the apostle deemed it necessary to put them on their guard against the evil influences to which they were exposed from Judaizing teachers and false professors of Christianity. These cautions he interposes between the exhortations suggested by his own state and by the news he had received con cerning the Philippians, with which his epistle commences and with which it closes. We may thus divide the epistle into three parts. In the first of these (i. ii.), after the usual salutation and an outpouring of warm-hearted affection towards the Philippian church (i. I-11), the apostle refers to his own condition as a prisoner at Rome ; and lest they should be cast down at the thought of the unmerited indignities he had been called upon to suffer, he assures them that these had turned out rather to the furtherance of that great cause on which his heart was set, and for which he was will ing to live and labour ; though, as respected his personal feelings, he would rather depart and he with Christ, which he deemed to be far better' (12-24). He then passes by an easy transition to a hortatory address to the Philippians, calling upon them to maintain steadfastly their profession, to cultivate humanity and brotherly love, to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling, and concluding by an appeal to their regard for his reputation as an apostle, which could not but be affected by their conduct, and a reference to his reason for sending to them Epaphroditus instead of Timothy, as he had originally designed (i. 25 ; ii. 30). In part second he strenuously cautions them, as already observed, against Judaizing teachers, whom he stigmatizes as c dogs' (in refe rence probably to their impudent, snarling, and quarrelsome habits), evil-workers,' and ' the con cision ;' by which latter term he means to intimate, as Theophylact remarks (in loc.), that the circum • cision in which the Jews so much gloried had now ceased to possess any spiritual significance, and was therefore no better than a useless mutilation of the person. On this theme he enlarges, making reference to his own standing as a Jew, and inti mating, that if under the Christian dispensation Jewish descent and Jewish privileges were to go for anything, no one could have stronger claims on this ground than he ; but at the same time de claring, that however he had once valued these, he now counted them, all but loss for the excel lency of the knowledge of Christ' (iii. 1-12). A
reference to his own sanctified ambition to ad vance in the service of Christ leads him to exhort the Philippians to a similar spirit ; from this he passes to caution them against unnecessary con tention, and against those who walk disorderly ; concluding by reminding them of the glorious hopes which, as Christians, they entertained (ver. 13-21). In the third part we have a series of admonitions to individual members of the church at Philippi (iv. 1-3), followed by some general exhortations to cheerfulness, moderation, prayer, and good conduct (ver. 4-9) ; after which come a series of allusions to the apostle's circumstances and feelings, his thanks to the Philippians for their seasonable aid, and his concluding benedictions and salutations (ver. ro-23).
Heinrichs has advanced the opinion that the epistle, as it now appears, is a combination of two different epistles, the one (i. r, and iv. 21-23) addressed to the church at large ; the other (iii. 1 iv. 20) to confidential friends of the apostle (Nov. Test. Koppian. vii. Prol.) He has sought support for this utterly groundless opinion in the ra. adra 7pcicSecv of iii. r ; but these words obviously lead to an opposite conclusion, for how could the writer excuse himself for writing the same things if the readers were not the same ? Besides, the supposi tion of an esoteric as distinct from an exoteric circle in the church, is utterly foreign to the apostle's mode of thought. The epistle is formally ad dressed to role okiv to 6ricricEnrocs xal accucovots, and there is nothing in that it was not befitting to read to the whole assembly. Heinrichs' hypothesis has been fully confuted by Krause (An Epitt. Pauli ad Phil. in duas epistolers . . . dispescenda sit ? Regiom. 1811), by Schott (Isagoge in N. T., sec. 70), and others.
This epistle is written throughout in a very animated and elevated style. It is full of the most sublime thoughts and the most affectionate exhortations. It resembles more the production of a father addressing his children, than that of an apostle laying down authoritatively what is to be received and followed. The whole of it shows, as Theophylact observes, how very much he loved and how highly he estimated those to whom it was addressed, i'ev bielcev borcinwv o-956Spa atsroic Oatverat (Proem. in Ep. ad Phil.) Of separate commentaries upon this epistle, a considerable number has appeared, especially on the continent. Of these the chief are the follow ing : M. H. Schotanus, Analys. et Comment., Franc. 1637, 4to ; J. G. Am. Ende, Pauli. Ep. ad Phil. Gr. Nova vers. Lat. et annot. perpet.
Vitemb. 5798, 8vo ; G. F. H. Rheinwald, Com mentar, Berlin 1827, 8vo ; Flatt, Vorlesungen, 1829; Schinz, Exeget. Versuch, 5833 ; K. S. Mat thies, Erkldrung, Griefswald 1S35, Svo ; H. G. Holemann, Comment. 1839 ; Wessel Alb. van Hen gel, Comment. perpetuus, Amstel. 1839 ; Weiss, Philipper Br. ausgelegt., Leipz. 1859 ; Rilliet, Commentaire, Geneve 1841. In English the works of Pearce and Ferguson may be mentioned.— W. L. A.