Philippians 1:1

PAUL'S LETTER TO THE PHILIPPIANS

PHIL. 1

This marvelous epistle begins, as Paul usually begins, with a salutation followed by thanksgiving and supplication upon behalf of the readers. The first chapter also records Paul's remarkable soliloquy. As pointed out in the Introduction, it is useless to divide this letter in the pattern of a classical outline. Philippians is not an essay or treatise of any kind but a personal letter to beloved friends; and it runs along in the same somewhat rambling fashion of any personal letter. Nevertheless, some of Paul's profoundest teaching is presented in this priceless little letter.

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus that are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons. (Philippians 1:1)

Paul ... is the sole author of the epistle, the name of Timothy who was with him at the time being added as a courtesy. Also, Mounce noted, "Timothy might have acted as Paul's secretary."[1]

Timothy ... This name is associated with that of Paul in several other Pauline letters (Colossians 1:1; Phlippians 1:1:1; 2 Corinthians 1:1; and in 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:1). Timothy was deeply interested in the Philippians, having been with Paul when their congregation was established (Acts 16:11-40), and in all probability having visited them again and again.

Servants of Jesus Christ ... The word rendered "servants" here is actually "slaves"; but the sinister connotations of that word make the other rendering preferable. Paul's true authority as an apostle was fully known and recognized at Philippi, and therefore there was no need for his stressing the authority as he had done in Corinthians and Galatians. For some reason, Paul did not here distinguish between himself as an apostle and Timothy as a brother, but humbly wrote: "Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus." The word "slaves" which Paul used here is not as good a translation as "servants" because (in English) slaves carries the "associate ideas of involuntary service, forced subjection and even harsh treatment,"[2] none of which are applicable to the servants of Christ.

To all the saints ... at Philippi ... As Barclay said, "Saint is a misleading quotation."[3] It carries the idea of stained glass windows and a higher mortal sanctity; but in the New Testament usage of the word, "It does not designate any high level of ethical achievement, but persons who in Christ have been set apart unto the new life."[4] Thus it indicates the goals, rather than the attainments of Christians. It is clear enough that Paul used "saints" as a designation for all Christians, and that it denoted living members of the body of Christ.

All ... Lipscomb commented on the importance of this word as found here, and in Philippians 1:2,7,8,25; Philippians 2:17, and Philippians 4:21 as attesting the "beautiful spirit of unity"[5] at Philippi.

With the bishops and deacons ... Some scholars have attempted to late-date Philippians, supposing that there was no clear-cut organization in the primitive churches until post-apostolic times; but such efforts are being based on false premises. Elders of the church were ordained on the very first missionary tour Paul made (Acts 14:23); and, even before that, the government of a church by its elders is clearly evident in Acts 11:30. As for the fact that Paul did not usually mention the deacons and elders, as he did here, there was without any doubt a reason for it. Macknight pointed out that most of Paul's letters were addressed to the Christians, not their officers, in order to prevent "the bishops and deacons from imagining that the apostolic writings were their property, and that it belonged to them to communicate what part of them to the people that they saw fit.[6] Not even any prior right of interpretation pertained to bishops and deacons.

Bishops ... In the New Testament, this term is synonymous with elders and shepherds. "It is a fact now recognized by theologians of all shades of opinion that in the New Testament the same officer in the church is indifferently called bishop (overseer) or presbyter (elder) ... the one a term of dignity, the other of age."[7] There are six (perhaps seven) New Testament synonyms for the title that belonged to the New Testament office. They are:

Bishop (translated "overseer").

Presbyter (translated "elder").

Pastor (translated "shepherd").

Steward (Titus 1:7).

Significantly, there were a plurality of bishops in Philippi, demonstrating the fact that no such thing as the "metropolitan bishop" of later ages was evident there when Paul wrote these lines.

As for the reason why Paul elected to mention these congregational officers in this letter, it was probably connected with the gift of money which he had received from that church, a gift which, in all probability, was suggested, administered and dispatched by the elders and deacons, thus making it very appropriate that they would have been greeted in this salutation.

Deacons ... These officers are not mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament, except in 1 Timothy 3:8,12ff; but many scholars insist on tracing their work back to Acts 6:2.[8] The word from which this is rendered is also translated "servant" or "minister" in the New Testament.

[1] Robert H. Mounce, Wycliffe Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1971), p. 756.

[2] William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary, Philippians (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1962), p 44

[3] William Barclay, The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1975), p. 10

[4] Robert H. Mounce, op. cit., p. 756.

[5] David Lipscomb, A Commentary on the New Testament Epistles, Volume IV (Nashville: The Gospel Advocate Company, 1964), p. 156.

[6] James Macknight, Apostolical Epistles with Commentary, Volume III (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1969), 402.

[7] J. B. Lightfoot, St. Paul's Epistle to the Philippians (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1963), pp. 95,98.

[8] Frances Foulkes, New Bible Commentary, Revised (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1970), p. 1129.