Editor's Preface
EDITOR'S PREFACE
Although the author of this commentary and editor of this series are the same person, it seemed fitting in this case to have an editor's as well as an author's preface. The reasons for this are three:
First, this is the first volume to appear in the NICNT under my editorship. It is also the second volume to appear under the new format and book design. Hopefully, this new design will make the series much more user friendly; it came about in fact as a response to the many complaints about the two larger volumes in this series (Morris on John and Fee on 1 Corinthians), that they will not lie open on the desk as one is trying to use them. Thus, I herewith offer my gratitude to the Eerdmans Publishing Company for undertaking the new design; in time all the former volumes will be brought into conformity.
Second, although coincidental, it has turned out that the second and third editors of the series have written the replacement volumes on Philemon and Philippians, which originally appeared in a single volume by J. J. Müller (1955). In the original series, the commentaries on Colossians (by F. F. Bruce) and Ephesians (by E. K. Simpson) also constituted a single volume. As the second editor of the series, Professor Bruce updated his Colossians commentary and wrote the replacement volumes on Ephesians and Philemon, which were then published together in one volume. That left the unusual situation of a set of commentaries having two works on Philemon. Meanwhile, the sheer volume of literature on Philippians over the past forty years — and the many new directions that Philippians studies have taken — has called for a replacement volume on this letter as well. Since I was scheduled to write a more popular commentary on this letter (in the IVP NT commentary series), the publishers asked if I would be willing to write the Philippians volume for the NICNT as well. With the consent of the editors at InterVarsity Press, I agreed to do so.
Third, it became clear to me early on that the editor needed an editor. So in fact the true editor of this volume has been my colleague at Regent College, Sven Soderlund, who brought the experience of years of teaching the Captivity Letters to the task, as well as an uncommon devotion to detail and a keen eye for "Feeism's" of all kinds (including impossible sentences and various malaprops) — although I resisted his efforts at times and must be held accountable for those that remain. Thus, even though the final product is my own, and for good or ill I am responsible for the points of view put forward, Sven has saved me from many an embarrassment, for which I am truly grateful. Indeed, I have learned much about the task of editing from his very careful working through my first draft. For his untiring efforts on my behalf — and on behalf of all who may profit from this commentary — I offer my grateful thanks by dedicating the volume to him.