A. Salutation (1:1-2)
I: I -I I INTRODUCTORY MATTERS
I. INTRODUCTORY MATTERS (1:1-11)
Almost all letters from the Greco-Roman period1 begin with a threefold salutation: The Writer, to the Addressee, Greetings.2 Very often the next item in the letter would be a wish (sometimes a prayer) for the health or well-being of the addressee. Paul's letters, which generally follow this standard form, usually include a thanksgiving;3 in some of these, as here, he also includes a prayer-report.4 But in contrast to most of the ancient letters, which tend to be stereotyped, Paul tends to elaborate these formal items; and in so doing, everything Paul's hands touch come under the influence of the gospel, and thereby become distinctively Christian.
In contrast to most extant letters from the Greco-Roman world, Paul's "introductory matters"5 are quite long, made so usually because they are full of items that foreshadow the concerns of the letter itself.6 In this regard the proemium of Philippians is typical. All sorts of motifs and concerns within the letter surface initially here: the central focus on Christ and the gospel, the language of servanthood and "fellowship," the relational basis of this "fellowship," Paul's "chains" (thus the motif of "suffering"), the future orientation of present life in Christ, and the need for love and fruitful living in the present. There is in fact very little that is distinctive to this letter that is not anticipated in some way in the three sections of these introductory matters.
A. SALUTATION (1:1-2)
1Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,7
To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with8 the overseersa and deacons:
2Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord JesusChrist.
atraditionally bishops
Although the Philippians themselves would not have been privy to our broader knowledge of Paul as a letter-writer, the most convenient way for us to enter into the significance of this salutation is by comparison with the other letters in the corpus. In such a comparison, several matters stand out: its comparative brevity, the fixed nature of the greeting proper (v. 2), and the inclusion of "overseers and deacons." Some other items need to be noted as well, as we take up the various elements in turn.
1 (A) The Writer(s). Even though the practice is extremely rare among the extant Greco-Roman letters, Paul frequently includes his present companions with himself in his salutations.9 This is especially so regarding Timothy. One is not quite sure what to make of the phenomenon (of co-authorship). In the case of 1 and 2 Thessalonians, which are written mostly in the first person plural, a genuine co-authorship seems to be involved, and when Paul wishes to distinguish himself from the others, he does so as in 1 Thess 2:18, "I, Paul, once and again." Second Corinthians likewise appears most often in the first person plural, although frequently also in the first singular; however, the subject matter makes it certain that in this case the letter is primarily from Paul himself, and very little from Paul and Timothy. When we come to the three Captivity Letters in which this phenomenon appears (Philemon, Colossi-ans, Philippians), the apparent claim of co-authorship gives way to the reality that Paul is the sole author.
Very likely, therefore, the appearance of Timothy in the six letters that also bear his name is to be understood in two ways. First, it is probable that Timothy served as Paul's secretary, as the actual writer of the letter at Paul's dictation.10 Evidence for Paul's use of a secretary appears in 2 Thess 3:17, where he signs off the letter with his own hand, after someone else had penned the rest.11 One cannot be sure, of course, that Timothy was the secretary in that case, or in the case of Philippians, but it is reasonable to think so. Second, in most cases Timothy is well known to the recipients,12 hence the ease with which he is included as the "co-author," especially in a letter of friendship.13 Thus, even though Timothy was not involved in the actual composition of the letter,14 he is involved by being present (probably) as secretary, and thus present to offer reminders and/or corrections as the need may arise. Since he is so well known to the Philippians,15 and since he is soon himself to come to Philippi (2:19-22), the letter is to be understood in this lesser sense as coming from both of them — Paul as author, with Timothy's concurrence.
But this salutation is unique in another way, which is best seen in contrast to four of the other letters in which Timothy's name also appears. In 1 and 2 Thessalonians, written primarily in the first person plural, the names of the senders appear simply, with no elaboration: Paul and Silvanus and Timothy. In Colossians and Philemon, however, Paul begins as always with his own name, followed by a word of self-identification (apostle/prisoner),16 which in turn is followed by "and Timothy our brother." In Philippians alone does Paul include Timothy in the self-identification. Thus, "Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus." The reasons for the inclusion of Timothy in this case are not hard to find, being related to two other matters.
First, after 1 and 2 Thessalonians, only here and in Philemon is there no assertion of Paul's apostleship. This of course explains why on other occasions Timothy's name is separated from Paul's in his self-identification; Timothy is not an apostle.17 But he is a fellow "slave." The reason for Paul's not identifying himself as an apostle is more speculative; most likely it is related to the nature of both the present letter and Paul's relationship with this community. A letter primarily of friendship and exhortation,18 not of persuasion, does not need a reminder of Paul's apostleship; indeed, the summons to obedience in this letter is predicated altogether on the secure nature of their mutual friendship.19
Second, the identification itself, " 'slaves' [douloi]20 of Christ Jesus," anticipates a significant motif of the letter. While "servant," found in most English translations,21 is an acceptable rendering, it also causes the English reader to lose something of its force. For the (basically Gentile) readers of this letter, this word would have only meant "slave." Indeed, douloi were so common in Greco-Roman society that no one would have thought it to refer other than to those owned by, and subservient to, the master of a household.22 To be sure, the institution of slavery in antiquity23 was a far cry from the racial slavery that blighted American society — and the English society that made it possible by the slave trade. Even so, the slave in the Roman Empire was not a free person, but "belonged to" another. Thus, whatever else, the word carries connotations of humility and servitude.
Gentile converts to Christianity, however, were no longer members only of Greco-Roman culture. They had entered the "society"24 of a people whose roots were in Judaism and whose story had its origins in the Old Testament, a story that the Philippians by now would have known well in its Greek form — the Septuagint (LXX). And here the Greek word doulos, used for true "slaves" of course, was also used to designate "servants of God," where it carried the sense of distance from and dependence upon God, but at the same time became a kind of honorific title for those in special service to God.25
It is this double connotation that is probably at work in Paul's designating himself and Timothy by this word. They are Christ's slaves, bound to him as slaves to their master, but whose "slavery" is expressed in loving service on behalf of Christ for the Philippians — and others. It is noteworthy that Paul does not often use it as a title.26 Much more often he uses this language to designate any and all of those who "serve" God as "free bondslaves," that is, as those who are free in Christ Jesus, but who have used that freedom to "perform the duties of a slave"27 in the service of God and of his people. Of special significance in our letter is Paul's use of this word in 2:7 to designate Christ in the humiliation of his incarnation. As God's ultimate suffering servant he humbled himself to death on a cross —- on the Philippians' behalf — which serves as the proper ground for the humility to which Paul calls them in 2:4. They are to "have this mindset that is also that of Christ Jesus" (2:5), a concern probably anticipated by this self-designation.28
Paul and Timothy are thus to be thought of as "slaves/servants of Christ Jesus." Here is the absolutely predominant motif in this letter. Everything is in, of, by, and for Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus is the basis of their common existence; he is the focus and content of the gospel in which Paul, Timothy, and the Philippians are partners; and he is the Lord, to whom every knee shall bow, including those in Philippi who are currently bowing to "Lord Caesar," the emperor Nero. As "slaves of Christ Jesus," Paul and Timothy are thus designated as belonging to him alone; at the same time they are Christ's "servants" on his behalf for the sake of the Philippians,29 whom he will go on to designate as "in Christ Jesus," and whom he will greet with grace and peace that come from both God the Father and "our Lord Jesus Christ."
(B) The Addressees. The letter is addressed "to all the saints in Christ Jesus, who are in Philippi." By this designation Paul repeats three (for him) standard items. First, he calls them "saints,"30 a common designation for the new covenant people of God, but a translation that has far too many misleading connotations to be useful to the ordinary English reader.31 This is one of several OT terms used to designate Israel — especially as God's elect — which has been appropriated by the NT writers for the people of God newly constituted by Christ and the Spirit. Its origins can be traced to the covenantal setting of Exod 19:6, where among other things God speaks to Israel as "my people ... a holy nation" — a people consecrated and subject to Yahweh and his service. The language is picked up regularly in Leviticus, still as an adjective;32 but in the Psalter and elsewhere it becomes a substantive to refer to God's people as such.33 The preferable translation here and elsewhere in the NT is "God's holy people," which keeps both dimensions of the term intact — believers in Christ as constituting God's people, who are by that very fact also called to be his holy people,34 set apart by the Holy Spirit35 for God's purposes and distinguished as those who manifest his character in the world.36 Concern that they be God's holy people in Philippi will be picked up throughout the letter (1:10, 11; 2:14-15; 3:17-19; 4:8).
Second, their becoming "God's holy people" is the direct result of their relationship to Christ Jesus; they are "the saints in Christ Jesus."37 Much has been written on this latter phrase, including the suggestion that there is a kind of "Christ-mysticism" in Pauline usage,38 but most of that is to push a common phrase much too far.39 The Philippian believers are "in Christ Jesus" precisely because they are first of all "by Christ Jesus." That is, Christ Jesus is both responsible for their becoming the people of God, and as the crucified and risen One, he constitutes the present sphere of their new existence. They live as those who belong to Christ Jesus, as those whose lives are forever identified with Christ. We have already noted the emphasis on this theme throughout the letter, which becomes predominant both in Paul's reflections on his own life (1:20-23; 3:7-11) and in his affirmations of and exhortations to the Philippians (1:27; 2:1, 5-11; 3:3; 4:7).
Third, they are "God's holy people in Philippi."40 Again, while one can scarcely make much of it here, this becomes another important motif in this letter. In the present instance it is merely descriptive; but in 4:15 he calls them "Philippians" by name, something he rarely does in his letters. In light of the word play on their Roman "citizenship" in 1:27 and 3:20, this is not an insignificant matter. In this bit of Rome located in the province of Macedonia, with its unique history and therefore special devotion to the emperor — as a divine Kyrios ("Lord") —the Philippian believers in Christ Jesus, by their allegiance to another Lord, are thereby "God's holy people," his elect, in that city.
Beyond these standard expressions, there are two other items in the address that call for special attention. First, the letter is addressed to "all the saints ... in Philippi." As Lightfoot (p. 83) pointed out many years ago, the "studied repetition of the word 'all' in this epistle, when the Philippian Church is mentioned" makes it nearly "impossible not to connect this recurrence of the word with the strong and repeated exhortations to unity which the epistle contains." 41 Thus, this motif appears at the very beginning of the letter, and is frequently repeated throughout the proemium.42
Second, and the most striking feature of the salutation, is the addition of the phrase, "with the overseers and deacons."43 Surprisingly, this is the first designation of its kind in Paul's letters;44 even more surprisingly, after being thus singled out in the address, they are not hereafter spoken to.45 As with the salutation itself, the letter is always and only addressed to the whole community. Three matters call for further comment.
(1) Even though these titles occur only here and in the Pastoral Epistles in the Pauline corpus, one should not construe this to suggest either that the other Pauline churches did not have such leaders or that this is a later development in his churches. Leaders are singled out for "honor" in the earliest of the letters (1 Thess 5:12-13); it is not conceivable that the other churches did not have them. That there is little or no evidence for a hierarchy in the Pauline churches does not mean that leadership did not exist; it undoubtedly did, and there is no good reason to think that the titles given here, and found again in 1 Timothy and Titus, did not exist from the beginning.
(2) Exactly as one finds in the earliest (1 Thessalonians) and later ( 1 Timothy) letters, both references are plural. No evidence exists for a single leader as the "head" of the local assembly in the Pauline churches.46 The most probable reason for this relates to the role Paul himself played in his churches. Although he was not regularly present with them, they were his churches and owed their existence and obedience to him (cf. 2:12!).
(3) The language used for this addition, "together with/along with,"47 is the sure giveaway as to the role of leadership in the Pauline churches. The community as a whole is addressed, and in most cases therefore the "overseers and deacons" are simply reckoned as being within the community. When they are singled out, as here, the leaders are not "over" the church, but are addressed "alongside of" the church,48 as a distinguishable part of the whole, but as part of the whole, not above or outside it.
But who were these people, and what was their function?
Overseers.49 The origin of the word episkopos as a title for one form of leadership in the NT church is shrouded in mystery, and therefore an object of scholarly debate; but there can be little question that in Pauline usage, as with all his designations of church leaders, it first of all denotes a "function," rather than an "office."50 The first clue to understanding lies with the verb from which it is derived, whose primary meaning is to "visit" in the sense of "looking after" or "caring for" someone.51 Thus in the speech in Acts 20:28 Paul is reported to urge the Ephesian elders to "give heed to . . . the flock, among whom [not 'over whom'] the Holy Spirit has placed you as episkopoi, so as to shepherd God's church."52 While one need not doubt the titular implications of this usage, the accent is on function. And in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, although the concern is with character qualifications, even there they are described as those who "care for God's church" (1 Tim 3:5). The nature of this designation, together with the fact that it occurs in first position,53 makes it reasonably certain that those who bore this title held the primary leadership roles in the local church. They were probably responsible for "caring for the people" in most senses of that term, including administration, hospitality, and pastoral care.
Deacons. This is the more difficult term, because Paul uses it in so many different ways. The word itself (diakonos) means "servant," and this is its most common usage in Paul. He uses it of Christ (Rom 15:8), of government officials (Rom 13:4), of himself (1 Cor 3:5; 2 Cor 3:6), and of his co-workers (1 Thess 3:2; Col 1:7). In each of these cases, as with "overseer," it is primarily a "functional" term, designating someone who serves others. But in Rom 16:1 Paul uses diakonos to refer to Phoebe in a way that seems very close to a title as well, which is certainly the case here — and in 1 Tim 3:8. From our distance it is nearly impossible to know either what their function was or how they are to be distinguished from the "overseers," although it is almost certain that they are. If the functional sense of these terms is also the clue to their titular use, then the "overseers" are probably those who give general oversight to the congregation, while the "deacons" are distinguished by their actual deeds of service.54
The ultimate, but finally unanswerable, question is "Why?" Why in this letter are the "overseers and deacons" singled out in the salutation? A recent suggestion relates it to the grumbling and murmuring of 2:14, since in the OT text alluded to in v. 15 these complaints were directed against God through Moses. Thus the leaders are included in the salutation so as to remind the community of their place in Christ.55 While this is possible, it seems more likely to be related to 4:2-3, where Euodia and Syntyche, who are most likely to be reckoned among these leaders, apparently are not in full accord with each other. Thus, both the "all" with which the address begins and the addition of "with the overseers and deacons" at the end anticipate the problem of friction that has arisen within this community,56 perhaps within the leadership itself.
2 (C) The Greeting. The greeting itself has by now become so standard in Paul that the form found in Philippians is precisely that found first in 1 Corinthians and repeated in 2 Corinthians, Romans, Philemon, and Ephe-sians.57 Here is a marvelous example of Paul's "turning into gospel" everything he sets his hand to. The traditional greeting in the Hellenistic world was chairein — the infinitive of the verb "to rejoice," but in salutations meaning simply "Greetings!" (see Acts 15:23; Jas 1:1). In Paul's hands this now becomes charis ("grace"), to which he adds the traditional Jewish greeting shalom ("peace,"58 in the sense of "wholeness" or "well-being").59 Thus instead of the familiar "greetings," Paul salutes his brothers and sisters in Christ with "grace to you — and peace." 60
It is worth noting that this is the invariable order of Paul's words, not "grace and peace to you" as in most translations. Very likely there is significance to this order: the grace of God and Christ is what is given to God's people; peace is what results from such a gift. Hence, "grace to you — and peace." In a profound sense this greeting therefore nicely represents Paul's larger theological perspective. The sum total of God's activity toward his human creatures is found in the word "grace"; God has given himself to his people bountifully and mercifully in Christ.61 Nothing is deserved, nothing can be achieved. The sum total of those benefits as they are experienced by the recipients of God's grace is "peace,"62 God's eschatological shalom, both now and to come.63 The latter flows out of the former, and both together flow from "God our Father" and were made effective in our human history through our "Lord Jesus Christ."
The collocation of the Father and Son in such texts as these must not be overlooked.64 In Pauline theology, whose central concern is "salvation in Christ," God the Father is understood to initiate such salvation,65 and his glory is its ultimate raison d'être.66 Indeed, God the Father is the subject of nearly all the Pauline "saving" verbs, whose saving action was effected in our human history through Christ the Son.67 But texts such as this one, where Father and Son are simply joined by the conjunction "and" as equally the source of "grace and peace," and many others as well, make it clear that in Paul's mind the Son is truly God and works in cooperation with the Father and the Spirit for the redemption of the people of God.
Although one hesitates to make too much of a Pauline prescript, the contemporary church fits into this salutation at several key points. Those in roles of primary leadership too easily slip into a self-understanding which pays lip service to their being "slaves of Christ Jesus" but prefers the more honorable sense of this term found in the OT, than in the paradigm either of Christ (in 2:6-8) or of Paul (2:17). Not only so, but the emphasis on all of God's holy people, together with the leaders, could also use some frequent "dusting off" so as to minimize the frequent distance between clergy and people that otherwise exists in the church. All of us are "in Christ Jesus"; and all are in Christ Jesus in whatever "Philippi" God has placed us, since contemporary Western culture is no more a friend to grace than theirs was to these early believers. And, finally, as with them, the key to life in Christ in our Philippi lies first of all in our common experience of grace and peace from God our Father provided by Christ our Lord.
1 . For helpful studies of letter writing in the Greco-Roman period, see J. L. White, Light, whose analysis is based on the Greek papyri, and Stowers, Letter Writing, who throws the net more widely. Either (or both) of these is essential reading for the serious exegesis of one of the NT letters. Along with the useful collection of such letters in Stowers and White, see also Hunt and Edgar, Select Papyri I, for further examples from the Greek papyri.
2 . All the true "letters" in the NT follow this pattern (including the letter from James in Acts 15:23-29), except for 3 John, which lacks the standard greeting. For a collection of examples from the papyri, see Exler, Form, 23-68; for a further collection and detailed study, see Schnider and Stenger, Studien.
3 . Noticeably absent in Galatians, 1 Timothy, and Titus.
4 . Cf., e.g., 2 Thess 1:11-12; Col 1:9-11.
5 . The word proemium is the technical one to cover all of these matters, both the"prescript," which refers to the salutation proper, and the thanksgiving-prayer report.
6 . Although sometimes noted by earlier commentators, awareness of the significance of this phenomenon for Paul's letters took root with Paul Schubert's Form and Function of the Pauline Thanksgivings (1939).
7 . The later MajT has the word order, "Jesus Christ," against all the early evidence of all kinds.
8 . Several MSS, including K 33 1739 1881, read σùv έπισ�όποις; as one word, συνεπισχόποις, thus turning "overseers" and "deacons" into indirect objects. The resultant text, "to all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, to the fellow-bishops and deacons, grace and peace," is a patently secondary reading, reflecting the ecclesiology of a later time. Cf.Metzger, Textual Commentary, 611.
9 . He does so in seven letters in the corpus: 1 and 2 Thessalonians (Timothy and Silas), 1 Corinthians (Sosthenes), 2 Corinthians (Timothy), Philemon (Timothy), Colossians (Timothy), and here (Timothy). There are no known examples outside the Pauline corpus. The only known reference to co-authorship is in Cicero, Att. 11.15.1: "For my part I have gathered from your letters — both that which you wrote in conjunction with others and the one you wrote in your own name . . ." (LCL 2.363). See the discussion in Bahr,"Letter Writing," 476-77.
10 . So also Jones, Müller, Bruce. Most commentaries think otherwise, often following Meyer (11), who asserts on the basis of Rom 16:22 that "the amanuensis as such is not included in the superscription" (emphasis his). More likely the difference between Tertius (who is clearly the amanuensis of Romans but not mentioned in the salutation) and Timothy and Sosthenes (1 Corinthians) is that the latter were Paul's coworkers,and were also known to the recipients.
11 . Cf. 1 Cor 16:21 and Gal 6:11, the latter in a letter that lacks any internal information as to who the secretary might be. This is probably an indication that Paul wrote that letter at a time when Timothy was not with him — although it also may be that Timothy was not personally known in the churches of Galatia.
12 . This is especially true in the case of 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 2 Corinthians, and Philippians; it is more problematic for Colossians and Philemon.
13 . On Philippians as a letter of friendship, see the Introduction, pp. 2-7.
14 . After all, in v. 3 Paul assumes the role as the only writer, a stance that carries throughout the letter. Furthermore, in 2:19 he speaks of Timothy in the third person while referring to himself still in the first singular. By way of contrast cf. the reference to Timothy in 1 Thess 3:2.
15 . This is made evident by how Paul speaks of him to them in 2:19-23; it is further corroborated by Acts 16:1, 13, where he was present at the founding of the church; cf. 17:14, where he is also present at the founding of the church in Thessalonica. According to Acts 19:22 and 20:3-4, Timothy visited Philippi twice more during Paul's so-called Third Missionary Journey.
16 . "Paul, apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God" (Col 1:1); "Paul, prisoner of Christ Jesus" (Phlm 1).
17 . Cf. 1 Cor 1:1, where the same distinction occurs between Paul as an apostle and Sosthenes as a "brother," and Phlm 1, where Paul likewise distinguishes himself from Timothy ("Paul, prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother") because Timothy was not in fact a prisoner; only Paul was. This evidence should occasion some caution as to how much weight one puts on Paul's having joined Timothy's name with his in this case (as, e.g., Hawthorne, 3-4). Of the various terms of self-identification used by Paul in his salutations, this one (i.e., "slave of Christ Jesus") in particular can include others on equal grounds, without the need to distinguish himself from his writing companion(s).
18 . See the Introduction, pp. 2-7, 10-14.
19 . In this regard see esp. the comments below on 1:7-8, 25-26, 27; 2:1-2, 12, 17-18; 4:1, 10, 14-16; cf. the Introduction, pp. 13-14.
20 . Altogether this word group appears 59 times in the Pauline corpus: δούλος, "slave" (30x); συνδοϋλος, "fellow-slave" (2x); δουλέυω, "to perform the duties of a slave, to serve" (17x); δουλεία, "slavery" (4x); δουλόω, "to enslave" (6x). On the meaning of this word in Paul see, inter alia, K. H. Rengstorf, TDNT 2.261-80; H.-G. Link and R. Tuente, NIDNTT, 3.589-98; A. Weiser, EDNT, 1.349-52; Sass, "Bedeutung."
21 . Cf. KJV, AV, RSV, NRSV, NIV, GNB, NEB, NAB, JB. Weymouth and the NASB have "bondservants"; Confraternity has "bondsmen." The latter are attempts to find a middle way between the rather totally negative connotations of "slave," conditioned as it is by slavery in American history, and the less than servitude connotations in the word "servant." The latter, to be distinguished from a slave, was designated by the word διάκονος, which appears in the next phrase where it is translated "deacons." But because the word "slave" often carries the connotation of "servility," which δούλος never does in Paul (so also Vincent, 2), it fares little better than "servant" as an adequate translation into English. Cf. Michael, 2-3.
22 . Cf. Bruce, 26. who dismisses altogether the possibility of a second connotation (as suggested below).
23 . Their slavery, which originated with captives from war, became primarily a socioeconomic phenomenon. For overviews of Greco-Roman slavery, see S. S. Bartchy, ABD, 6.65-73, and E. Ferguson, Backgrounds, 56-59; see their bibliographies for more detailed studies.
24 . On the sociological question of the early churches as a religious "society" in the Greco-Roman world, see esp. W. A. Meeks, Urban, 74-80; J. E. Stambaugh and D. L. Balch, Social Environment, 124-26, 140-41; and Ferguson. Backgrounds, 131-36.
25 . See, e.g., Moses (2 Kgs 18:12; Ps 104:26); Josh 24:29 ("Joshua, the servant of the Lord, died"); Jon 1:9 ("I am the servant of the Lord" [δούλος κυρίου]); Neh 1:6 (where Nehemiah in prayer calls himself "your servant"); Ezek 34:23 (referring to David as "the Lord's servant"); Ezek 38:17 ("my servants the prophets"; cf., Jer 25:4; Amos 3:7; Dan 9:6, 10). That Paul should substitute "Christ Jesus" for "the Lord [= Yahweh]" is another of those subtle, but significant, moments in Paul where his "high Christology" emerges as presupposition, not argumentation (cf. Sanday-Headlam, Romans, 3).
26 . Only here and in Rom 1:1, where it appears as his first self-designation, before he also reminds them that he has been "called" to be an "apostle" of the gospel. But cf. Gal 1:10 ("Christ's slave"), and Col 1:7 and 4:7, where Epaphras and Tychicus are each called a συνδοϋλος, "fellow slaves/servants in the Lord."
27 . For this translation of the verb in Gal 5:13, see Fee, Presence, 425 n. 201.
28 . Cf. Collange, 26; Hawthorne, 4.
29 . In this regard, see esp. 2:16-18 (of Paul toward the Philippians); 2:22 (of Timothy); 2:25-26 (of Epaphroditus).
30 . Gk. οί άγιοι, which occurs in 6 of the 9 letters addressed to churches (1 and 2 Corinthians, Romans, Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians). It also occurs in 4:22 to designate God's people in Rome who return greetings (cf. 2 Cor 13:12).
31 . Most often it carries an "elitist" sense, co-opted by the later church to designate its "special" people, as, e.g., "Saint Paul." This is about as far removed from biblical usage as one can get. The word also carries a more popular sense, referring to anyone who is well known for godliness or good deeds, as in "my uncle Alton was a real saint." This is a bit closer to the biblical sense, which presupposes such "sanctity" as being common to all who belong to Christ.
32 . In the repeated, "you shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy."
33 . Cf. Ps 16:3 (LXX 15:3), "As for the saints who are in the land"; 34:9 (LXX 33:9), "Fear the Lord, you his saints"; 74:3 (LXX 73:3), "All this destruction the enemy has wrought among your saints." See esp. Dan 7:8, 18, 21, 22. See the helpful discussion by Evans, "New Wine."
34 . Thus trying to keep intact both the "ontological" (= people) and "ethical" (= holy) dimension of this term.
35 . Although Paul does not make that point here, there can be little question of this connection in his own thinking; see, e.g., the iscussions of 1 Thess 4:8; 1 Cor 6:11; and esp. Rom 15:16 in Fee, Presence, 50-53, 127-32, 626-27. Cf. Kennedy, 416, on the present text.
36 . Lightfoot, 81-82, notes that it was probably the "moral idea" in this word, almost entirely wanting in the word for "sacred" (ιερός), that led the LXX translators to choose άγιος to render the Hebrew word for "holiness."
37 . On the possible significance of the word order ("Christ Jesus" instead of "Jesus Christ"), see Kennedy, 415, who sees the order as "strik[ing] the keynote of Paul's attitude toward his Master."
38 . An idea first made popular by A. Deissmann in Formel. For English readers a succinct overview of his position can be found in Paul, 123-35. The idea was carried forward vigorously by W. Bousset in Kyrios Christos and esp. by A. Schweitzer, Mysticism.
39 . Cf. Collange (37): "The long history of interpretation of the Pauline 'en Christo' is familiar enough, and it is sufficient for the present to say that the 'era' ('in') has temporal and historical, not spatial, force here."
40 . On the geography, history, and sociology of the first century city, see the Introduction, pp. 25-26, and the bibliography cited there.
41 . See 1:2, 7 (2x), 8, 25; 2:17; 4:21. For this emphasis see esp. D. Peterlin's dissertation ("Paul's Letter," 29-31), although as with many theses the influence of the element of "disunity" in the letter is verdone, partly because of methodological weaknesses related to "mirror-reading" (see the Introduction, p. 7 n. 24). The only other letters where this word appears in the salutation are Romans (1:4), a letter addressed to a situation where Jew-Gentile relations are at stake, and 2 Corinthians (1:1) in a prepositional phrase that expands the greeting to include "all who are in Achaia."
42 . Although one should also observe that in this, its first occurrence, there is no reason to think it emphatic. The emphasis comes in its "studied repetition."
43 . For the considerable bibliography on these two words, see the excursus in the commentaries by Lightfoot, 95-99, 181-269; Vincent, 36-51; Gnilka, 32-41; Collange, 37-41; as well as the significant studies on church order in the early church (E. Schweizer, Church Order; von Campenhausen, Ecclesiastical Authority)', cf. Best, "Bishops." Schenk (78-82) has argued against the authenticity of the phrase; but his arguments are circular and ultimately based on subjectivity (a distrust of the titles in such an early letter). The basic objection is that it requires hypothesizing a kind of scribal activity for which there is no analogy (the fact that these words are secure in the entire textual tradition of Philippians and that they were never transported from here to other letters indicates how unlikely it is that a scribe would have created such a phrase here "out of thin air"). Cf.Peterlin's counter-arguments to each of Schenk's points ("Paul's Letter," 27-28). It is equally unlikely that the xαί is epexegetic, thus forming a hendiadys (= "overseers who serve"), as Collange (39-40) and Hawthorne (9-10), following Lemaire (Les ministères, 96-103), who picked up the suggestion from Chrysostom.
44 . Because of the predominant view that the Pastoral Epistles are "deutero- Pauline," most would say the "only" such designation in Paul's letters. On the probable authenticity of these letters, see Fee, 1 Timothy, 23-26; in any case, they are far more Pauline than otherwise. That is, even if "deutero-Pauline," they are in that sense very clearly Pauline, and thus are filled with Pauline themes and concerns. For similar judgments in recent studies, see Towner, Goal; Fowl, Story; and Kidd, Wealth.
On the improbable suggestion made by some (e.g., Houlden, 49; allowed as possible by Hawthorne and O'Brien) that these terms are likely parallel to the "helpers, administrators" of 1 Cor 12:28, see Fee, First Corinthians, 621-22; this is to read back into Paul the concerns of a later time and has no basis in either Paul's use of words or his concerns.
45 . Another observation that is seldom made in the commentaries. On Schenk's suggestion that these words are a later interpolation see n.43 above.
46 . Although it seems very likely on sociological grounds that the head of the household, the paterfamilias, functioned in a similar role of leadership in the house church that met in his or her household as he or she did in the household itself.
47 . Gk. συν, which carries the connotation of "accompaniment, association."
48 . Cf. Motyer, 40-41.
49 . Gk. επίσxοποι, found here and in 1 Tim 3:2 and Tit 1:7 in Paul; cf. Luke's version of Paul's "speech" in Acts 20:28. Because of the inherent interest both in the term itself and in early church leadership in general, there is a considerable literature on this term. Among many other items, one should note H. W. Beyer, TDNT, 2.606-22; L. Coenen, N1DNTT, 1.188-92 (further bibliography, 200-201); Lohse, "Entstehung"; J. Rohde, EDNT, 2.35-36; Porter, "έπίσκοπος"; Stalder, "Episkopos," plus the items noted above (n. 43). For an earlier view, still worth reading, see the excursus in Lightfoot, 181-269.
50 . So esp. in the LXX, where it is altogether a "functional" term. See, e.g., Num 4:16 (έπίσκοπος; Eleazar, who was "in charge of" the oil); Num 31:14 (those in charge of the army are called "the έπίσκοποι of the forces"); Jdgs 9:28 (Zebul, Abimelech's "deputy" [v. 28], is the έπίσκοπος of the city). In some more recent literature a septuagintal background has been called into question, finding it instead in Greek usage for governmental supervisors or officials in societies; see Reumann, "Contributions," 449-50 (following E. Dassmann, "Hausgemeinde," and G. Schöllgen, "Hausgemeinden"). This may well be so, especially since it would have been a convenient term to adopt; but the emphasis is all the more on function rather than on title as such.
51 . In Greek literature the noun and verb are frequently used to refer to a "god," whose primary function would be to "care for" people. This usage occurs of Christ in 1 Pet 2:25; cf. 1 Clem 59:3 (of God).
52 . Lightfoot, 95-99, followed by many others, argued that πρεσβύτεροι ("elders") and έπίσκοποι ("overseers") are interchangeable terms. While that is true to a degree — they are almost certainly not coterminous — more likely, on the basis of the evidence in the Pastoral Epistles, "elder" is the broader term that included all people in leadership, including "deacons" (see Fee, 1 Timothy, 78).
53 . Both here and in 1 Timothy. This is further confirmed by the fact that by the second c. it had become the primary title for local, apparently area-wide, leaders. The translation "bishop" derives from this latter usage and should never be used, since it has altogether misleading implications for this plural, which refers to local leaders of some sort.
54 . All of this acutely raises the question of translation, so as not to mislead. Do we use "titles" (such as "deacon" has become in English) or "functional" equivalents, such as "helpers" (as GNB)? The latter would seem preferable, although it is also bland, considering the "servant" implications of the word.
55 . See Silva, 144; for other (earlier) suggestions see Meyer, 13, who opts for a much earlier tradition that they had been responsible for seeing that the gift had been collected and transmitted to Paul (cf. inter alia, Barth, Beare, Benoit, Martin), which seems to focus on a lesser concern in the letter, and fails to explain why they are not further mentioned in 4:10-20.
56 . So also Michael, 6; Collange, 41; Hawthorne, 10; Garland, "Philippians 1:1-26" (although Michael sees the friction as between the congregation and its leaders ["the members wanting in due respect to the officials"], concerning which, one should note, there is not the slightest hint in this letter).
57 . The whole phrase "from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" is missing in 1 Thessalonians; the "our" is missing in 2 Thessalonians and Galatians; "and the Lord Jesus Christ" from Colossians; while "mercy" is added in 1 and 2 Timothy (but not Titus)and the "our" is transferred from God to Christ in the Pastoral Epistles (in Titus "Savior" is substituted for "Lord").
58 . Gk. ειρήνη; on this word see V. Hasler, EDNT, 1.394-97; and H. Beck, C. Brown, NIDNTT, 2.780-82. It is just possible that, since this Hebrew word had connotations of "well-being" inherent to it, Paul is here using this Jewish greeting as an equivalent of the "health wish" found in many of the papyrus letters (so Russell, "Structure,"298); but one should perhaps also remember that the English "hello" derived from"health to you"! Whether the greeting "shalom" carried with it a wish for health by the time of Paul seems moot, though possible.
59 . At the same time, he may also be modifying a Jewish blessing formula (έλεος xαί ειρήνη, "mercy and peace"), found, e.g., in 2 Bar 78:2 and echoed (in reverse order) in Gal 6:16. This cannot be demonstrated, of course, since Paul could very easily have made his theological point by adopting the blessing without modification. More likely the blessing formula lies in the background, but the modification is the result of his being a man of two worlds, as suggested here.
60 . It should perhaps be noted that one cannot be sure that Paul himself is responsible for this "transformation into gospel" of traditional formulas. But his is the earliest evidence for it, and it is quite in keeping with what he does elsewhere; see, e.g., on 4:8 and 4:11-13.
61 . Thus the letter also signs off with "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirits."
62 . In Paul "peace" can refer in turn to (1) peace with God (= cessation of hostilities), (2) peace within the believing community, (3) inner peace in place of turmoil, and (4) rest or order within a context of worship. Other commentaries express more confidence than I could muster that one can isolate any of these nuances in the Pauline salutations. In the context of greetings to a community it at least includes (1 ) and (2), and perhaps (3).
63 . On the probable eschatological dimension of this word in Paul, see C. H. Giblin, Hope, 96.
64 . On the (rightly rejected) possibility that Paul means "from God our Father as well as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," see Hawthorne, 12.
65 . In Philippians see esp. 1:6, 27; 2:9, 13; 3:9.
66 . In Philippians see 1:11; 2:11; 4:20.
67 . In Philippians see 1:11; 2:8; 3:9-11, 12, 20-21.