Preface to the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Philippians.
CLA_PHP.PDF, source PDF p. 3
PREFACE TO THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE
APOSTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS.
WE have already seen, Acts 16:12, that Philippi was a town of Macedonia, in the territory of the Edones, on the confines of Thrace, and very near the northern extremity of the Ægean Sea. It was a little eastward of Mount Pangæus, and about midway between Nicopolis on the east, and Thessalonica on the west. It was at first called Crenides, and afterwards Datus; but Philip, king of Macedonia and father of Alexander, having taken possession of it and fortified it, called it Philippi, after his own name. Julius Cæsar planted a colony here, which was afterwards enlarged by Augustus; and hence the inhabitants were considered as freemen of Rome. Near this town, it is thought, the famous battle was fought between Brutus and Cassius on the one side, and Augustus and Mark Anthony on the other, in which the former were defeated, and the fate of the empire decided. Others think that this battle was fought at Philippi, a town of Thebes in Thessaly.
The Gospel was preached first here by St. Paul. About the year of our Lord 53, St. Paul had a vision in the night; a man of Macedonia appeared to him and said, Come over to Macedonia and help us. He was then at Troas in Mysia; from thence he immediately sailed to Samothracia, came the next day to Neapolis, and thence to Philippi. There he continued for some time, and converted Lydia, a seller of purple, from Thyatira; and afterwards cast a demon out of a Pythoness, for which he and Silas were persecuted, cast into prison, scourged, and put into the stocks: but the magistrates afterwards finding that they were Romans, took them out of prison and treated them civilly. See the account, Acts 16:9, &c. The Philippians were greatly attached to their apostle, and testified their affection by sending him supplies, even when he was labouring for other Churches; and they appear to have been the only Church that did so. See Philippians 4:15,16.
There is not much controversy concerning the date of this epistle; it was probably written in the end of A. D. 62, and about a year after that to the Ephesians. Dr. Paley conjectures the date by various intimations in the epistle itself. “It purports,” says he, “to have been written near the conclusion of St. Paul’s imprisonment at Rome, and after a residence in that city of considerable duration. These circumstances are made out by different intimations; and the intimations upon the subject preserve among themselves a just consistency, and a consistency certainly unmeditated. First, the apostle had already been a prisoner at Rome so long, as that the reputation of his bonds, and of his constancy under them, had contributed to advance the success of the Gospel. See Philippians 1:12-14. Secondly, the account given of Epaphroditus imports that St. Paul, when he wrote the epistle, had been in Rome a considerable time. ‘He longed after you all, and was full of heaviness because ye had heard that he had been sick;’ Philippians 2:26. Epaphroditus had been with Paul at Rome; he had been sick; the Philippians had heard of his sickness; and he again had received an account how much they had been affected by the intelligence. The passing and repassing of these advices must necessarily have occupied a large portion of time, and must have all taken place during St. Paul’s residence at Rome. Thirdly, after a residence at Rome, this proved to have been of considerable duration, he now regards the decision of his fate as nigh at hand: he contemplates either alternative; that of his deliverance, Philippians 2:23, 24: ‘Him therefore, (Timothy,) I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me; but I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly;’ that of his condemnation, Philippians 2:17: Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all. This consistency is material, if the consideration of it be confined to the epistle. It is farther material, as it agrees, with respect to the duration of St. Paul’s first imprisonment at Rome, with the account delivered in the Acts, which, having brought the apostle to Rome, closes the history, by telling us that he dwelt there two whole years in his own hired house.” Hor. Paul., page 242. On the agreement between the epistle and the history, as given in the Acts, Dr. Paley makes many judicious remarks, which I cannot insert here, but must refer to the work itself; and I wish all my readers to get and peruse the whole work as an inestimable treasure of sacred criticism on the authenticity of Paul’s epistles.
The Epistle to the Philippians is written in a very pleasing and easy style; every where bearing evidence of that contented state of mind in which the apostle then was, and of his great affection for the people. It appears that there were false apostles, or Judaizing teachers, at Philippi, who had disturbed the peace of the Church; against these he warns them, exhorts them to concord, comforts them in their afflictions for the Gospel, returns them thanks for their kindness to him, tells them of his state, and shows a great willingness to be a sacrifice for the faith he had preached to them. There is a Divine unction in this epistle which every serious reader will perceive.
THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS.
Chronological Notes relative to this Epistle.
—Usherian year of the world, 4066.
-Alexandrian era of the world, 5564.
-Antiochian era of the world, 5554.
-Constantinopolitan era of the world, 5570.
-Year of the Eusebian epocha of the Creation, 4290.
-Year of the Julian period, 4772.
-Year of the minor Jewish era of the world, 3822.
-Year of the Greater Rabbinical era of the world, 4421.
-Year from the Flood, according to Archbishop Usher, and the English Bible, 2410.
-Year of the Cali yuga, or Indian era of the Deluge, 3164. -Year of the era of Iphitas, or since the first commencement of the Olympic games, 1002.
-Year of the Nabonassarean era, 809.
-Year of the era of the Seleucidæ, 374.
-Year of the Spanish era, 100.
-Year of the Actiac or Actian era, 93.
-Year from the birth of Christ, 66.
-Year of the vulgar era of Christ’s nativity, 62.
-Year from the building of Rome, according to Varro, 814. -Year of the CCXth Olympiad, 2.
-Jesus, high priest of the Jews.
-Common Golden Number, 6.
-Jewish Golden Number, 3.
-Year of the Solar Cycle, 15.
-Dominical Letter C.
-Jewish Passover, April 10th.
-Easter Sunday, April 11th.
-Epact, or the moon’s age on the 22d of March, or the Xth of the Calends of April, 25.
-Year of the reign of Nero. Cæsar, the sixth emperor of the Romans, 9. -In the first year of Albinus, governor of the Jews.
-Year of Vologesus, king of the Parthians, 12.
-Year of Domitius Corbulo, governor of Syria, 3.
-Roman Consuls; P. Marius Celsus, and L. Asinius Gallus, from Jan. 1st to July 1st; and L. Annæus Seneca the philosopher, and Trebellius Maximus, for the remainder of the year.
Joseph Benson
Preface
BEN_VOL8.PDF, source PDF p. 228
THE EPISTLE TO THE
PHILIPPIANS.
PREFACE
Philippi was a considerable city on the eastern frontier of Macedonia, now part of European Turkey. It was anciently named Datos; but Philip, the father of Alexander the Great, having repaired, enlarged, and beautified it, called it “Philippi,” after his own name. It stood to the north-west of Neapolis, about seventy miles north-east of Thessalonica, and about one hundred and ninety west of the place where Constantinople now stands. Julius Cesar placed a colony here, which Augustus afterward enlarged, and hence the inhabitants were considered as freemen of Rome. It was rendered remarkable for the famous battle fought near it, between the Roman Emperor Augustus and Antony on one side, and Brutus and Cassius, the republican generals, on the other. But it is more remarkable among Christians for the Christian church which was early planted there, and for this excellent epistle, written to the members thereof about twelve years after, namely, during the latter part of the apostle’s imprisonment at Rome, about the year 64 or 65, and sent by Epaphroditus.
Of the first introduction of the gospel into Macedonia, an account has been given, Acts 16:9, &c. St. Paul, with his assistants, Silas and Timothy, after having preached the gospel in most of the countries of the Lesser Asia, were directed by the Holy Ghost to pass over into Europe, for the purpose of offering salvation to the Greeks, at that time the most celebrated people in the world for genius and learning. These messengers of God, therefore, loosing from Troas, landed at Neapolis; but making no stay there, they went directly forward to Philippi, where, it appears from Acts 16:18, they abode a considerable time, and were instrumental in converting many to the faith of Christ.
It appears they met with no opposition in this place, till the apostle cast a spirit of divination out of a damsel. But that circumstance so enraged her masters, who made a considerable advantage of her “soothsaying,” that they stirred up the inhabitants against Paul and Silas, whom, after they had laid many stripes on them, they threw into prison, the jailer making “their feet fast in the stocks.” But the Lord, whose servants they were, soon released them by a signal miracle, as is recorded Acts 16:25; and the magistrates, finding that they were Romans, came and took them out of prison, and treated them civilly; desiring them, however, for the quiet of the city, to depart out of it: which they did, when they had seen and conversed with the new converts, and had comforted them. But though Paul and Silas for the present left Philippi, Luke and Timothy continued there some time longer, to carry on the work which had been so successfully begun. And this, it is probable, was one reason that induced the apostle to fix upon the latter as the most proper person to visit the Philippians in his absence, of whose affection for them, and concern for their interests, he takes particular notice, Philippians 2:19-22. That the apostle himself made the Philippians a second visit, appears from Acts 20:6; though we are not informed of any particulars relating to it. And it is highly probable that he visited them often, as he passed to and from Greece. And, indeed, the peculiar affection and respect which they manifested to the apostle, entitled them to some distinguished regard: for while he preached in Thessalonica, they sent him money twice. And this, it seems, they did, both from the gratitude which they felt to him for being instrumental in bringing them out of the darkness of heathenism, and from the concern they had that the success of the gospel should not be hindered among their countrymen, by its preachers becoming burdensome to them. The same regard they showed to him, and for the same reason, while he preached the gospel in Corinth, 2 Corinthians 11:9. He also acknowledges (Philippians 4:18) to have received a present from them by the hands of Epaphroditus, when he was a prisoner at Rome. These, however, were not the only proofs which the Philippians gave of their love to the apostle, and the religion which they had received. Their behaviour in other respects was every way worthy of their profession. They maintained the doctrine of the gospel in its purity, and walked in the holy manner required by its precepts. Indeed, the excellent character of these Christians may be inferred from the manner in which this epistle is written. For, while most of his other letters contain reprehensions of some for their errors, and of others for their bad conduct, throughout the whole of this epistle to the Philippians no fault is found with any of them; unless the caution, (Philippians 2:3, 4,) to avoid strife and vain glory in the exercise of their spiritual gifts, can be called a reprehension. But his letter is employed almost wholly in commending and encouraging them, or in giving them exhortations to persevere and make advances in the good ways of the Lord. But though the apostle did not see it needful to censure or reprove the Philippian believers for any thing, he judged it necessary to pass a severe censure on some Judaizing teachers, who were endeavouring to introduce themselves among them, as they had done among the Christians in other places, making it, as it seems, their whole business to destroy the purity and peace of the churches. Of these corrupters of the gospel the apostle, out of his zeal for the truth, and his great love to his Philippian converts, speaks with more severity than in any of his other letters, being doubtless directed so to do by a particular impulse of the Spirit of God, who knew it necessary that this sharpness should be used for opening the eyes of the faithful, and making them sensible of the malignity of these false teachers, and of the pernicious tendency of their doctrine.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Philippians.
SUT_VOL5.PDF, source PDF p. 106
Editorial note: Additional printed-edition collation — Sutcliffe, vol. 2 (1835): The printed heading reads ST. PAUL’S EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS. The omitted opening words are restored in the heading paragraph. PHILIPPI is already present at the start of the following paragraph and is supported by the older printing. SUT_VOL5.PDF, PDF page 106; Sutcliffe, printed Commentary, vol. 2 (1835), p. 537.
ST. PAUL’S EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS.
PHILIPPI, formerly Dathos, the chief city of Macedonia, as stated on the sixteenth chapter of the Acts. It is situate on the western shore of the river Strymon, which divided ancient Thrace from Macedonia. It was rebuilt and beautified by Philip, and called by his name. It stands on a hill, and was made strong by nature and art. Some coins have been discovered that Julius Cæsar conferred as favours on the city, at the time the Roman colony was planted there.
Near to this city are the far-famed fields of Pharsalia, where two very signal battles were fought, forty eight years before the christian æra. The first between Cæsar and Pompey, the latter of whom was defeated with the loss of twenty thousand men. The second was also fought by Augustus, against Brutus and Cassius, both of whom were slain.
Virgil associates these battles with all the vulgar errors and marvellous wonders of the age. He makes the birds screech, the rivers bleed, and the earth to tremble. Thus it was that Philippi twice saw the Roman armies contend in civil wars.
Ergo inter sese paribus concurrere telis
Romanas acies iterum videre Philippi.
Georgica. 1:489.
This epistle developes the soul of Paul in glory of doctrine, in all moral excellence, in wisdom of words, in pastoral cares, and in all the consummate graces which belong to the highest order of martyrs and confessors of the Lord.
Additional Notes to Philippians 4
SUT_VOL5.PDF, source PDF p. 126
Editorial note: Additional printed-edition collation — Sutcliffe, vol. 2 (1835): The corresponding Philippians 3–4 pages of the 1835 printing were inspected. Its chapter 4 discussion begins at verse 6; the target verse 3 paragraph containing Τουνομα εν Διου αυλη was not located there. This older edition therefore does not securely settle that Greek quotation, which remains uncertain. SUT_VOL5.PDF, PDF page 126; Sutcliffe, printed Commentary, vol. 2 (1835), p. 542; Sutcliffe, printed Commentary, vol. 2 (1835), p. 543.
expected to find them, even the palace of Cæsar, of Nero. Let it encourage us to look to God to supply our spiritual necessities out of the riches of his glory in Christ. And in a cheerful hope that he will do it, let us through him ascribe glory to our God and Father for ever and ever. Amen.” ADDITIONAL NOTES TO PHILIPPIANS 4.
Verse 1. My joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord. Other combatants fought for garlands which fade in a day, but Paul’s contest was for a crown of righteousness which fadeth not away. Daniel had said before, that those who are wise, and those who turn many to righteousness, should shine as the brightness of the firmament, and as the stars for ever and ever. Paul had turned multitudes of gentiles to the Lord, and his crown was bedecked with a whole galaxy of celestial luminaries. What an argument for perseverance, and steadfastness in the faith. Other robbers steal a person’s money, but backsliders steal away irradiated crowns from the heads of their dejected pastors.
Ver. 3. I entreat thee also, true yoke-fellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel. Erasmus is almost singular in understanding this of Paul’s wife. Eusebius affirms that he was married, but does not say at what period of his life. Others understand it of Epaphroditus, the bishop of Philippi, the genuine yoke-fellow of Paul, and therefore joined with Euodias, Syntyche, and Clement; and it was his business to succour and comfort the deaconesses of the church. But the name Syntyche having a feminine termination, Calmet, after some others, thinks she was a woman in the church of Philippi eminent for piety and good works. If so, she must, like the daughters of Philip, have been a prophetess in the church, a mother in Israel. The inscriptions to the bishops, in Philippians 1:1, does not affect this idea, for Paul’s epistles were provincial, as well as particular, and he refers to the bishops of adjacent towns. True yoke-fellow is therefore a term of courtesy, Epaphroditus having laboured with Paul in the ministry. Women in the east, being separated from the men, as indicated by the court of the women in the temple, matrons were alike essential in the synagogue and in the church of Christ. Romans 16:1.
Whose names are in the book of life. See on Exodus 32:32. Homer says of Ulyses, that his name was in Jupiter’s court. Τουνομα εν Διου αυλη. Indeed all the heroes claimed divine descent, as is intimated by many of their names. Christ keeps the register of the faithful in the archives of heaven.
Ver. 4. Rejoice in the Lord alway; and again I say rejoice. The believer has indeed cause for joy, both in this world and in that which is to come. He has a God, a Redeemer, a hope laid up in heaven. Why not then, like David, bless the Lord at all times, and call upon him seven times a day. Why not dispose of his cares, and sorrows, and crosses; and being persuaded that all his affairs are in the hands of a heavenly Father, why not sing, though the figtree should not blossom?
Ver. 5. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The adjective, επιεικες, is here put for the substantive: let your modesty, meekness, lenity, candour, probity, humanity, be noted and approved of all. Men shrink away from the Nabals of the age.
Ver. 8, 9. Whatsoever things are honest, pure, lovely. Here the moral glory of the christian character is described, similar to what we find in Psalm 15. 119. and in our Lord’s sermon on the mount. It is the want of this amiable and lovely character that hinders the world from believing in Christ, by giving an unjust and unfavourable view of the gospel. John 17:20, 21. Christianity, they say, has done nothing for us — a most grievous sarcasm against the true church. Her charities at this moment are blazing out to distant lands, under every form of active benevolence. Ver. 11-13. I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. This is not a lesson of theory, but of practice; nor is it one that nature teaches, for Paul had to learn it long after his conversion; and he learned it in hunger and affluence, in stripes and jails. At Philippi he sung at midnight in the stocks; he was calm in the tempest at sea, and he saw his bonds the means of converting many in Cæsar’s court. Well then did the Saviour say of outward troubles and calamities, “In patience possess ye your souls.” Christ can strengthen us to do and to suffer all his pleasure. Ver. 15. No church communicated with me — but ye only. Paul had asked nothing for his journey to Jerusalem; but now, being in affliction and bonds, they more than supplied all his lack at Rome. This was an odour of sweet smell to Him, who in return would supply all their need, according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Ver. 23. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. As he began so he closes with benedictions, and pours upon them the full effusions of his heart. Nor are we to think lightly of paternal benedictions. The peace of a messenger of the Lord rests upon the good man’s house, and who can estimate the good which that blessing contains. Assuredly, the reading of this epistle would warm every heart, and brighten every countenance. The eye of him that sees the Saviour shall not be dim, nor the ear dull of hearing.
ST. PAUL’S EPISTLE TO THE
COLOSSIANS.
COLOSSE, according to Pliny, was a city of Phrygia, a great and ancient province of Asia minor, or proconsular Asia. It had Bithynia on the south; Galatia, Pisidia, Caria, and Lydia, on the east; Mysia, and Little Phrygia on the west; the Euxine or Black sea, so called from the frequent wrecks of ships, on the north.
The city of Colosse stood on the river Lycus, near its confluence with the Meander, and equally distant from Laodicea and Hierapolis. These three cities were destroyed by an earthquake in the tenth year of Nero, as is stated by Berosus, and by Eusebius. Colosse, on being rebuilt, was called Chonay, as is noted by Theophylact. But Laodicea, it would seem from its immense wealth, had suffered the least. Revelation 3:17. The church of Colosse had been converted under the ministry of Epaphras, as is generally allowed, “a faithful minister of Jesus Christ,” whom Paul had sent. Whether Paul himself was ever there is nowhere mentioned, but we know that he twice passed through this province, Acts 18:23. 19:1; and it is no way probable that he should not visit these principal cities. Paul and Epaphras being now both prisoners in Rome, and having learned that certain seducers had been among the faithful at Colosse, associating Judaism and the Platonic philosophy with the truths of the gospel, Paul wrote to them by Tychicus, in this evangelical epistle. He here sets forth the Saviour as the very image of the Father, the reconciler of mankind to God, the head of the church, who had shed down the Holy Spirit on its members. Christ being now exalted, as the only mediator of the new covenant, he speaks pointedly against the observance of Hebrew rituals, and days; and against the worship of angels, as titular deities. He then sets before them a beautiful view of the christian life, and of relative duties, closing with the salutations of the saints.
Daniel Whedon
Introduction
WHD_CO13.PDF, source PDF p. 441
PHILIPPIANS
INTRODUCTION
THE history of the founding of the Church in the city of Philippi, the birthplace of European Christianity, is very fully narrated in the Acts, chap. 16, where see notes. Eleven years had now passed; years of growth in the midst of severe persecution. Twice had St. Paul visited his Philippian brethren, and thrice had they sent supplies to their suffering apostle, and now again a fourth time to him in prison at Rome. The present epistle is his response to their loving gift, with the simple purpose of expressing his thanks and showing his deep interest in themselves. None of his epistles more abounds with the language of true, heartfelt affection. He had learned, doubtless through Epaphroditus, of the springing up of a self-seeking spirit, which imperilled their previous remarkable love and unity; and also of the attempts of Judaizers to pervert them, though thus far, having no old Jewish prejudices, as in Galatia, to which to appeal, apparently without success. Against these dangers Paul earnestly warns them, as well as against the immoral lives of some among them which he had known of before; while he praises them for their love, encourages them in their sufferings from persecution, and pours upon them the fulness of his loving heart.
It has been almost universally believed, and questioned only in recent times, that the epistle was written by St. Paul near the close of his imprisonment at Rome. The attempts to assign it to Corinth or Cesarea are failures, as they do not meet the conditions described in the epistle itself, while Rome does.
St. Paul reached Rome in February, A.D. 61, and was at once delivered into the charge of Burrus, the pretorian prefect, who allowed him to reside in his own hired house, constantly attended by a soldier. Burrus died A.D. 62, and was succeeded by Tigellinus, an infamous favourite of the emperor. Seneca’s influence was broken. Nero married his mistress, Poppea, and his character and administration constantly depreciated. These events would naturally render the apostle’s condition more severe and perilous. The tone
Plan of the Epistle.
WHD_CO13.PDF, source PDF p. 442
of the epistle corresponds with his changed condition, and shows it to have been written later than those to Colosse and Ephesus. If, as Alford and others suppose, he was at the close of his two years’ imprisonment (mentioned Acts 28:30) removed from his hired house to the pretorian barracks, and put into closer custody, which seems quite probable, its proper date would be about the summer or autumn of A.D. 63. PLAN OF THE EPISTLE.
Adam Clarke
Preface to the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Philippians.
CLA_PHP.PDF, source PDF p. 3
PREFACE TO THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE
APOSTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS.
WE have already seen, Acts 16:12, that Philippi was a town of Macedonia, in the territory of the Edones, on the confines of Thrace, and very near the northern extremity of the Ægean Sea. It was a little eastward of Mount Pangæus, and about midway between Nicopolis on the east, and Thessalonica on the west. It was at first called Crenides, and afterwards Datus; but Philip, king of Macedonia and father of Alexander, having taken possession of it and fortified it, called it Philippi, after his own name. Julius Cæsar planted a colony here, which was afterwards enlarged by Augustus; and hence the inhabitants were considered as freemen of Rome. Near this town, it is thought, the famous battle was fought between Brutus and Cassius on the one side, and Augustus and Mark Anthony on the other, in which the former were defeated, and the fate of the empire decided. Others think that this battle was fought at Philippi, a town of Thebes in Thessaly.
The Gospel was preached first here by St. Paul. About the year of our Lord 53, St. Paul had a vision in the night; a man of Macedonia appeared to him and said, Come over to Macedonia and help us. He was then at Troas in Mysia; from thence he immediately sailed to Samothracia, came the next day to Neapolis, and thence to Philippi. There he continued for some time, and converted Lydia, a seller of purple, from Thyatira; and afterwards cast a demon out of a Pythoness, for which he and Silas were persecuted, cast into prison, scourged, and put into the stocks: but the magistrates afterwards finding that they were Romans, took them out of prison and treated them civilly. See the account, Acts 16:9, &c. The Philippians were greatly attached to their apostle, and testified their affection by sending him supplies, even when he was labouring for other Churches; and they appear to have been the only Church that did so. See Philippians 4:15,16.
There is not much controversy concerning the date of this epistle; it was probably written in the end of A. D. 62, and about a year after that to the Ephesians. Dr. Paley conjectures the date by various intimations in the epistle itself. “It purports,” says he, “to have been written near the conclusion of St. Paul’s imprisonment at Rome, and after a residence in that city of considerable duration. These circumstances are made out by different intimations; and the intimations upon the subject preserve among themselves a just consistency, and a consistency certainly unmeditated. First, the apostle had already been a prisoner at Rome so long, as that the reputation of his bonds, and of his constancy under them, had contributed to advance the success of the Gospel. See Philippians 1:12-14. Secondly, the account given of Epaphroditus imports that St. Paul, when he wrote the epistle, had been in Rome a considerable time. ‘He longed after you all, and was full of heaviness because ye had heard that he had been sick;’ Philippians 2:26. Epaphroditus had been with Paul at Rome; he had been sick; the Philippians had heard of his sickness; and he again had received an account how much they had been affected by the intelligence. The passing and repassing of these advices must necessarily have occupied a large portion of time, and must have all taken place during St. Paul’s residence at Rome. Thirdly, after a residence at Rome, this proved to have been of considerable duration, he now regards the decision of his fate as nigh at hand: he contemplates either alternative; that of his deliverance, Philippians 2:23, 24: ‘Him therefore, (Timothy,) I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me; but I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly;’ that of his condemnation, Philippians 2:17: Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all. This consistency is material, if the consideration of it be confined to the epistle. It is farther material, as it agrees, with respect to the duration of St. Paul’s first imprisonment at Rome, with the account delivered in the Acts, which, having brought the apostle to Rome, closes the history, by telling us that he dwelt there two whole years in his own hired house.” Hor. Paul., page 242. On the agreement between the epistle and the history, as given in the Acts, Dr. Paley makes many judicious remarks, which I cannot insert here, but must refer to the work itself; and I wish all my readers to get and peruse the whole work as an inestimable treasure of sacred criticism on the authenticity of Paul’s epistles.
The Epistle to the Philippians is written in a very pleasing and easy style; every where bearing evidence of that contented state of mind in which the apostle then was, and of his great affection for the people. It appears that there were false apostles, or Judaizing teachers, at Philippi, who had disturbed the peace of the Church; against these he warns them, exhorts them to concord, comforts them in their afflictions for the Gospel, returns them thanks for their kindness to him, tells them of his state, and shows a great willingness to be a sacrifice for the faith he had preached to them. There is a Divine unction in this epistle which every serious reader will perceive.
THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS.
Chronological Notes relative to this Epistle.
—Usherian year of the world, 4066.
-Alexandrian era of the world, 5564.
-Antiochian era of the world, 5554.
-Constantinopolitan era of the world, 5570.
-Year of the Eusebian epocha of the Creation, 4290.
-Year of the Julian period, 4772.
-Year of the minor Jewish era of the world, 3822.
-Year of the Greater Rabbinical era of the world, 4421.
-Year from the Flood, according to Archbishop Usher, and the English Bible, 2410.
-Year of the Cali yuga, or Indian era of the Deluge, 3164. -Year of the era of Iphitas, or since the first commencement of the Olympic games, 1002.
-Year of the Nabonassarean era, 809.
-Year of the era of the Seleucidæ, 374.
-Year of the Spanish era, 100.
-Year of the Actiac or Actian era, 93.
-Year from the birth of Christ, 66.
-Year of the vulgar era of Christ’s nativity, 62.
-Year from the building of Rome, according to Varro, 814. -Year of the CCXth Olympiad, 2.
-Jesus, high priest of the Jews.
-Common Golden Number, 6.
-Jewish Golden Number, 3.
-Year of the Solar Cycle, 15.
-Dominical Letter C.
-Jewish Passover, April 10th.
-Easter Sunday, April 11th.
-Epact, or the moon’s age on the 22d of March, or the Xth of the Calends of April, 25.
-Year of the reign of Nero. Cæsar, the sixth emperor of the Romans, 9. -In the first year of Albinus, governor of the Jews.
-Year of Vologesus, king of the Parthians, 12.
-Year of Domitius Corbulo, governor of Syria, 3.
-Roman Consuls; P. Marius Celsus, and L. Asinius Gallus, from Jan. 1st to July 1st; and L. Annæus Seneca the philosopher, and Trebellius Maximus, for the remainder of the year.
Joseph Benson
Preface
BEN_VOL8.PDF, source PDF p. 228
THE EPISTLE TO THE
PHILIPPIANS.
PREFACE
Philippi was a considerable city on the eastern frontier of Macedonia, now part of European Turkey. It was anciently named Datos; but Philip, the father of Alexander the Great, having repaired, enlarged, and beautified it, called it “Philippi,” after his own name. It stood to the north-west of Neapolis, about seventy miles north-east of Thessalonica, and about one hundred and ninety west of the place where Constantinople now stands. Julius Cesar placed a colony here, which Augustus afterward enlarged, and hence the inhabitants were considered as freemen of Rome. It was rendered remarkable for the famous battle fought near it, between the Roman Emperor Augustus and Antony on one side, and Brutus and Cassius, the republican generals, on the other. But it is more remarkable among Christians for the Christian church which was early planted there, and for this excellent epistle, written to the members thereof about twelve years after, namely, during the latter part of the apostle’s imprisonment at Rome, about the year 64 or 65, and sent by Epaphroditus.
Of the first introduction of the gospel into Macedonia, an account has been given, Acts 16:9, &c. St. Paul, with his assistants, Silas and Timothy, after having preached the gospel in most of the countries of the Lesser Asia, were directed by the Holy Ghost to pass over into Europe, for the purpose of offering salvation to the Greeks, at that time the most celebrated people in the world for genius and learning. These messengers of God, therefore, loosing from Troas, landed at Neapolis; but making no stay there, they went directly forward to Philippi, where, it appears from Acts 16:18, they abode a considerable time, and were instrumental in converting many to the faith of Christ.
It appears they met with no opposition in this place, till the apostle cast a spirit of divination out of a damsel. But that circumstance so enraged her masters, who made a considerable advantage of her “soothsaying,” that they stirred up the inhabitants against Paul and Silas, whom, after they had laid many stripes on them, they threw into prison, the jailer making “their feet fast in the stocks.” But the Lord, whose servants they were, soon released them by a signal miracle, as is recorded Acts 16:25; and the magistrates, finding that they were Romans, came and took them out of prison, and treated them civilly; desiring them, however, for the quiet of the city, to depart out of it: which they did, when they had seen and conversed with the new converts, and had comforted them. But though Paul and Silas for the present left Philippi, Luke and Timothy continued there some time longer, to carry on the work which had been so successfully begun. And this, it is probable, was one reason that induced the apostle to fix upon the latter as the most proper person to visit the Philippians in his absence, of whose affection for them, and concern for their interests, he takes particular notice, Philippians 2:19-22. That the apostle himself made the Philippians a second visit, appears from Acts 20:6; though we are not informed of any particulars relating to it. And it is highly probable that he visited them often, as he passed to and from Greece. And, indeed, the peculiar affection and respect which they manifested to the apostle, entitled them to some distinguished regard: for while he preached in Thessalonica, they sent him money twice. And this, it seems, they did, both from the gratitude which they felt to him for being instrumental in bringing them out of the darkness of heathenism, and from the concern they had that the success of the gospel should not be hindered among their countrymen, by its preachers becoming burdensome to them. The same regard they showed to him, and for the same reason, while he preached the gospel in Corinth, 2 Corinthians 11:9. He also acknowledges (Philippians 4:18) to have received a present from them by the hands of Epaphroditus, when he was a prisoner at Rome. These, however, were not the only proofs which the Philippians gave of their love to the apostle, and the religion which they had received. Their behaviour in other respects was every way worthy of their profession. They maintained the doctrine of the gospel in its purity, and walked in the holy manner required by its precepts. Indeed, the excellent character of these Christians may be inferred from the manner in which this epistle is written. For, while most of his other letters contain reprehensions of some for their errors, and of others for their bad conduct, throughout the whole of this epistle to the Philippians no fault is found with any of them; unless the caution, (Philippians 2:3, 4,) to avoid strife and vain glory in the exercise of their spiritual gifts, can be called a reprehension. But his letter is employed almost wholly in commending and encouraging them, or in giving them exhortations to persevere and make advances in the good ways of the Lord. But though the apostle did not see it needful to censure or reprove the Philippian believers for any thing, he judged it necessary to pass a severe censure on some Judaizing teachers, who were endeavouring to introduce themselves among them, as they had done among the Christians in other places, making it, as it seems, their whole business to destroy the purity and peace of the churches. Of these corrupters of the gospel the apostle, out of his zeal for the truth, and his great love to his Philippian converts, speaks with more severity than in any of his other letters, being doubtless directed so to do by a particular impulse of the Spirit of God, who knew it necessary that this sharpness should be used for opening the eyes of the faithful, and making them sensible of the malignity of these false teachers, and of the pernicious tendency of their doctrine.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Philippians.
SUT_VOL5.PDF, source PDF p. 106
Editorial note: Additional printed-edition collation — Sutcliffe, vol. 2 (1835): The printed heading reads ST. PAUL’S EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS. The omitted opening words are restored in the heading paragraph. PHILIPPI is already present at the start of the following paragraph and is supported by the older printing. SUT_VOL5.PDF, PDF page 106; Sutcliffe, printed Commentary, vol. 2 (1835), p. 537.
ST. PAUL’S EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS.
PHILIPPI, formerly Dathos, the chief city of Macedonia, as stated on the sixteenth chapter of the Acts. It is situate on the western shore of the river Strymon, which divided ancient Thrace from Macedonia. It was rebuilt and beautified by Philip, and called by his name. It stands on a hill, and was made strong by nature and art. Some coins have been discovered that Julius Cæsar conferred as favours on the city, at the time the Roman colony was planted there.
Near to this city are the far-famed fields of Pharsalia, where two very signal battles were fought, forty eight years before the christian æra. The first between Cæsar and Pompey, the latter of whom was defeated with the loss of twenty thousand men. The second was also fought by Augustus, against Brutus and Cassius, both of whom were slain.
Virgil associates these battles with all the vulgar errors and marvellous wonders of the age. He makes the birds screech, the rivers bleed, and the earth to tremble. Thus it was that Philippi twice saw the Roman armies contend in civil wars.
Ergo inter sese paribus concurrere telis
Romanas acies iterum videre Philippi.
Georgica. 1:489.
This epistle developes the soul of Paul in glory of doctrine, in all moral excellence, in wisdom of words, in pastoral cares, and in all the consummate graces which belong to the highest order of martyrs and confessors of the Lord.
Additional Notes to Philippians 4
SUT_VOL5.PDF, source PDF p. 126
Editorial note: Additional printed-edition collation — Sutcliffe, vol. 2 (1835): The corresponding Philippians 3–4 pages of the 1835 printing were inspected. Its chapter 4 discussion begins at verse 6; the target verse 3 paragraph containing Τουνομα εν Διου αυλη was not located there. This older edition therefore does not securely settle that Greek quotation, which remains uncertain. SUT_VOL5.PDF, PDF page 126; Sutcliffe, printed Commentary, vol. 2 (1835), p. 542; Sutcliffe, printed Commentary, vol. 2 (1835), p. 543.
expected to find them, even the palace of Cæsar, of Nero. Let it encourage us to look to God to supply our spiritual necessities out of the riches of his glory in Christ. And in a cheerful hope that he will do it, let us through him ascribe glory to our God and Father for ever and ever. Amen.” ADDITIONAL NOTES TO PHILIPPIANS 4.
Verse 1. My joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord. Other combatants fought for garlands which fade in a day, but Paul’s contest was for a crown of righteousness which fadeth not away. Daniel had said before, that those who are wise, and those who turn many to righteousness, should shine as the brightness of the firmament, and as the stars for ever and ever. Paul had turned multitudes of gentiles to the Lord, and his crown was bedecked with a whole galaxy of celestial luminaries. What an argument for perseverance, and steadfastness in the faith. Other robbers steal a person’s money, but backsliders steal away irradiated crowns from the heads of their dejected pastors.
Ver. 3. I entreat thee also, true yoke-fellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel. Erasmus is almost singular in understanding this of Paul’s wife. Eusebius affirms that he was married, but does not say at what period of his life. Others understand it of Epaphroditus, the bishop of Philippi, the genuine yoke-fellow of Paul, and therefore joined with Euodias, Syntyche, and Clement; and it was his business to succour and comfort the deaconesses of the church. But the name Syntyche having a feminine termination, Calmet, after some others, thinks she was a woman in the church of Philippi eminent for piety and good works. If so, she must, like the daughters of Philip, have been a prophetess in the church, a mother in Israel. The inscriptions to the bishops, in Philippians 1:1, does not affect this idea, for Paul’s epistles were provincial, as well as particular, and he refers to the bishops of adjacent towns. True yoke-fellow is therefore a term of courtesy, Epaphroditus having laboured with Paul in the ministry. Women in the east, being separated from the men, as indicated by the court of the women in the temple, matrons were alike essential in the synagogue and in the church of Christ. Romans 16:1.
Whose names are in the book of life. See on Exodus 32:32. Homer says of Ulyses, that his name was in Jupiter’s court. Τουνομα εν Διου αυλη. Indeed all the heroes claimed divine descent, as is intimated by many of their names. Christ keeps the register of the faithful in the archives of heaven.
Ver. 4. Rejoice in the Lord alway; and again I say rejoice. The believer has indeed cause for joy, both in this world and in that which is to come. He has a God, a Redeemer, a hope laid up in heaven. Why not then, like David, bless the Lord at all times, and call upon him seven times a day. Why not dispose of his cares, and sorrows, and crosses; and being persuaded that all his affairs are in the hands of a heavenly Father, why not sing, though the figtree should not blossom?
Ver. 5. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The adjective, επιεικες, is here put for the substantive: let your modesty, meekness, lenity, candour, probity, humanity, be noted and approved of all. Men shrink away from the Nabals of the age.
Ver. 8, 9. Whatsoever things are honest, pure, lovely. Here the moral glory of the christian character is described, similar to what we find in Psalm 15. 119. and in our Lord’s sermon on the mount. It is the want of this amiable and lovely character that hinders the world from believing in Christ, by giving an unjust and unfavourable view of the gospel. John 17:20, 21. Christianity, they say, has done nothing for us — a most grievous sarcasm against the true church. Her charities at this moment are blazing out to distant lands, under every form of active benevolence. Ver. 11-13. I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. This is not a lesson of theory, but of practice; nor is it one that nature teaches, for Paul had to learn it long after his conversion; and he learned it in hunger and affluence, in stripes and jails. At Philippi he sung at midnight in the stocks; he was calm in the tempest at sea, and he saw his bonds the means of converting many in Cæsar’s court. Well then did the Saviour say of outward troubles and calamities, “In patience possess ye your souls.” Christ can strengthen us to do and to suffer all his pleasure. Ver. 15. No church communicated with me — but ye only. Paul had asked nothing for his journey to Jerusalem; but now, being in affliction and bonds, they more than supplied all his lack at Rome. This was an odour of sweet smell to Him, who in return would supply all their need, according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Ver. 23. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. As he began so he closes with benedictions, and pours upon them the full effusions of his heart. Nor are we to think lightly of paternal benedictions. The peace of a messenger of the Lord rests upon the good man’s house, and who can estimate the good which that blessing contains. Assuredly, the reading of this epistle would warm every heart, and brighten every countenance. The eye of him that sees the Saviour shall not be dim, nor the ear dull of hearing.
ST. PAUL’S EPISTLE TO THE
COLOSSIANS.
COLOSSE, according to Pliny, was a city of Phrygia, a great and ancient province of Asia minor, or proconsular Asia. It had Bithynia on the south; Galatia, Pisidia, Caria, and Lydia, on the east; Mysia, and Little Phrygia on the west; the Euxine or Black sea, so called from the frequent wrecks of ships, on the north.
The city of Colosse stood on the river Lycus, near its confluence with the Meander, and equally distant from Laodicea and Hierapolis. These three cities were destroyed by an earthquake in the tenth year of Nero, as is stated by Berosus, and by Eusebius. Colosse, on being rebuilt, was called Chonay, as is noted by Theophylact. But Laodicea, it would seem from its immense wealth, had suffered the least. Revelation 3:17. The church of Colosse had been converted under the ministry of Epaphras, as is generally allowed, “a faithful minister of Jesus Christ,” whom Paul had sent. Whether Paul himself was ever there is nowhere mentioned, but we know that he twice passed through this province, Acts 18:23. 19:1; and it is no way probable that he should not visit these principal cities. Paul and Epaphras being now both prisoners in Rome, and having learned that certain seducers had been among the faithful at Colosse, associating Judaism and the Platonic philosophy with the truths of the gospel, Paul wrote to them by Tychicus, in this evangelical epistle. He here sets forth the Saviour as the very image of the Father, the reconciler of mankind to God, the head of the church, who had shed down the Holy Spirit on its members. Christ being now exalted, as the only mediator of the new covenant, he speaks pointedly against the observance of Hebrew rituals, and days; and against the worship of angels, as titular deities. He then sets before them a beautiful view of the christian life, and of relative duties, closing with the salutations of the saints.
Daniel Whedon
Introduction
WHD_CO13.PDF, source PDF p. 441
PHILIPPIANS
INTRODUCTION
THE history of the founding of the Church in the city of Philippi, the birthplace of European Christianity, is very fully narrated in the Acts, chap. 16, where see notes. Eleven years had now passed; years of growth in the midst of severe persecution. Twice had St. Paul visited his Philippian brethren, and thrice had they sent supplies to their suffering apostle, and now again a fourth time to him in prison at Rome. The present epistle is his response to their loving gift, with the simple purpose of expressing his thanks and showing his deep interest in themselves. None of his epistles more abounds with the language of true, heartfelt affection. He had learned, doubtless through Epaphroditus, of the springing up of a self-seeking spirit, which imperilled their previous remarkable love and unity; and also of the attempts of Judaizers to pervert them, though thus far, having no old Jewish prejudices, as in Galatia, to which to appeal, apparently without success. Against these dangers Paul earnestly warns them, as well as against the immoral lives of some among them which he had known of before; while he praises them for their love, encourages them in their sufferings from persecution, and pours upon them the fulness of his loving heart.
It has been almost universally believed, and questioned only in recent times, that the epistle was written by St. Paul near the close of his imprisonment at Rome. The attempts to assign it to Corinth or Cesarea are failures, as they do not meet the conditions described in the epistle itself, while Rome does.
St. Paul reached Rome in February, A.D. 61, and was at once delivered into the charge of Burrus, the pretorian prefect, who allowed him to reside in his own hired house, constantly attended by a soldier. Burrus died A.D. 62, and was succeeded by Tigellinus, an infamous favourite of the emperor. Seneca’s influence was broken. Nero married his mistress, Poppea, and his character and administration constantly depreciated. These events would naturally render the apostle’s condition more severe and perilous. The tone
Plan of the Epistle.
WHD_CO13.PDF, source PDF p. 442
of the epistle corresponds with his changed condition, and shows it to have been written later than those to Colosse and Ephesus. If, as Alford and others suppose, he was at the close of his two years’ imprisonment (mentioned Acts 28:30) removed from his hired house to the pretorian barracks, and put into closer custody, which seems quite probable, its proper date would be about the summer or autumn of A.D. 63. PLAN OF THE EPISTLE.
I. INTRODUCTION
Philippians 1:1-11
1. Inscription and greeting Philippians 1:1, 2
2. Thanksgiving and prayer in behalf of the Philippians Philippians 1:3-11
II. PAUL’S
STATEMENT
RESPECTING
HIMSELF
Philippians 1:12-26
1. Result of his imprisonment Philippians 1:12-18
2. His feelings as to the issue Philippians 1:19-24
3. His hopes of his Philippians Philippians 1:25, 26 III. EXHORTATIONS
Philippians 1:27-2:18
1. To a befitting Church life Philippians 1:27-30
2. To unity Philippians 2:1, 2
3. To self-forgetting love Philippians 2:3, 4
4. Illustrated by the example of Christ Philippians 2:5-11 a. His self-humiliation Philippians 2:5-8 b. His subsequent exaltation Philippians 2:9-11
5. In application of Christ’s example Philippians 2:12-16 a. Paul’s joy in their final fidelity Philippians 2:17, 18 IV. PLANS FOR THE
PHILIPPIANS
Philippians 2:19-30
1. To send Timothy Philippians 2:19-24
2. To dismiss Epaphroditus with commendations Philippians 2:25-30
V. COUNSELS AGAINST PERILS
Philippians 3:1-4:1
1. From Judaizing teachers Philippians 3:1, 2
2. Contrast between them and himself Philippians 3:3-16
3. From immoral examples Philippians 3:17-4:1 VI. CONCLUDING EXHORTATIONS
Philippians 4:2-9
1. To individuals Philippians 4:2, 3
2. To the whole Church Philippians 4:4-9 VII. PAUL’S PERSONAL RELATIONS
Philippians 4:10-23
1. Thanks for their gift Philippians 4:10-14
2. Grateful remembrance Philippians 4:15-19
3. Doxology Philippians 4:20
4. Salutations and benediction Philippians 4:21-23
Joseph Agar Beet
Preface, Introduction and Dissertations
BEET_PHP.PDF, source PDF p. 3
Beet's Preface, Introduction and Dissertations for Philippians, Colossians, Philemon and Ephesians (one volume) are given once, under Ephesians.