Philippians 1 | |
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Book | Epistle to the Philippians |
Category | Pauline epistles |
Christian Bible part | New Testament |
Order in the Christian part | 11 |
Philippians 1 is the first chapter of the Epistle to the Philippians in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It is authored by Paul the Apostle about mid-50s to early 60s AD and addressed to the Christians in Philippi, written either in Rome or Ephesus.[1] This chapter contains the greeting, thanksgiving, prayer and exhortation as an introduction (overture) to the major narratives in the next chapters.[2]
The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 30 verses.
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:
The epistle opens using a formula found in other Paul's epistles, here with the introduction of himself and Timothy as Christ's "slaves" ("bondservants") as in Romans 1:1.[4]
The wording is identical to Ephesians 1:2.[9]
This is a common feature in Paul's epistles.[7] Except in Galatians, Paul thanks or blesses God for the good things he has heard about a particular church in the beginning of his letters.[10] In this epistle, Paul mixes it with his prayer for the church (1:3–4) and with joy (1:5), "a combination he will recommend in 4:6".[10] Lutheran pietist Johann Albrecht Bengel says that the whole letter can this be summarised: "The sum of the epistle is, I rejoice, rejoice ye".[11] Similarly Paul writes to the Thessalonians: Rejoice always; pray without ceasing.[12]
This section deals with Paul's condition during the confinement in a Roman administrative center, where he could still preach the gospel.[7] It consists of two subsections with distinctive keywords: the first subsection (verses 12–18) was marked off with two words, "progress" (prokope; verse 12) and "confidence" (verse 14), whereas the second subsection (verses 19–26) has the inclusio markers "joy", "progress" and "trusting".[13]
Paul states his wish that the Philippians have "steadfast unity in fidelity to the gospel" (verse 27) and "bold resistance to their opponents" (verse 28).[17]