St. Paul then gives thanks for the gift the eee ests had sent through Epaphroditus, which he valued because of the spirit of which it was the manifestation, rather than for itself, for he was not in need. The Epistle closes with saluta- tions and the Pauline benediction (vv. 1"),
iv. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EPISTLE.— In the Ep. to the Philippians and in the Second Ep. to the Corinthians, St. Paul’s personal character is more clearly revealed than in any of his other writings. But the two Epistles disclose different sides of his character. In 2 Co he is writing to adversaries and to lukewarm or suspicious friends, and we mark how acutely he felt personal slights and unworthy accusations. He pleads his own merits and services in a manner which shows that self-esteem was by no means dead within him, and he verges on what appears to the modern reader boastfulness. In writing to the Philippians, he is addressing some of the most trusted friends he had in the world. This trust in his readers gives a or sense of repose to the Epistle. It accounts or the epistolary undress of the language, for the want of plan, for the repetitions, and for the obvious reluctance to leave off. There were some things amiss even in Philippi, and Paul had te
‘match at equality with the Father.
PHILIPPIANS, EPISTLE TO THE
administer certain reproofs, but he is less fearful than on other occasions, having a full conviction that God would perfect His good work among them, and reveal His will to them in those matters which were as yet obscure to them. Chapter 3 forms an exception to the general restfulness of tone observ- able in the Epistle (see Note 3 below). Critics, however, have discovered that there existed a sore- ness in the mind of the Philippians about Paul’s pane of their peenniary gifts. Zahn (Lind. in d. NT) maintains that they had written a remon- strance to him complaining that he had not suitably acknowledged it. Another critic (Holsten) finds in St. Paul’s words 410-19 « thankless thanks.’ A third (E. Haupt), however, regards his acknowledgment as a veritable masterpiece of delicate and con- siderate courtesy. The practice of lauding the courtesy of the apostle has been somewhat over- done. St. Paul could be very courteous, but his co was always kept in strict subordination to his duties as a counsellor and as a reprover. To af not only that he did not desire, but that he did not es the gift, was not precisely the courtesy of the courtier; and was likely enough to bring a shade of disappointment to the countenances of the poor people who had sent it. But the apostle evidently recognized that they were in some danger of exaggerating the value of the money gift. He said, therefore, with all plain- ness of speech, that to him its value consisted solely in the evidence it gave of their personal affection, and of their willingness to make sacri- fices for the cause of God.
Nors 1.—Ph 11 σὺν ἐτισχόποι; χαὶ διαχόνοις, This is the first (unless we take into account the words attributed to Paul in Ac 2038) mention in the NT of bishops. Its presence in a letter purporting to be written by St. Paul has excited sus-
icion of the genuineness of the letter, as the episcopal office Bt Inast in its monarchical form) is generally admitted to have originated at a later period. It is very doubtful, how- ever, if St. Paul here refers to the holders of a definite ecclesi- astical office. When writing to the Thessalonians, he spoke of their leaders as οἱ προιστάμενοι (1 Th 612), In the Ep. to the Ephesians those exercising episcopal functions are named ποιμεένες καὶ διδάσκαλοι (Eph 411). In the Ep. to the Hebrews they are termed ἡγούμενα (He 1317). The a e here names those ‘bishops’ who were elsewhere called by other names, but who exercised the same functions. Whether this was the first occa- sion on which the word was uttered in the Christian Church, we cannot say ; probably it had been already | As by Paul or by others to Philippian Church rulers; but it was a name, once given, that was likely soon to supersede all others on the prin- ciple of the survival of the fittest. It was well known and understood by Greeks; and not less so by the Jews, for it is common in the Septuagint ; and it expresses by a single word at once the αἰαῖ and the duties of the rulers of the Church.
E. Haupt suggests that the bishops and deacons are here selected for special greeting because they had taken a leading
in arranging for and collecting the gift sent by Epaphro-
tus. With regard to the two classes of persons named, A writes: ‘It is ible that there is no reference here to the offices. In 1 Th δ13 the same persons are certainly designated by the expressions οἱ κοσιῶντες and οἱ epueré μενοι ; and it isatleast prcbable that the same is the case with ἜΡΩΣ to the ποιμένες and διδάσκαλοι of Eph 411, Clement (1 Ep. xiii. 5) ascribes presidency to iwiexero and διάκονοι alike. It is, therefore, - sible that here iw/exero: and διάκονοι are to be unders' as applying to the same persons; and that here as in the other Pauline Epistles, there was as yet no fixed terminology for the president’ (Die Gefangenschaftsbriefe, p. 3). See, further, on the subi t of this note, Hort, Ecclesia, 111f.