CHAPTER XII THE NEW TESTAMENT 363 1138 on the classical soil of Greece. Lydia, the purple dealer of Lord alway; again I will say, Rejoice” (Phil. 4:4). This Thyatira and a half proselyte to Judaism, a native slave- is the key-note of the letter.1139 It proves that a healthy girl with a divining spirit, which was used by her masters Christian faith, far from depressing and saddening the as a means of gain among the superstitious heathen, and heart, makes truly happy and contented even in prison. a Roman jailer, were the first converts, and fitly repre- It is an important contribution to our knowledge of the sent the three nationalities (Jew, Greek, and Roman) and character of the apostle. In acknowledging the gift of the the classes of society which were especially benefited by Philippians, he gracefully and delicately mingles manly Christianity. “In the history of the gospel at Philippi, as independence and gratitude. He had no doctrinal error, in the history of the church at large, is reflected the great nor practical vice to rebuke, as in Galatians and Corinmaxim of Christianity, the central truth of the apostle’s thians. teaching, that here is ’neither Jew nor Greek, neither The only discordant tone is the warning against “the bond nor free, neither male nor female, but all are one dogs of the concision” (κατατομη, 3:2), as he sarcastically in Christ Jesus.’ 1137“ Here, also, are the first recorded in- calls the champions of circumcision (περιτομη) , who evstances of whole households (of Lydia and the jailer) be- erywhere sowed tares in his wheat fields, and at that very ing baptized and gathered into the church, of which the time tried to check his usefulness in Rome by substitutfamily is the chief nursery. The congregation was fully ing the righteousness of the law for the righteousness of organized, with bishops (presbyters) and deacons at the faith. But he guards the readers with equal earnestness head (Phil. 1:1). against the opposite extreme of antinomian license (3:2– Here the apostle was severely persecuted and marvel- 21). In opposition to the spirit of personal and social lously delivered. Here he had his most loyal and devoted rivalry and contention which manifested itself among converts, who were his “joy and crown.” For them he felt the Philippians, Paul reminds them of the self-denying the strongest personal attachment; from them alone he example of Christ, who was the highest of all, and yet bewould receive contributions for his support. In the au- came the lowliest of all by divesting himself of his divine tumn of the year 57, after five years’ absence, he paid a majesty and humbling himself, even to the death on the second visit to Philippi, having in the meantime kept up cross, and who, in reward for his obedience, was exalted constant intercourse with the congregation through liv- above every name (2:1–11). ing messengers; and on his last journey to Jerusalem, in This is the most important doctrinal passage of the the spring of the following year, he stopped at Philippi to letter, and contains (together with 2 Cor. 8:9) the fruitful keep the paschal feast with his beloved brethren. They germ of the speculations on the nature and extent of the had liberally contributed out of their poverty to the relief kenosis, which figures so prominently in the history of of the churches in Judaea. When they heard of his arrival christology.1140 It is a striking example of the apparentat Rome, they again sent him timely assistance through ly accidental occasion of some of the deepest utterances Epaphroditus, who also offered his personal services to of the apostle. “With passages full of elegant negligence the prisoner of the Lord, at the sacrifice of his health and 1138 χαίρετε “combines a parting benediction with an almost his life. It was through this faithful fellow-worker exhortation to cheerfulness. It is neither ’farewell’ alone, nor that Paul sent his letter of thanks to the Philippians, hop- ’rejoice’ alone” (Lightfoot). ing, after his release, to visit them in person once more. 1139 Bengel:”Summa Epistolae: Gaudeo, gaudete.” Farrar The Epistle. (II. 423): “If any one compare the spirit of the best-known The Epistle reflects, in familiar ease, his relations to classic writers in their adversity with that which was habituthis beloved flock, which rested on the love of Christ. It is al to the far deeper wrongs and far deadlier sufferings of St. not systematic, not polemic, nor apologetic, but personal Paul—if he will compare the Epistle to the Philippians with and autobiographic, resembling in this respect the First the ’Tristia’ of Ovid, the letters of Cicero from exile, or the Epistle to the Thessalonians, and to some extent, also, the treatise which Seneca dedicated to Polybius from his banishSecond Epistle to the Corinthians. It is the free outflow ment in Corsica—he may see, if he will, the difference which Christianity has made in the happiness of man.” of tender love and gratitude, and full of joy and cheerfulness in the face of life and death. It is like his midnight 1140 The kenosis controversy between the Lutherans of hymn of praise in the dungeon of Philippi. “Rejoice in the Giessen and Tübingen in the early part of the seventeenth 1137 Lightfoot, l.c., p. 53.
century, and the more extensive kenosis literature in the nineteenth century (Thomasius, Liebner, Gess, Godet, etc.).
