BACKGROUND NOTES ON PAUL'S LETTER TO THE PHILIPPIANS

Author
     This letter was written by the apostle Paul, assisted by Timothy —they define themselves as "servants of Christ Jesus". According to church tradition it is one of four "Prison Epistles", written during his two-year imprisonment in Rome (see chapter 1:13-14), while he was waiting to appear before Caesar.

Why was it written?
     During Paul's imprisonment in Rome the Philippian schurch had sent him a financial gift (apparently the only church to do so), which was delivered by Epaphroditus, one of the church's leaders. He stayed on for a while to assist Paul, fell ill and almost died (chapter 2: 25-27). The church heard of his illness and was obviously very concerned; after his recovery Paul decided to rather send him home, and sent a letter with him thanking the church for their gift and commending Epaphroditus, and also gave them an update on his own ministry.

How and when was it written?
     The most probable date is about AD 61. Timothy assisted in writing the letter as writing was apparently difficult for Paul (see Galatians 6:11), probably because of poor eyesight or the numerous physical attacks he had to endure (2 Cor 11: 23-27).

First audience and destination:
     Philippi had privileged status as a colony of Rome, so its ciizens were considered citizens of Rome, with all its accompanying privileges. It was an important commercial city in Macedonia, very religious and very immoral.
     The church in Philippi was the first church planted by Paul in Greece after his vision of the Macedonian man (Acts 16:9), during his second missionary journey. Since there was no synagogue, Paul joined a Sabbath prayer meeting outside the city; there he met a businesswoman named Lydia opened her heart to the gospel and invited Paul his colleagues to stay at her home. He didn't stay long in the city, partly because of an uproar after he delivered a slave-girl from a demon, which earned him a beating and a night in prison (Acts 16:11-40). Paul visited the church at least twice after that, and they were a source of great joy and blessing to him.

Literary style:
     Philippians, like all Paul's letters, was written in Koine (common everyday-use) Greek, and contains all four parts of a typical first-century epistle. The structure of the book is looser than Paul's usual style, influenced by his close personal relationship with the church.

Special themes:
· Righteousness
· Humility
· Gratituse
· The exaltation and lordship of Christ

Special features
· Chapter 2:6-11 is proably the best-known part of this letter, and was in all probability a hymn quoted by Paul (possibly composed by himself, but obviously known to the church). It consists of 6 stanzas, with the first three (verses 6-8) focusing on the humiliation of Christ and the second three (verses 9-11) focusing on his exaltation. Despite its brevity, thses few verses combine the doctrines of the person (who He is) and work (what He did) of Christ like no other New Testament passage.
·Focus on joy: despite being in prison, Paul is full of joy and encourages the church to be joyful in all circumstances — they probably still had vivid memories of Paul and Silas singing midnight hymns in jail after being severly flogged!

General structure:
¤ Salutation — Chapter 1:1-2
¤ Thanksgiving — Chapter 1:3-11
· Thanksgiving for their partnership in the gospel - Chapter 1:3-8
· Prayer for the church — Chapter 1:9-11
¤ Main body — Chapter 1:12-4:20
· Personal news from Paul - Chapter 1:12-26
· Live worthy of the gospel - Chapter 1:27-2:4
· Humility, the example of Christ - Chapter 2:5-11
· Humility, lived out - Chapter 2:12-18
· Concerning Timothy and Epaphroditus — Chapter 2:19-30
¤ True righteousness — Chapter 3:1-14
· Maturity in the faith — Chapter 3:15-21
· Personal application - Chapter 4:1-20
  · · Appeal for unity —Chapter 4:1-3
  · · Joyful living — Chapter 4:4-9
  · · Paul's thank-you for their gift — Chapter 4:10-20
¤ Farewell —Chapter 4:21-23