There is some dispute about when this letter was written, although there is no dispute that it was written by Paulus of Tarsus. Some scholars place the date as late as 63 CE, near the end of Acts, while others place its writing several years earlier. Since Paulus wrote the letter with Timotheos, it could not have been written any earlier than Acts 16, when Timotheos met Paulus. In the letter, Paulus refers to his bonds. This may have been his short time of imprisonment while he was in Filippi (ch. 16), or it may have been one of his later, longer, times of bondage.
At any rate, Paulus refers to his departure from Makedonia (4:15), which seems to place the writing of the letter no earlier than Acts 20. The fact that he was in a later stage of gathering the gift for the Christians in Jerusalem seems to place the letter shortly after this, possibly just after his defense before the Jews in ch. 22. This would date the writing c. 58 CE. This is the date that John A.T. Robinson ascribes it. At any rate, it was one of Paulus' later letters.
Nevertheless, the themes are the same as usual: Jews and Gentiles are at odds with one another. At Filippi, there was a great deal of dissention being caused by the Jews, who were pushing not only adherence to the Torah but also circumcision. The letter is a very emotional one, riding on highs--praising God, and expressing great anger as well (particularly in ch. 3). If our estimate of the time of writing (shortly after the Jews arrested Paulus) is accurate, this may have added to the already-existing tension that Paulus felt. The general structure of the letter is as follows:
| 1:1-1:26 | greetings and assurances; Paulus' life is for Jesus |
| 1:27-2:18 | having the attitude of Jesus (in spite of opposition) |
| 2:19-2:30 | personal statements |
| 3:1-21 | Paulus' attack on the circumcising Judaizers |
| 4:1-9 | what to focus on |
| 4:10-19 | the gift for the Christians in Jerusalem |
| 4:20-23 | closing |
Chapter 3 is perhaps the most startling of all. He refers to their devotion to circumcision as worshipping their penises, glorying in their shame (i.e., their nakedness--see Rv 16:15), and to them as castrators. He "tops" them as far as Jewish things are concerned, but considers his whole former way to be manure. He has forgotten this way of life, which is now behind him; he presses on toward "the prize."
Yet by contrast, chapters 2 and 4 contain some of the most positive statements in the entire New Testament. Chapter 2 discards the "me-first" and "us-first" attitudes, replacing those things with the servant-focused humble attitude of Jesus. Chapter 4 contains a call to rejoice and to focus on God's good things rather than the wickedness that is happening to them and around them.
Click here to go on to the Letter to the Filippians.
© 1997 Frank Daniels