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WorkPaul the Apostle

Epistles to the Philippians and to Philemon

Two letters from prison: thanks to Philippi built round a poem on Christ's self-emptying, and a plea to welcome back Onesimus.

by Paul the Apostle10 passages held

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Original title
Πρὸς Φιλιππησίους · Πρὸς Φιλήμονα
First published
(aged 57)
Original language
Greek

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Overview

Both letters on this page were written from prison, and in the first Paul weighs openly whether he would rather live or die. Philippians thanks the congregation at Philippi in Macedonia, the first he founded in Europe according to Acts, for a gift brought by Epaphroditus, who fell gravely ill while he was with Paul. Philemon, the shortest of Paul's letters, is addressed to Philemon, a Christian householder, to Apphia and Archippus, and to the church that met in Philemon's house, about Onesimus, who had come to Paul, become a believer, and was now being sent back. Where Paul was held is disputed. The tradition and many scholars say Rome around 60–62; others propose Ephesus in the mid-50s or Caesarea around 57–59, and the mention of the praetorium (the governor's guard) and of Caesar's household fits Rome without settling it. At the centre of Philippians stands a poem about Christ, who did not cling to equality with God but emptied himself, took the form of a slave, and was for that reason exalted; many scholars think the poem is older than the letter. Paul offers it as the pattern for a congregation in which two women leaders, Euodia and Syntyche, had fallen out. He turns on teachers who demand circumcision, calls them dogs, and lists his own credentials (circumcised on the eighth day, a Hebrew born of Hebrews, a Pharisee) only to count them as loss. Many scholars think the letter as it survives joins two or three letters to Philippi. Philemon is an argument conducted entirely through tact: Paul declines to command, asks Philemon to receive Onesimus as a beloved brother, and offers to pay whatever is owed. Most readers take Onesimus to be a slave who had run away; some scholars argue that the text does not show it. The letter says nothing outright against slavery, and in the struggles over abolition both sides cited it. The text given here is the King James Version (1611), translated from the Greek, with the verse numbers removed and the chapters kept.

Key concepts

What is Christ's 'self-emptying' in Philippians?

The movement the poem in Philippians describes: Christ, 'being in the form of God', did not hold on to that status but 'made himself of no reputation', taking the form of a servant and dying on a cross. Theologians call it kénōsis, Greek for emptying. It is not a loss of who he is but a choice of how to be, and Paul introduces it with 'Let this mind be in you'.

What does Paul mean by citizenship in heaven?

That believers belong first to another commonwealth, and only live as residents where they are. The King James Version says 'our conversation is in heaven', using an older sense of the word for one's way of life as a citizen. From there they await a saviour who 'shall change our vile body', so the claim concerns the body and the future, not an escape from the world.

What is 'fellowship in the gospel'?

A partnership, not just a friendship: the Philippians shared in Paul's work 'from the first day', including with money. The Greek word, koinōnía, means holding something in common. He notes that no other church shared with him 'concerning giving and receiving, but ye only', and treats their gift as a share in the mission rather than a favour to him.

What does Paul mean by calling Onesimus his son 'begotten in my bonds'?

That Paul brought Onesimus to faith while in prison, and so counts himself his spiritual father. This kinship is the lever of the whole letter to Philemon: a man born into the family of believers stands to Philemon 'both in the flesh, and in the Lord', as a member of his household and as a brother, and Paul sends him back as part of his own heart.

Themes of the book

What this book returns to, gathered into themes and ordered by how much of the text each one occupies.

The mind of Christ: emptying oneself

What would a community look like if each member counted the others above themselves? Philippians answers with a poem about God's Son taking the form of a slave.

At the centre of Philippians stands a poem: Christ, being in the form of God, did not cling to equality with God but made himself of no reputation, took the form of a servant, and was obedient unto death on a cross, and for that reason God exalted him. Paul offers it as the mind the Philippians should share, in a church where two women who had worked beside him had fallen out. He applies it to himself as well, listing his credentials as a Pharisee only to count them as loss.

  • humility
  • selflessness
  • service
  • unity
  • community
  • worship
  • righteousness
  • divine agency
  • salvation

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To live is Christ, to die is gain

How does a prisoner who may be executed write a letter about joy? Paul weighs living against dying, and says he has learned to be content in either fortune.

Writing in chains, Paul sees even rivals who preach to spite him as spreading the message. He is torn: to depart and be with Christ would be far better, but to remain is more needful for them, so he expects to stay. The same letter thanks the Philippians for their gift while insisting he has learned to be content in want and in plenty. Its counsel against worry is not a promise that all will go well but prayer with thanksgiving, and a peace that passes understanding.

  • life and death
  • suffering
  • resurrection
  • contentment
  • anxiety
  • prayer
  • courage
  • perseverance
  • desire
  • trust
  • faith
  • giving
  • generosity
  • discernment

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Onesimus: a brother, not a servant

How do you ask a householder to take back a man who left him in the wrong? The shortest of Paul's letters is an argument made almost entirely through tact.

Onesimus had come to Paul in prison and become a believer, and Paul now sends him back to Philemon, who hosts a church in his house. Paul could command, he says, but for love's sake he asks instead: receive him not now as a servant but as a brother beloved, as you would receive me. If he owes anything, put it on my account; I will repay it, though you owe me your very self. The letter says nothing outright against slavery, and leaves Philemon to decide how far brotherhood reaches.

  • slavery
  • brotherhood
  • forgiveness
  • hospitality
  • friendship
  • love
  • virtue

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Within this work

passages held
10
distinct concepts
38
by passages held, corpus-wide
#816

Works held

The author's work in order, this book marked in place. Your-language title first, the original beneath it where the two differ; side chips show which full texts are held.

  1. 51 Epistles to the Thessalonians (Πρὸς Θεσσαλονικεῖς Α΄ · Πρὸς Θεσσαλονικεῖς Β΄)

    One of his earliest surviving letters, paired with a second in his name whose authorship is disputed. Between them they hold most of what the letters say about the Lord's return.

     EN
  2. 53 Epistle to the Galatians (Πρὸς Γαλάτας)

    A letter of controversy, written in haste to churches he feared to lose. It holds his fullest account of his early years as an apostle and of his clash with Peter, and states in compressed form the case Romans later sets out at length.

     EN
  3. 55 Epistles to the Corinthians (Πρὸς Κορινθίους Α΄ · Πρὸς Κορινθίους Β΄)

    Not one letter but a correspondence: two of at least four letters Paul wrote to Corinth, the second possibly several joined together. They record his longest struggle with a single congregation he had founded.

     EN
  4. 57 Epistle to the Romans (Πρὸς Ῥωμαίους)

    The longest and most systematic of his letters, and the one later theology was built on: for a church he had not founded, it works out at length the argument about faith and the law that Galatians had made in anger.

     EN
  5. 62 Epistles to the Ephesians and the Colossians (Πρὸς Ἐφεσίους · Πρὸς Κολοσσαεῖς)

    The two letters on this shelf closest to each other in wording, and with Second Thessalonians the three whose authorship is disputed. They carry Paul's thought toward a teaching about the universal church.

     EN
  6. 62 Epistles to the Philippians and to Philemon (Πρὸς Φιλιππησίους · Πρὸς Φιλήμονα) you are here EN
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