The International Critical Commentary

A

CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL COMMENTARY

on the

EPISTLES TO THE PHILIPPIANS AND TO PHILEMON

by

Rev. MARVIN R. VINCENT, D.D.

baldwin professor of sacred literature in union theological seminary, new york

EDINBURGH:

T. & T. CLARK, 38 GEORGE STREET

0 567 05031 9

latest impression 1985

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of T. & T. Clark Ltd.

The

International Critical Commentary on the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.

under the editorship of

The Rev. SAMUEL ROLLES DRIVER, D.D.,

Regius Professor of Hebrew, Oxford;

The Rev. ALFRED PLUMMER, M.A., D.D.,

Master of University College, Durham;

and

The Rev. CHARLES AUGUSTUS BRIGGS, D.D.,

Edward Robinson Professor of Biblical Theology, Union Theological Seminary, Now York.

PREFACE

The two epistles treated in this volume have always had a peculiar attraction for both readers and expositors. On the Epistle to the Philippians more than a hundred commentaries have been produced, some of them by scholars of the first rank. It would be strange, therefore, if this work did not contain a great deal which has appeared elsewhere; and I am sure that the call for its publication has not arisen from the deficiencies of my predecessors.

I find, nevertheless, some satisfaction in the thought that the knowledge of any subject is promoted, in however small a degree, by the independent and honest treatment of each new expositor, who, by approaching his work from a different direction, seeing his material at a different angle and in the light of the most recent criticism, and shifting the points of emphasis, may reawaken attention to what is already familiar, and thus stimulate inquiry if he does not widen the sphere of knowledge.

The main object in this commentary has been to exhibit St. Paul’s thought in these two letters which I am fully convinced are from his pen. To this end all comment—grammatical and lexical as well as exegetical—has been directed, and special care has been given, to the paraphrases with which the several sections are prefaced, and to the illustration of the apostle’s nervous and picturesque diction upon which the marks of his personality are so deeply set. The theological bearings of certain passages it is manifestly impossible to overlook; and the student is entitled to demand of the commentator such notice and treatment of these as are consistent with the recognised difference between a commentary and a theological treatise. To such passages I trust that I have brought no dogmatic bias to prevent or to modify the application of strict exegetical principles.

I am conscious of the difficulties which attach, at certain points, to all attempts to place the Philippian letter in its complete and truthful historical setting. These difficulties are inevitable in the present ...