The

Story of God

Bible Commentary

PHILIPPIANS

Lynn H. Cohick

Tremper Longman III & Scot McKnight

General Editors

ZONDERVAN

Philippians

Copyright © 2013 by Lynn H. Cohick

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Cohick, Lynn H.

Philippians / Lynn H. Cohick.

p. cm.—(Story of God Bible commentary; 11)

ISBN 978-0-310-32724-0 (hardcover)

1. Bible. Philippians—Commentaries. I. Title.

BS2705.53.C64 2013

227ʹ.6077—dc23

2013008290

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Any italics added to the Scripture texts are the author’s own.

Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

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, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Cover design: Ron Huizinga

Cover imagery: iStockphoto®

Editorial Board

of

The Story of God Bible Commentary

Old Testament general editor:

Tremper Longman III

Old Testament associate editors:

George Athas

Mark J. Boda

Myrto Theocharous

New Testament General editor:

Scot McKnight

New Testament Associate editors:

Lynn H. Cohick

Michael F. Bird

Joel L. Willitts

Zondervan Editors

Senior acquisitions editor

Katya Covrett

Senior production editor

Verlyn D. Verbrugge

To Dave and Denise (January 5, 1955–March 23, 2013) Fisher

Models of Christ’s love, faithfully striving

toward the goal to win the prize (Phil 3:14)

Contents

Acknowledgments

The Story of God Bible Commentary Series

Abbreviations

Introduction

Commentary

Scripture and Apocrypha Index

Subject Index

Author Indexes

Acknowledgments

Obligatory acknowledgments run the risk of sounding disingenuous, which is why Zondervan decided to make this page optional to its contributors. I am grateful for that decision so that I can express, without any hint of compulsion, my deep gratitude to the several people who were influential in the writing of this work. My involvement with this series began over a delightful lunch with Katya Covrett, senior acquisitions editor at Zondervan, who asked me if I would be interested in working on a new commentary series. I am grateful for her excellent service leadership in guiding the commentary’s New Testament editorial board. My deep appreciation extends to Scot McKnight, series senior editor and good friend, for his unfailing support and encouragement of me, and more broadly, of Christian women in the academy. ...