AUTHORSHIP
The letter of Philippians was argued to be written by Paul the Apostle. The writing itself reveals the stamp of genuineness, since it bears upon it most vividly the impress of the Apostle’s personality and character. The letter begins in standard form for an ancient Hellenistic letter structure, with author or senders first, then recipients with a greeting:
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Phil.1.1-2 NIV
Paul not only mentioned his name at the salutation but also include the name of his son in the Lord by name Timothy which his most usual ways of his writings in
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Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day on to Neapolis. From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days. Acts 16.6 – …show more content…
These letters allude to an imprisonment of Paul, not necessarily the same imprisonment in all four. The letter is very important because it was not written in respond to crisis like other letters but to encouraged believers in Philippi then and us today on how we were expected by Christ to live our lives. Paul likely wrote this letter, near the end of his Roman imprisonment in AD 61 or 62. Paul sent the other three Prison Epistles Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon by the hand of Tychicus, as their destinations were near one another. However, the letter to the Philippians was to be delivered by Epaphroditus, who had come to Paul in Rome with financial help from the church at Philippi (Philippians 2:25; 4:18). But during his time in Rome, Epaphroditus took ill, which delayed his return home and, therefore, the delivery of the letter