On the occasion of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem five days before Passover of 33 C.E. (Mark 11:7-11), some Greeks wanted to see Jesus. They requested Philip to introduce them, possibly attracted to the apostle because of his Greek name, or perhaps simply because he happened to be the one who was available to ask. At any rate, Philip evidently did not feel qualified to answer the request of these Greeks (evidently proselytes). He first conferred with Andrew, with whom he is elsewhere mentioned (John 6:7, 8) and who perhaps had more confidential relations with Jesus. (Compare Mark 13:3.) Together they presented the petition, not the petitioners, to Jesus for his consideration. (John 12:20-22) This circumspect, somewhat cautious, attitude is reflected in Philip’s response to Jesus’ question about feeding the multitude, and even in his request (made after Peter’s and Thomas’ rather blunt questions) that Jesus show them the Father, “and it is enough for us.” (John 6:5-7; 13:36, 37; 14:5-9) His tactful manner stands in contrast to Peter’s directness and bluntness, and thus the brief accounts involving Philip reveal something of the variety of personality to be found among Jesus’ chosen apostles.

Because of his close association with Nathanael (Bartholomew) and with the sons of Zebedee, Philip may have been one of the two unidentified disciples who were on the shore of the Sea of Galilee when the resurrected Jesus appeared.—John 21:2.

2. A first-century evangelist and missionary. Together with Stephen, Philip was among the seven “certified men . . . full of spirit and wisdom” chosen for the impartial daily distribution of food among the Greek- and Hebrew-speaking Christians in Jerusalem. (Acts 6:1-6) The account of Philip’s activity (as also that of Stephen) after this special service ended confirms the high spiritual quality of the men forming this chosen administrative body, for Philip did a work similar to that later effected by the apostle Paul, though more limited in scope.

When the persecution scattered all except the apostles, who remained in Jerusalem, Philip went to Samaria and there declared the good news of the Kingdom and, with the miraculous power of holy spirit, cast out demons and cured the paralyzed and lame. Overjoyed, multitudes accepted the message and were baptized, including a certain Simon who had been practicing the magical arts. (Acts 8:4-13) So when the apostles “heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they dispatched Peter and John to them,” that these baptized believers might receive the free gift of the holy spirit.—Acts 8:14-17.

Philip was then led by Jehovah’s spirit to meet the Ethiopian eunuch on the road to Gaza, and there, in a short time, this “man in power under Candace queen of the Ethiopians” put faith in Jesus and asked Philip to baptize him. (Acts 8:26-38) From there he made his way to Ashdod and on to Caesarea, “declaring the good news to all the cities” along the way. (Acts 8:39, 40) These brief accounts illustrate the work of an “evangelizer.”—Acts 21:8.

It was in this international crossroads of Caesarea some twenty years later that Philip was found still active in the ministry, and still known for having been “one of the seven men” selected by the apostles. As reported by Luke, when he and Paul stayed in Philip’s home for a time, about the year 56 C.E., “this man [Philip] had four daughters, virgins, that prophesied.” (Acts 21:8-10) That the four daughters were of sufficient age to engage in prophetic speaking may mean that Philip was already a married man at the time of his earlier activity.

3. Husband of Herodias and father of Salome. He was living in Rome at the time his wife adulterously left him to become the wife of his half-brother Herod Antipas. (Matt. 14:3, 4; Mark 6:17, 18; Luke 3:19, 20) Philip was a son of Herod the Great by his third wife, Mariamne II the daughter of the high priest Simon. He was, therefore, half Jew and half Idumaean.

4. The district ruler of Ituraea and Trachonitis at the time John the Baptist began his ministry in the “fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar,” 29 C.E. (Luke 3:1-3) Philip was a son of Herod the Great by his fifth wife, Cleopatra of Jerusalem, and was, therefore, half brother of Herod Antipas, Archelaus and Philip No. 3 above.

PHILIPPI

(Phi·lipʹpi).

At the time of the apostle Paul’s second missionary tour this city was “the principal [or, first] city of the district of Macedonia,” though apparently not its capital. It was located in the eastern part of the district, at the N end of the Aegean Sea, not far from the district of Thracia. Paul, coming by boat from Troas, landed at Philippi’s seaport town, Neapolis, and traveled about ten miles (16 kilometers) NW along the Via Egnatia or Egnatian Way, the great commercial and military road from Asia to Rome, which ran through a mountain pass some 1,600 feet (488 meters) above sea level, and down into the Philippian plain.—Acts 16:11, 12.

The city was situated on a hill rising out of the plain, near the river Gangites (modern Angista). On the S was an extensive marsh. Philippi’s acropolis was on a large rock formation in the NE part of the city. Excavations of the ruins indicate that the Egnatian Way ran through the middle of the city and alongside it was a fair-sized forum. Amphipolis, to which Paul traveled after leaving Philippi, was apparently the capital of the district, and lay about thirty miles (48 kilometers) S-SW of Philippi. From Amphipolis, Paul went S approximately thirty miles (48 kilometers) to Apollonia, thence to Thessalonica some thirty-eight miles (61 kilometers) W, where he stayed for about three weeks before heading SW through Beroea to take a boat for Athens.

HISTORY

Philippi was originally called Crenides (Krenides, place of small fountains). Philip II of Macedon (father of Alexander the Great) took the city from the Thracians about the middle of the fourth century B.C.E. and named it after himself. There were rich gold mines in the area, and gold coins were issued in Philip’s name. About 168 B.C.E. the Roman consul Aemilius Paullus defeated Perseus, the last of the Macedonian kings, and took Philippi and surrounding territory. In 146 B.C.E. all Macedonia was formed into a single Roman province. The battle in which Octavian and Mark Antony defeated the armies of Brutus and Cassius, assassins of Julius Caesar, took place on the plain of Philippi (in 42 B.C.E.). Afterward, as a memorial of his great victory, Augustus made Philippi a Roman “colony.” (Acts 16:12) Some years later, when Octavian was made Caesar Augustus by the Roman senate, he called the town Colonia Augusta Julia Philippensis.

Its designation as a Roman colony granted the city freedom from taxes, and other privileges, among them possibly being a secondary form of Roman citizenship. The citizens therefore had a stronger attachment to and sentiment toward Rome than would otherwise have been the case. This may explain why the masters of the girl from whom the apostle Paul exorcised a demon of divination stressed the point before the magistrates, “We are Romans,” in their accusations against Paul and Silas. (Acts 16:16-24) It also would be very understandable to the Philippian Christians when Paul later wrote exhorting them to be “behaving as citizens” worthily of the good news of the Christ, and reminding them that “our citizenship exists in the heavens,” for worldly, Roman citizenship would be highly prized in Philippi, even something about which to boast.—Phil. 1:27; 3:20, Kingdom Interlinear Translation.

PAUL’S VISIT

Philippi was privileged to be the first city in Europe to hear Paul preach the good news, in about 50 C.E., during his second missionary tour. He went there in obedience to a night vision at Troas in Asia Minor, in which a Macedonian man entreated him: “Step over into Macedonia and help us.” (Acts 16:8-19) Paul and his companions, evidently including their chronicler Luke, stayed there for several days, and on the sabbath they “went forth outside the gate beside a river,” where, Luke recounts, “we were thinking there was a place of prayer.” Some think that there was no synagogue in Philippi, due to the city’s military character; that the Jews there may have been forbidden to assemble inside the city for worship. (See CAESAR, p. 273, par. 1.) In any case, Paul spoke to the women assembled there and found one, Lydia by name, a worshiper of God, who “opened her heart wide to pay attention to the things being spoken by Paul.” She and her household were baptized, and her appreciation and hospitality were so great that “she just made [Paul and his companions] come” to stay at her house.—Acts 16:11-15.

But now, after answering the call to come into Macedonia, Paul was faced with persecution in this very first city, this time not from Jewish sources, as had been the case in Galatia. The magistrates of the city acted on false accusations made by the owners of the demonized girl who had lost their income because she was no longer able to carry on her practice of prediction, from which they had made much gain. Paul and Silas were beaten with rods, thrown into prison and their feet made fast in stocks.—Acts 16:16-24.

In the middle of the night, however, as they prayed and praised God with song, the other prisoners listening, a miracle occurred. An earthquake broke the prisoners’ bonds and threw the doors open. The jailer, knowing that he would face the death penalty for loss of the prisoners committed to him, was about to kill himself when Paul called out: “Do not hurt yourself, for we are all here!” The jailer and his household then listened to Paul and Silas, took care of their stripe wounds and became baptized believers.—Acts 16:25-34.

The next morning, perhaps hearing of the miraculous occurrence, the city magistrates ordered the jailer to release Paul. But Paul was concerned with vindicating, defending and legally establishing the good news more than in immediate release. He was not going to submit to any secret “back-door” release in order to save face for the magistrates. He called attention to his own Roman citizenship and the fact that they had beaten him and Silas publicly uncondemned. No, indeed! they must openly acknowledge that they, and not the Christians, had acted unlawfully. On hearing that Paul and Silas were Romans the magistrates were struck with fear and, coming down personally, “entreated them,” brought them out and requested they leave the city.—Acts 16:35-40.

Nevertheless, Paul had established a fine congregation in Philippi, one that was always dear to his heart. Their love for him was manifested by their anxious care and provision for him, even when he was elsewhere. (Phil. 4:16) Paul visited Philippi again during his third missionary tour, and, possibly, a third time, after his release from his first imprisonment in Rome.—Acts 20:1, 2, 6; Phil. 1:19; 2:24.

PHILIPPIANS, LETTER TO THE

A book of the Christian Greek Scriptures written by the apostle Paul to the congregation in the city of Philippi in the province of Macedonia, a congregation that Paul had established about 50 C.E., in the course of his second missionary tour.

WHEN AND WHERE WRITTEN

The letter’s internal evidence indicates it was written during Paul’s first imprisonment in Rome. In it he speaks of “all the praetorian guard” as knowing the reason for his being in bonds, and sends greetings from “those of the household of Caesar.” (Phil. 1:13; 4:22) Paul’s first imprisonment in Rome is generally considered to have taken place about 59-61 C.E. Several events occurred between Paul’s arrival in Rome and his decision to write to the Philippians. Epaphroditus had made the trip from Philippi, had worked to assist Paul and had fallen very sick. The Philippians, some 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) distant, had received news of his sickness. Now Epaphroditus had recovered and Paul was sending him back with the letter. So the letter was written about 60 or 61 C.E.

BACKGROUND AND REASONS FOR WRITING

The Philippian congregation had shown great love and regard for Paul. Shortly after his visit to them the congregation had generously sent him material provisions during his three-week stay in nearby Thessalonica. (Phil. 4:15, 16) Later, when the brothers in Jerusalem entered into a period of intense persecution and were in need of material help, the Christians in Philippi, themselves very poor and undergoing a great test of affliction, had nevertheless demonstrated a readiness to contribute even beyond their ability. Paul so much appreciated their fine attitude that he cited them as an example to the other congregations. (2 Cor. 8:1-6) They were also very active and busy in preaching the good news, so apparently had not been so closely in touch with Paul for a time. But now, in his need in prison bonds, they not only sent material gifts so that Paul had an abundance, but also dispatched their personal envoy Epaphroditus, a man valuable to them. This zealous brother courageously gave assistance to Paul, even endangering his own life. Consequently, Paul commends him highly to the congregation.—Phil. 2:25-30; 4:18.

Paul expresses confidence that, in harmony with their prayers, he will be released from this imprisonment and will be able to visit them again. (Phil. 1:19; 2:24) He knows that for him to continue to live is to be useful to them, though he looks longingly forward to the time when Christ will receive him home to himself. (Phil. 1:21-25; compare John 14:3.) In the meantime, he will send Timothy, who, more than anyone else available, will genuinely have their interests at heart.—Phil. 2:19-23.

The letter breathes love. Paul never withheld commendation where due, nor did he shrink back from giving necessary reproof, but in this case encouragement was the thing needed. The congregation had their opponents, “workers of injury,” who wanted to boast in fleshly connections and in circumcision of the flesh, but it appears that the brothers were not seriously affected, or upset. So Paul did not have to present strong argument and reproof as, for example, in his letters to the congregations in Galatia and Corinth. The only hint of correction was his exhortation to unity on the part of Euodia and Syntyche. Throughout the letter he encourages the Philippian congregation to continue in their fine course, seeking greater discernment and getting a sure grip on the word of life and a stronger faith and hope in the prize to come.

There are many fine principles expressed in the letter that provide guidance and encouragement to all Christians. Some of them are:

1:19 Prayer by God’s servants is effectual

2:5-11 Humility brings exaltation from God