What Is the Book of Philippians About? Joy Written From Prison

Philippians is called the epistle of joy — joy and rejoicing occur sixteen times in four chapters. The man writing was in custody in Rome, awaiting a trial that might end in execution. That contrast is the whole tension of the book.

Why he wrote it

The Philippian church had sent a man named Epaphroditus with a financial gift, and he fell dangerously ill on the way (2:25-30). The letter is partly a thank-you note and partly a reference letter sending Epaphroditus home.

Worth knowing: Philippi was the first church Paul planted in Europe (Acts 16). The first convert was Lydia, a seller of purple, and then the jailer — Paul's previous visit to Philippi had also involved a prison.

The hymn in chapter 2

2:6-11 is the summit of the letter, and is widely thought to be an early Christian hymn Paul is quoting. It traces a descent and an ascent:

Down — being in the form of God, he made himself of no reputation, took the form of a servant, was made in the likeness of men, humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Up — wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name.

But Paul is not quoting it to teach Christology. He is quoting it to settle how people treat each other. The verse before is "look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others" (2:4). He deploys the highest theology in the letter against a thoroughly ordinary problem.

Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.Philippians 4:4 (KJV)

The two women who fell out

4:2 names two people: Euodias and Syntyche. Paul publicly urges them "that they be of the same mind in the Lord".

What they had done is never stated. But their names went into the canon, and every reader of Philippians for two thousand years has read them. That fact alone tells you how seriously Paul took discord inside a church.

What each chapter covers

1 — Paul's situation; "for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain".
2 — humility; the example of Christ; Timothy and Epaphroditus.
3 — Paul's own credentials, and why he counts them as dung.
4 — be careful for nothing; the secret of contentment; thanks for their gift.

What kind of joy this is

Notably, Paul never says he is fine. He says "I know both how to be abased" (4:12). The book is not about a feeling; it is about the capacity to stay steady in the worst available circumstances.

Read Philippians straight through in the BiblePro app — four chapters, about twenty-five minutes — and count the occurrences of joy as you go. And do look for a local church to read alongside others.