EPISTLE TO THE. Of this part of the apostle Paul's writings the authenticity has never been questioned. It is referred to formally and expressly by Polycarp, in his Epistle to the Philippians (§§ 3, 11), besides being repeatedly quoted by him. It is quoted by the churches at Vienne and Lyons, in their letter to the churches in Asia and Phrygia, preserved by Eusebius (Hist. Eccles. v. 2); by Irenaeus (Cont. Haer. iv. 18, § 4); by Clement of Alexandria (Pseudo, lib. i., p. 107; Strom. iv., p. 511; Admon. ad Gentes, p. 56); by Tertullian (De Resur. Carnis, c. 23); by Origen (Cont. Celts, lib. iii., p. 122, ed. Spencer; et epist.; by Cyprian (Lib. Testim. iii. 39), and by many of the later fathers.

From allusions in the Epistle itself, it is evident that it was written at Rome during the period of the apostle's two years imprisonment in that city, and in all probability towards the close of that period (i. 13, 14, 23, 26; ii. 18, 25). This Epistle is written throughout in a very animated and elevated style. It is full of the most sublime thoughts and the most affectionate exhortations. It resembles more the production of a father addressing his children, than that of an apostle laying down authoritatively what is to be received and followed. The whole of it shows, as Theophylact observes, how very much he loved and estimated those to whom it was addressed. (Proem. in Ep. ad Phil.)

The chief commentaries upon this Epistle are the following—M. H. Scholzus, Analyt. Comment. in Ep. Pauli ad Phil. cum observationibus ac curam usu, Franco, 1637, 4to; J. Gottfried Am Ende, Pauli Ep. ad Phil. Gr. ed. recens, Graecizati; Nova vers. Lat. et exact. perpct. illustr. Vitemb. 1798, 8vo; G. F. II. Rheinwald, Commentar. ub. d. Brief Pauli an die Philipp. Berlin, 1827, 8vo; Konrad Steph. Matthies, Erklärung d. Briefs Pauli ad Phil., Greifswald, 1835, 8vo; Hermann Gollwitz-Holmström, Comment. in Ep. ad Phil., Lips. 1839; Wessel Abo von Hengel, Comment. perspicuum in Ep. Pauli ad Phil., Amsterdam, 1839; A. Rilliet, Commentaire sur l'Epître de Saint Paul aux Philippiens, Geneva, 1841, 8vo.

In English the works of Pearce and Ferguson may be mentioned; also an English translation of Neander's Epistle to the Philippians practically and historically considered, Edinburgh, 1851; and Olshausen's Commentary on the Epistle to the Philippians, translated in "Clark's Foreign Theological Library."