Hello all. Not that there are very many people who know this site even exists.
Wow. We had our last Greek Exegesis class for the semester today. What a great class. We put all the things we learned this semester together and "exegeted" Phillipians 1:1-2 and 4:2-11.
Phil. 1:1-2 is Paul's salutation to the church in Philippi. Paul includes Timothy in his greeting but not because Timothy is a co-writer, but probably because Paul is getting the Philippians ready for Timothy's upcoming visit. Paul addresses the letter to the "saints" together with the "elders and deacons" in Philippi. There has been much discussion why he did this. People want to connect the two terms to say that the letter was only to the leaders in the church ( a term in Greek grammar called apposition). But they are not the same. We came to the conclusion that Paul is including the whole church, emphasising that the problems Paul deals with will also have to be dealt with by the leaders.
Phil. 4:2-4 is Paul's plea to get along. There are two women who have a difference of opinion that has apparently spread to the entire church, with people taking one side or the other. It is a conflict over something involved in ministry in Philippi. Paul appeals to the time when the Philippians and Paul's fellow workers were striving in the work of the Gospel, asking them to return to that point in thier thinking. They need to return to fellowshipping in the gospel. If they can't have fellowship doing something, they need to stop. Of course the appication applies to us today. If some ministry program is better monitarally or efficient but causes a rift in the church, it needs to be ended. The point of the section is to work together.
We also looked at Phil. 4:13. Many interpret the verse as saying "I can do anything through Him who strengthens me." But exegetically that interpretation does not hold up. The context is Paul speaking about how he has learned the secret of contentment in times of adversity (with an emphasis on finances). He says he cannot do this on his own, as the Stoic philosiphers of the time argued (he even uses the same type of language as the Stoics). He says it is only possible through God. It is also clear that the believer in need must go to the Christian community for help, and that the community is bound to help the one in need. Finally we are only able to do something if it is what God wants us to do. If God really wants us to be able to lift 300lbs we will do it. But if we want to lift it, we cannot hang our hopes on this verse.
There was a TON of work behind these summaries. There were literally pages of notes we wrote down on individual verses. The more we studied, the more questions we came up with that we needed to answer. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. Just kidding. By all means, study as much as you can, using all the tools at your diposal. This is what "meditating on the Word" means. It does not mean to empty your mind, rather fill it with thoughts about the Word. You will find it very rewarding.