Authorship of the Philippians Christ Hymn

[david77]

Hello everyone,

Is there more evidence for or against being a hymn, or being Paul's own writing?



So far, I know that the arguments for include: hapax legomena and poetic quality; it has also been a scholarly consensus of the last 100 years, but I'm skeptical that may be because of the more recent enthusiasm for older texts and form criticism.

Yet, when I look in the Greek, it's either that Paul is an EXPERT in braiding this hymn with his exhortation towards humility, or he wrote it. I say this due to the words he uses, and the thematic coherence and consistency from 2:1-18. In terms of vocabulary, oft-repeated words include: glory (doxias, 2:3, 11), consider (hageomai 2:3, 6), humility (tapeinopherosune, 2:3, 8), and the prefix keno- referring to vain glory (kenodoxian, 2:3), self emptying, (kenosis, 2:7), and vanity of Paul's running/toil (2:16).



What are other's thoughts? I'm just beginning to read koine Greek, so I am no expert. Just questioning assumptions, because I think some tend to regard 2:5-11 as more important or more sacred than the rest of the chapter, given that they think the earlier church composed a theological hymn.

Thank you!

 

[RighteousnessTemperance&]

Paul was certainly an expert in theology, using language, communication. As such, he would have had no trouble weaving his prose message with a deeply familiar hymn. But this does not prove he himself did not compose the hymn much earlier.

 

[Ziggy]

Perhaps it might have been the hymn he and Silas were singing in the prison at Philippi which in part led to the conversion of the jailer? - - pure speculation, but reasonable.

 

[37818]

Philippians 1:1, "Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, . . ." It is my understanding, Philippians along with all the other New Testament documents were received by a respective church who knew the Apostle or church prohet. Copied and past on to other sister churches.

 

[Deacon]

My Saturday morning men's group this morning started Philippians last week when I was away.
I had the sudden privilege of leading the group this morning after the leader didn't show up.

Paul and Timothy authored the letter but there are a lot of more "I"'s in the letter that "we"'s.

I can almost hear Paul dictating the letter and his amanuensis writing and crafting the dictation.
There were not quotation marks in ancient Greek and there would be not copyright infringement if Paul used outside sources. It is the written text of Scripture that was inspired, not the authors.

Rob

 

[agedman]

My Saturday morning men's group this morning started Philippians last week when I was away.
I had the sudden privilege of leading the group this morning after the leader didn't show up.

Paul and Timothy authored the letter but there are a lot of more "I"'s in the letter that "we"'s.

I can almost hear Paul dictating the letter and his amanuensis writing and crafting the dictation.
There were not quotation marks in ancient Greek and there would be not copyright infringement if Paul used outside sources. It is the written text of Scripture that was inspired, not the authors.

Rob

Are you sure the authors weren’t inspired to write the words making them inspired?

This is what some modern day music folks use as an excuse for some slobber they claim they got from God.

But you are right. God spoke by, through, and to the prophets, but the prophets were not inspired of themselves.

Yet, God placed a special authority on them as he does to
His children in this day.

God may speak through the believer who is scattering the Word (as a seed.

 

[RighteousnessTemperance&]

Is there more evidence for or against being a hymn, or being Paul's own writing?

Gordon D Fee has taken exception to the hymn interpretation, and especially to the non-Pauline angle.

Thus all of this is not so much "hymnic" as it is full of the kinds of balanced structures found everywhere in Paul. That it should be expressed in such exalted language, and in language that tends to be somewhat unique to this passage, probably is an indicator of how much of Paul we do not know from his preserved literary remains. What needs to be noted is that such "unique language" occurs in every instance of this kind in Paul, where he seems to dip into his own, and the church's, creedal/liturgical pool to express himself soteriologically or christologically—and no two are alike!
...
All of this is, then, to argue that the passage is not only Pauline, but is meaningful—and precise—in its present context. If it had prior form of some kind, and this can be neither proved nor dis- proved, although I would tend to lean in the latter direction, in its present form it has been so thoroughly taken over by Paul as to render discussions of its prior existence as to its form, authorship, and background needless or meaningless.
...
Let me conclude with a theological postscript, once again picking up the concern of Käsemann and Martin. To argue that this marvelous passage is written as a theological reinforcement for harmony or unity in an early Christian community does not make the passage unworthy of Paul or a betrayal of his gospel. What it does in fact is to reinforce a significant aspect of Paul's gospel, namely that there is no genuine life in Christ that is not at the same time, by the power of the Holy Spirit, being regularly transformed into the likeness of Christ. A gospel of grace that omits obedience is not Pauline in any sense. To be sure, the indicative must precede the imperative or all is lost; but it does not eliminate the imperative, or all is likewise lost.

https://www.ibr-bbr.org/files/bbr/BBR-1992_02_Fee_Philippians_2.pdf​

 

[david77]

Are you sure the authors weren’t inspired to write the words making them inspired?

This is what some modern day music folks use as an excuse for some slobber they claim they got from God.
mobdro https://pnrstatus.vip/ https://sarkariresult.onl/


But you are right. God spoke by, through, and to the prophets, but the prophets were not inspired of themselves.

Yet, God placed a special authority on them as he does to
His children in this day.

God may speak through the believer who is scattering the Word (as a seed.

i totally agree with you!!