Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 155:617 (Jan 1998)
Article: Were the Opponents at Philippi Necessarily Jewish?
Author: Herbert W. Bateman IV

BSac 155:617 (Jan 98) p. 39

Were the Opponents at Philippi Necessarily Jewish?

Herbert W. Bateman, IV*

* Herbert W. Bateman IV is Associate Professor of New Testament Studies, Grace College and Seminary, Winona Lake, Indiana.

Paul’s allusion in Philippians to a group or groups of opponents has resulted in a myriad of suggestions. “One of the most hotly debated issues in the contemporary study of Philippians is that of the nature and identity of the opponents to whom Paul alludes in his letter.”1 Some suggest the opponents (or at least one group of opponents) were Jews who went to Philippi in order to “reconvert” Gentile Christians.2 Most writers, however, contend they were Jewish Christian missionaries whose mission was to influence Gentile Christians to adopt Jewish rituals.3 Yet should these opponents—who are typically called

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“Judaizers”—be limited to Jewish Christians or perhaps even non-Christian Jewish “missionaries”? Is it possible that they were merely local Gentiles who sympathized with and practiced Judaistic rituals?

The People of Philippi

Located about ten miles from the Aegean Sea on the eastern end of the Via Egnatia, Philippi is identified as a Macedonian city (Μακεδονίας πόλις, Acts 16:12). Philippi, however, was at one time a Greek settlement known as Krenides (from κρηνήνδε, “spring”) and under Thracian control.4 In his quest to strengthen Macedonia’s situation in the east, Philip II (Alexander the Great’s father) managed to seize control of the flourishing Greek gold-mining town of Krenides. After he drove the Thracian ruler Ketriporis from the city, Philip promptly repopulated Krenides with Macedonians, renamed the city Philippi, and incorporated the city into his ever-growing Macedonian state in 356 B.C.5 Thus Philippi’s earliest history indicates that it was a Greek city-state, populated by Greeks.6

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Although Philippi was part of the Macedonia state for nearly 190 years, Rome’s aggressive activities in the east eventually terminated Macedonia’s autonomy. After the Battle of Pydna (Third Macedonian War) in 168 B.C., Rome dismantled the Macedonian state and eventually annexed Macedonia as a Roman province in 148 B.C.You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
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