Were the Opponents at Philippi Necessarily Jewish?

perhaps, identifies the lifestyles of those whose unregenerate ac-

tions made them opposers ("enemies of the cross," tou>j e]xqrou

tou? staurou?).⁶⁸ The depiction of these opponents as self-centered

("god is their belly," o[ qeo>j h[ koili

glory is in their shame," h[ do

("who set their minds on earthly things," ta> e]pi

clearly contrasts the self-denying, self-giving, self-sacrificing

attitude and life of Jesus (2:6–8) as well as the lifestyles of Timo-

thy (2:20–23), Epaphroditus (2:25–29), and Paul (3:7–16).

The description of the eternal destiny of these unregenerates

("enemies of the cross," tou>j e]xqrou

trasts with that of the saints in Philippi. The destiny of the many

opposers was like that of those who presently opposed the Philip-

pian saints—they would suffer an everlasting state of torment

and death (a]pwlei

the destiny of saints is heaven. "For (ga

heaven, from which also we eagerly await our Lord Jesus Christ,

who will change [metasxhmati

th?j tapeinw

by exercising the same power [kata th>n e]ne

that enables him to rule over [u[pota⁶⁸ Because the phrase "the enemies of the cross" (tou>j e]xqrou

unclear, the range of possibilities is large. Many suggest some group of ethnic

Jews—Jewish Christian Gnostic Judaizers (Koester, "The Purpose of the Polemic

of a Pauline Fragment," 328; Martin, Philippians, 143-44), Jewish Christian mis-

sionary Judaizers (Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Paul's Epistles to the Gala-

tians, to the Ephesians, and to the Philippians, 857-59; Silva, Philippians, 209-11),

or Jewish Judaizers (Hawthorne, Philippians, 163). Others suggest they were apos-

tate Christians as a result of persecution (Lohmeyer, Der Brief an die Philipper,

153) or professing Christians who denied the eschatological significance of the

cross (Collange, L'epitre de saint Paul aux Philippians, 118-19). It seems, however,

that contextually the phrase speaks directly of professing Christians like Gentile

Judaizers, Jewish Judaizers, and any group who were not prepared to live the self-

giving and self-sacrificing way of the cross (2:6-8). Their pattern of life reflected an

inner disposition (3:18) that was a self-centered and self-gratifying lifestyle of the

world (3:19; cf. Lightfoot, St. Paul's Epistle to the Philippians, 155; Kent,

"Philippians," 147; O'Brien, The Epistle to the Philippians, 453-54; and Fee, Paul's

Letter to the Philippians, 367-68). Though Paul may have been speaking of profess-

ing Christians, e]xqro

Rom. 5:10; 11:28; Col. 1:21; Alfred Plummer, A Commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to

the Philippians [London: Roxburghe, 1919], 82; Werner Foerster, "e]xqro
Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 2 [1964]: 811—15). Thus by the nature

of the term, e]xqo

60 BIBLIOTHECA SACRA / January–March 1998
Whereas all opposers will experience destruction, all believ-

ers will experience deliverance. The comments in Philippians

3:20-21 seem to echo and build on Paul's statement in 1:28 about

the future salvation of the Philippians. Thus like the previous

passages Philippians 3:18-21 does not necessarily support the

Jewish ethnicity of those in Philippi who were opposing the

church. In fact Paul apparently broadened the discussion to speak

inclusively of the many who lived in opposition to God's message.

CONCLUSION

Nothing in the four contrastive statements in Philippians 1:15-

17; 1:27-28; 3:2-3; and 3:18-21 clearly supports a reference to a

group of ethnic Jewish opponents. Although traditional historical

reconstructions about the opposers in Philippi suggest that the Ju-

daizers were ethnic Jews, it would be a mistake to rule out a priori

the possibility that those who opposed the Christians at Philippi

were Gentile Judaizers who claimed to be Christians. The paucity

of evidence in Acts and Philippians obviously requires historical

speculation. The numerous conversions of Jews (Acts 2:36, 41;

9:3-19; 14:1; 17:1-12; 18:8; 19:5-10),69 Samaritans (8:14), God-

fearers (8:27, 38; 10:1-2, 44-48; 16:14-15; 17:4; 18:7), and Gentiles

(11:20-21; 13:7-8, 48; 14:1; 16:31-33; 17:1-12, 34 [?]; 18:8; 19:10, 18

[?]) is indisputable. In Philippi, however, one female "God-

fearer" and her family (16:14-15) as well as a Gentile jailer and

his family (16:31-33) were converted to Christianity.

Since the city of Philippi was predominantly Gentile, other

Gentiles obviously joined the congregation (Phil. 4:2). Perhaps

some Gentiles, in their eagerness to understand this new faith,

misapplied Old Testament Scripture and thereby intermingled

the gospel message with rituals associated with Judaism (1:15-

17; 3:2). Their misguided understanding may have resulted in

zealous proclamations that disrupted the church (1:27-.28). They

were Gentiles whose behavior was like that of Jews but were not

actually Jews (3:2). They proclaimed Christ like Christian

missionaries but were not Christians (1:15-17; 3:2). They were

Gentile Judaizers.
⁶⁹ It is not surprising that Jewish converts abandoned aspects of their ancestral

customs. Barclay points out that ethnic Jews who converted to Christianity were

socially integrated into non-Jewish society. They were assimilated into Gentile so-

ciety because of their association with Gentile converts and Paul's assimilational-

ist stance on several Jewish issues (Barclay, Jews in the Mediterranean Diaspora,

326, 381–95). Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians became a new community

(Eph. 2:14–18) of people who had exchanged one identity for another (Rom. 5:12–19)

and thereby developed a new identity (2 Cor. 5:17–21).

Were the Opponents at Philippi Necessarily Jewish? 61
Since no explicit statement in Philippians identifies these

antagonists, it is difficult to know for sure who they were. On the

one hand Philippians 1:15–17; 1:27–28; 3:2–3; and 3:18–22 veil

the ethnicity of the opponents. On the other hand historical infor-

mation about Gentile Judaizers broadens the discussion enough to

say that those who opposed the church in Philippi may have been

local Gentile Judaizers (1:15–17; 1:28; 3:2). Paul's comments,

however, were applicable to Jews as well (polloi<, 3:18), especially

if Jewish Judaizers existed in Galatia, Corinth, and perhaps even

roamed the Roman Empire.

Regardless of who these people were, the point is that the

church always has had and always will have opponents—those

who disrupt the church with their self-promoting message, those

who add to God's message, those whose end will be destruction.

Believers, while being mindful of such people, are to live in a

manner worthy of the gospel.

This material is cited with gracious permission from: y

Dallas Theological Seminary

3909 Swiss Ave.

Dallas, TX 75204

www.dts.edu

Please report any errors to Ted Hildebrandt at: [e-mail]