Philippians and Philemon - MR Vincent - 1906.pdf

INTRODUCTION
Philippi implied in the letter. 4. A spirit of depression assumed
to be manifest in the epistle, indicating a later stage of confinement
and increased severity of treatment. 5. The expectation
expressed of a speedy release.
Lightfoot's ingenious discussion {Cotnm. p. 30 ff.) does little
more than to show the futility of these reasons. No decisive evi-
dence of a long imprisonment is furnished by i. 12 ff. All the
results detailed in i. 13-17 might easily have come to pass in a
few months after the apostle's arrival, especially since he was in
constant contact with the praetorian soldiers, the residents of the
city had free access to him, and the church in Rome had been
founded some years before. Our ignorance of the movements of
his companions forbids any positive conclusions from the allusions
in the letter. The statement in ii. 20, 21, is quite inexplicable
(see note). The names of Luke and Aristarchus, which occur in
Colossians and Philemon, are wanting in Ephesians, together with
that of Timothy, and an argument from silence is in any case
precarious. The tone of depression ascribed to the epistle is a
pure fancy. The letter is preeminently joyful and hopeful. If the
date assigned to St. Paul's arrival in Rome is correct, the events
which are assumed to have increased the rigor of the apostle's
treatment and thus to have depressed his spirits—the death of
Burrhus, the accession of Tigellinus as praetorian prefect, and
Nero's marriage to Poppaea— are too late. Poppaea's influence
over Nero did not begin until 58 (Tac. Ann. xiii. 45, 46), and the
marriage was not celebrated until 62 (Tac. Ann. xiv. 60). Burrhus
died and was succeeded by Tigellinus in 62 (Tac. Ann. xiv. 51).
The expectation of a speedy release is also expressed in the letter
to Philemon.
As to the time necessary for sending a message to Philippi
announcing Paul's imprisonment, for Epaphroditus' journey to
Rome with the contribution, for the message to Philippi concerning
Epaphroditus' sickness, and for the message to Rome
announcing that the PhiHppians had received this report, — the
distance between Rome and PhiUppi was only seven hundred
miles, and even with the imperfect means of travelling, all the four
journeys could have been accomplished in four months. Light-
foot's attempt to reduce the four journeys to two is founded on
the assumption that Aristarchus left Paul at Myra and proceeded