This chapter discusses the critical issues involved in the interpretation of 1-2 Thessalonians, including pseudonymity, the concept of the parousia and its roots in Jewish apocalypticism, and paraenetic strategies employed by Paul.

There continues to be a robust conversation going on in scholarship about what kind of letter category fits Philippians. Not long ago, a large number of scholars were convinced it is a “letter or friendship,” but there is more hesitancy today.

Codex Bezae offers an interesting variant reading of Matt 20:28: “But seek to increase from that which is small, and to become less from that which is greater.”1 This Jesus-saying (perhaps an agraphon) seemed to a scribe to fit within the context of Jesus’ teaching about glory, honor, and “greatness.” Jesus’ message would have been discouraging to many readers entrenched in the agonistic Greco-Roman culture. Because honor was treated as a limited good (there was only so much of it to go around), daily one vied for honor and competed to “best” the other.2 While modern Westerners sometimes scoff at the secret request of the mother of James and John that her sons be given prime seats at the eschatological banquet (Matt 20:20–21), it would not have been a surprise to the other disciples. They were probably upset on account of jealousy, not propriety! The second part of the Codex Bezae Jesus-saying – “to become less” – was utter foolishness in such a competitive world. Jesus was not actually encouraging the disciples to be underachievers; rather, he was undermining a status quo that locked people into shame and poverty.

Paul’s letter openings are not perfunctory and prosaic formalities nor necessary yet tedious niceties, rather, they are significant because they set the tone for the letter, hint at topics covered in the letter, and provide the initial texture for Paul’s message. Paul’s letter to the Philippians begins by following standard Hellenistic letter-writing conventions of sender, addressee, salutation, and thanksgiving, but with distinctive glosses (in Christ, grace and peace, God our Father, Lord Jesus Christ). Paul, as is his custom, uses his Greek name Paulos rather than his Hebrew name Sha’ul. Interesting too is that Paul, along with the letters to the other Macedonian churches in Thessalonica, does not call himself an “apostle.” This is most probably because, unlike the letters to the Galatians and the Corinthians, there was no need to accent his apostolic credentials in the face of any mounting dissent to his apostolic ministry or disparagement of his personality from the Macedonian assemblies. Paul nominates himself as lead author, hence the biographical “I” sections throughout, and other persons are referred to only in the third person. Even so, the letter is coauthored with or at least composed in cooperation with Timothy, much like several other Pauline letters (2 Cor 1:1; Col 1:1; Philm 1; cf. Paul, Timothy, and Silas in 1 Thess 1:1; 2 Thess 1:1). Timothy was Paul’s traveling companion from the city of Lystra in the province of Galatia.