Advice to Euodia, Syntyche, and others; exhortation to think of all things true and lovely (iv. 2-9).
The apostle expresses his joy at the spirit shown by the offerings sent to him from Philippi. Doxology. Salutation (iv. 10-23).
[1] So E. Haupt, Die Gefangenschaftsbriefe, p. 3.
[2] The Greek is ordinarily translated as "a prize to be grasped," but it seems quite possible to translate the passage, "He considered not equality with God to involve a process of grasping."
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CHAPTER XVII
THE PASTORAL EPISTLES
[Sidenote: The Author.]
1 and 2 Timothy and Titus form the fourth and last group of St. Paul's Epistles, and are known as the Pastoral Epistles,[1] because they deal so largely with the duties and qualifications of the men entrusted with the pastoral care of the Church. St. Paul here teaches the teachers.
Their genuineness is more frequently denied than that of any other of St. Paul's Epistles, and this attack upon their genuineness has been mostly based upon the character of their teaching about the office-bearers of the Church. Attempts have sometimes been made to separate some fragments supposed to be genuine from the remaining portions. All such attempts have failed. These Epistles must either be rejected entirely or accepted entirely. Otherwise we become involved in a hopeless tangle of conjectures.