The Epistle to the Philippians

New International Greek Testament Commentary

by Peter T. O'Brien

This commentary series is established on the presupposition that the theological character of the New Testament documents calls for exegesis that is sensitive to theological themes as well as to the details of the historical, linguistic, and textual context. Such thorough exegetical work lies at the heart of these volumes, which contain detailed verse-by-verse commentary preceded by general comments on each section and subsection of the text.

An important aim of the NIGTC authors is to interact with the wealth of significant New Testament research published in recent articles and monographs. In this connection the authors make their own scholarly contributions to the ongoing study of the biblical text.

The text on which these commentaries are based is the UBS Greek New Testament , edited by Kurt Aland and others. While engaging the major questions of text and interpretation at a scholarly level, the authors keep in mind the needs of the beginning student of Greek as well as the pastor or layperson who may have studied the language at some time but does not now use it on a regular basis.

Genres: Reference, Theology, Christian, Biblical Studies, Nonfiction, New Testament, Biblical

639 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1991

About the author

O'Brien is senior research fellow in New Testament at Moore Theological College in Sydney, Australia. He is well-known for his major biblical commentaries, including The Letter to the Ephesians (Apollos), and several publications on the subject of mission.

Reviews

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb. This is the best commentary I have read on the Epistle to the Philippians.

[Nick Roark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful

[Jeff Breeding · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m aware of the citation/plagiarism issues with this volume. With that caveat, it’s an incredibly helpful volume.

[Dan Glover · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peter T. O'Brien has written the very best commentary on Paul's letter to the Philippians. With some other very good scholarly and evangelical entries by Gordon Fee (NICNT), Moises Silva (BEC), and Gerald F. Hawthorne (WBC), this is no small feat. O'Brien leaves no exegetical stone unturned, masterfully handling the text, context and secondary material as scholarly commentary ought to with special attention paid to Pauline theological themes and the "kenosis" passage (2:5-11) in particular. While only those reasonably able to handle the Greek text will benefit fully from this work, it is surprisingly accessible to the informed and well-read layman. This is chiefly due to O'Brien's ability to write weighty material clearly and precisely yet with well crafted prose. There is conviction here, something lacking in many works at this technical level. Expensive, but well worth the price. O'Brien is unsurpassed in each of his big commentaries on Paul's letters. I've never read a better commentary on any book of the Bible. Other than Paul's other epistles, this has been my key secondary resource in teaching two college courses on Philippians, leading a Bible study and preaching through it.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the fire hose of commentaries on Philippians. This is not for pleasure reading, but will give you every last detail on whatever passage you are dealing with. The introduction is well reasoned and defended. The author's understand of the context surrounding the letter is convincing and enlightening. Throughout the book the author presents and deals with, what has to be, every alternative theory about whatever detail, lists strengths and weaknesses, and presents the author's argument.

This commentary is not casual reading. It is exhaustive and intense. But in its pages you will find good information that will change the way you read Philippians.

[David Smiley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not a commentary for the faint of heart. If you don't know Greek, then don't even pick this volume up; however if you want a commentary that takes seriously the integration of grammatical analysis and theological reflection, then this volume will serve you well. My only complaint is that at points in time I personally did not feel like the topics he spent extra time on were crucial to one's understanding of Philippians. However, when O'Brien did hit a relevant topic that contains a considerable amount of debate which was crucial to one's understanding of the book of Philippians, it was gold.

[Drew Van Gorder · Rating 5 out of 5]

As far as getting into the new testament in the original Greek, this book was an amazing asset. If you want to understand the background, context, reasoning, and writing style of the apostle Paul from the book of Philippians, this is an amazing book to own.

[Michael Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

In typical O'Brien fashion there is a lot of useful stuff here. But one gets the impression that he is a bit wordy and belabors many small issues that don't influence the theology of the text that much. That being said, still highly recommend this book.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best commentary on Philippians out there. It may even be the best commentary on any book of the Bible. Its that good. No, really.