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Macedonia and Achaia, that he would require aid from the Philippian church 1,200 miles
away.
One of the difficulties that we have in connection with Rome as the place where
Philippians was written is the long distance of Rome from Philippi and the number of
journeys mentioned in the epistle which must be fitted in. This also militates against
Caesarea, for such a journey would involve a trip of 1,200 miles overland, taking even
longer than the journey to Rome, for communications through Asia Minor were not equal
under the best conditions to those between Rome and Philippi, and for several months of
the year the roads were impassable over the Taurus mountains. The journey by sea
would take several weeks, judging by the fact that Paul, leaving Philippi immediately
after Easter, feels that he cannot take time to stop over in Ephesus if he is to be in
Jerusalem for Whitsuntide (Acts 20: 16).
The number of journeys mentioned in Philippians are as follows: four trips are
presupposed between Rome and Philippi:
(1)
A message is sent from Rome to Philippi, telling that Paul is in prison.
(2)
Epaphroditus comes from Philippi to Rome bringing gifts.
(3)
Word is sent from Rome to Philippi that Epaphroditus has fallen ill.
(4)
Message comes back from Philippi, telling of the Philippians' distress at the news.
The return of Epaphroditus with the epistle would make a fifth journey and it is to be
followed by the sending of Timothy. Paul himself hopes to visit Philippi some time
afterwards. The distance between Rome and Philippi was nearly 800 miles, following the
Appian way for 360 miles to Brindisium (Brindisi), and then by boat across the Adriatic
to Dyrrhachium (Durazzo), a two-day trip, provided the weather was favourable. From
Dyrrhachium the Egnatian Way would be followed for 370 miles to Philippi. Sir William
Ramsey has calculated that the average distance of a day's travel overland, on foot,
would not be above 15 miles [HDB, v, art. Roads and Travel (N.T.), p.386]. Reckoning
like this, the one-way journey would take over seven weeks, and allowing for rests
between trips and delays on the way, we should have to allow about five months for the
return trip or ten months for the four journeys.
This period could be cut in half if the Philippians heard of Paul's appeal to Caesar
soon after it was made, and sent their messenger to meet him with supplies on his arrival.
We should still have to allow four or five months for exchanges of correspondence before
the dispatch of the epistle. Since Paul was under house arrest at Rome for two years,
there was clearly time for all these journeys, so Rome cannot be turned down because of
its distance from Philippi.
Certainly, the journey from Ephesus to Philippi would be much shorter, taking 10-12
days in each direction, but there are many problems which this supposition produces
which cannot be overcome. No less an authority than Professor 100: H. Dodd has critically
examined the Caesarean and Ephesian hypotheses and rejected them in favour of the
Roman origin of Philippians (N.T. Studies). Professor F. W. Beare concludes his survey
by writing, "Taking everything into account, the ancient hypothesis that Philippians was