Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

PHILIP

(Gk. Phílippos)

1. Philip II, king of Macedon (359-336 b.c.e.). The father of Alexander the Great (1 Macc. 1:1), he was assassinated before embarking on a military expedition against Persia (Josephus Ant. 11.304-5). He unified Macedonia, adopted Greek culture, and dominated Greece through the League of Corinth.

2. Philip V, king of Macedon (221-179 b.c.e.). He took up arms against Rome and was decisively defeated in the battle of Cynoscephale (198; 1 Macc. 8:5). Rome left him on a weakened throne, acting as a buffer with Syria under the powerful Antiochus III (for a Judean view, cf. Ant. 12.414).

3. Philip the Phrygian, governor of Jerusalem under Antiochus IV Epiphanes, on whose death he was appointed regent over Antiochus V (1 Macc. 6:14-17, 55; 2 Macc. 9:29). According to 1 Macc. 6:63 when Philip tried to assume control himself, Lysias (the young Antiochus’ guardian according to Ant. 13.296, 360) defeated him in a battle for Antioch (ca. 164/63 b.c.e.).

4. Philip the Tetrarch (ca. 20 b.c.e.–34 c.e.).

See Herod (Family) 13.

5. Herod (Philip?), son of Herod and Mariamme II.

See Herod (Family) 14.

Peter Richardson

6. Philip the Apostle and Evangelist. In the Synoptic Gospels the name Philip for a follower of Jesus occurs only in the lists of the names of the twelve disciples/apostles (Mark 3:16-19; Matt. 10:2-4; Luke 6:14-16; cf. Acts 1:13). In each instance Philip is presented in fifth position. In John, however, Philip plays a narrative role in 1:43-46; 6:5-7; 12:20-22; 14:8-9. He is said to be from Bethsaida (John 1:44; 12:21), is connected with Greeks seeking Jesus (12:20-21), and serves as a foil for the Johannine Jesus (6:5-7; 14:8-11). It is tempting to conclude that the figure of Philip was “known” by both the author and the readers of the Fourth Gospel.

Ostensibly another early Christian named Philip is introduced in Acts 6:1-7 as a member of the “Seven” appointed by the apostles to care for the Hellenist widows. Luke, the author of Acts, possessed additional traditional material concerning this figure’s activity and significance and used it in Acts 8, , which attributes to Philip the expansion of the gospel outside Jerusalem: first to Samaria (vv. 5-13), and then to the “ends of the earth” (vv. 26-40), represented in the person of an Ethiopian convert. This groundbreaking “evangelizing” (cf. 8:4, [5], 12, 35, 40) beyond the bounds of Judaism represents a significant fulfillment of Jesus’ commission to the apostles in 1:8. After Acts 8 Philip’s sole appearance is at 21:8-9, along with his four prophetic daughters, as one of Paul’s hosts on the latter’s final journey to Jerusalem. Philip’s designation as the “evangelist” in 21:8 represents a commonsense conclusion based on his earlier activity in Acts.

Second-century sources are unanimous in their assumption that the Philip Luke is concerned with (i.e., the Philip with four prophetically gifted daughters, Acts 21:9) was, in fact, Philip the apostle. Polycrates understood this Philip to be “one of the Twelve apostles” (cf. Eusebius HE 3.31.3; 5.24.2). Even more significant is the identification presupposed by Papias (HE 3.39.9), who personally knew the daughters of Philip. Since Philip, along with his daughters, is often invoked in 2nd-century polemical contexts to legitimate this or that group’s theological position (in polemical exchanges between Rome and the Montanist/New Prophecy movement in Asia Minor [cf. Proclus in HE 3.31.4], by Heracleon for his antimartyr position [cf. Clement of Alexandria Misc. 4.71.2-3], by Tatian in support of his contention that true disciples must be unmarried), it can hardly be imagined that the appeal is to anyone other than a clearly recognized authority, i.e., an apostle. Although scholars persistently explain all of these witnesses as “confused,” the documentary evidence of the 2nd century should not be so casually discounted.

It is at least possible that Luke does not identify Philip as an apostle in Acts because of his theme that in the earliest period the Twelve remain in Jerusalem (e.g., Acts 8:1). Such a narrative strategy on Luke’s part would be directly comparable to his denial of the title “apostle” to Paul (except Acts 14:4, 14) in deference to his conception that only the Twelve were apostles.

Bibliography. C. R. Matthews, Trajectories through the Philip Tradition (diss., Harvard, 1993); F. S. Spencer, The Portrait of Philip in Acts. JSNTSup 67 (Sheffield, 1992).

Christopher R. Matthews