From a team of more than 50 international scholars comes the 'Word Biblical Commentary Series'.

Harvesting the important historical, textual, literary and archaeological discoveries from a generation of scholarship, the Word Biblical Commentary Series serves the needs of professional scholars and teachers, students of the Bible and of theology, working ministers and anyone who wants a theological understanding of Scripture that is grounded in the best of today's biblical scholarship.

Since its publication in 1983, Gerald F. Hawthorne's Word Biblical Commentary on Philippians has established itself as a standard widely used by pastors and cited by scholars. Now a thorough revision has been prepared by Ralph P. Martin, an internationally recognized authority on the letters of Paul, that preserves Hawthorne's original work while updating it in light of the contribuions of scholarship in the last twenty years. This collaboration continues an association that began with their joint editorship of the Dictionary of Paul and His Letters (InterVarsity Press, 1993).

The new edition, which expands the original commentary by over 100 pages, features updated bibliographies, fresh literary analyses through rhetorical criticism of this 'friendship letter, ' insights from recent archaeological discoveries, and a consideration of the 'effective history' of the letter through its influence on the history of the church. The issues of provenance and the identity of Paul's opponents are reassessed, and the themes of joy-in-suffering and life-in-Christ are fleshed out in greater detail.

Martin does not always agree with the interpretative positions of his predecessor, but he adds his view alongside that of the original in a way that allows the reader to decide between the two options. The revised commentary thus presents a dialogue between two distinguished scholars from which pastors, students, and scholars can be enriched.