Overseers
refers to
a special office of leadership in the church; or
a specific function in the church.
When Paul writes to the church in Philippi, he addresses all the saints together with the overseers and deacons. What does Paul mean here when he refers to overseers
?
When Paul refers to the overseers, he likely has an official office in mind. Of course, we should remember that the early church develops its leadership structure over time, but this does not mean that leadership offices were not established early on. We can deduce that ἑπίσκοπος (overseer
) is likely something like a title because Paul states that his letter is addressed to all of the saints in Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons. Now, if the overseers were members of the congregation who happened to take charge of certain responsibilities, then there is no reason for Paul to address them specifically. Rather, these would be included in the address to all the saints in Philippi. Given that Paul addresses the overseers and deacons specifically, this suggests that these folks had some official office, even if in a primitive state.
Some contend that when Paul refers to the overseers
(and deacons) he has in mind function, not office. That is, there are certain people in the church at Philippi who have taken it upon themselves to care for the congregation in a special way. These folks hold no official office, but given that they care for the congregation, Paul addresses their function. In other words, Paul’s address is to all the saints in Philippi along with those who care for the congregation.
The problem with this view is that if Paul simply has the function and not an office in mind, it is hard to see why he would refer to these folks by the title overseer.
Rather, we might expect him to refer to the people who care for the members
or the leaders,
which are generic terms for generic leadership roles. Instead, Paul uses the term overseer
that, in other New Testament passages, refers to a particular office. For example, in 1 Timothy 3:1–7, Paul explains the qualifications for those who aspire to the office of overseer.
Given that ἑπίσκοπος (overseer
) is used elsewhere to denote an office, and that Paul specifically addresses the overseers,
it is likely that the term denotes an office at the church in Philippi.
Interpretation 1:
Overseers
refers to a special office of leadership in the church.
Summary:
Paul addresses the members of the church at Phillipi together with those who hold the offices of overseer and deacon. The overseers and deacons were leadership offices, and those who held these offices performed varying leadership duties in the congregation.
Christ taught leaders that they are to lead through service and putting other needs before their own. That Paul addresses the leaders directly reminds us that leaders are responsible for demonstrating Christ’s love to their flock and ought to take this role seriously
Advocates:
Charles Cousar
Peter O’Brien
Moisés Silva
Minor differences:
Our authors agree that overseers
refers to an official leadership office held by certain people in the congregation. Still, there is a slight difference between our authors.
For Peter O’Brien, the reason Paul addresses the leaders directly is because there are exhortations in the letter to Philippi, and these leaders are responsible for tackling the issues raised in the letter.1 Moises Silva agrees that this could be the reason why Paul addresses the leaders directly, but suggests it might also be because the leaders were responsible for gathering the collection that Paul will discuss in the letter.2
Arguments
Possible weaknesses
Interpretation 2:
Overseer
refers to a specific function in the church.
Summary:
Paul addresses the whole congregation at Phillipi, while giving special mention to those who functioned as administrators, and pastoral leaders.
Advocates:
Michael Bird
Gordon Fee
Minor differences:
Our authors agree that when Paul addresses the overseers and deacons
he has function, not office in mind.
Michael Bird surmises that the term ἐπίσκοπος (overseer
) was a common Macedonian term that described the lead person in a local school, collegium, guild, or temple-cultus, which was then taken up by the Philippians for their own internal usage and Paul in turn acknowledges this arrangement.
9 In other words, the term ἐπίσκοπος (overseer
) does not originate with Paul or the church, but with the Philippians, and Paul goes along with using this title to describe certain functions.
On the other hand, Gordon Fee contends there is no reason to think that there were not leaders in the earliest times of the church.10 That is, according to Fee, we should not infer that the Philippians have developed their own leadership structure to which Paul refers, but that the earliest churches had members who functioned as leaders. When Paul refers to the overseers
and deacons
he refers to these leaders. Still, Fee contends that while there were leaders, there was no formal office called overseer.
11
What is interesting is that while both authors specifically state that Paul refers to the function and not the office of ἐπίσκοπος (overseer
), they cannot help but fall back on the notion that ἐπίσκοπος refers to a title, if not an office. For example, after explaining that Paul has a function and not an office in mind, Bird writes, First, episkopos denotes an office of oversight and guardianship exercised by an appointee.
12 Similarly, Fee says that when Paul uses the term ἐπισκοπος (overseer
), it first of all denotes a function, rather than an office.
13 Fee goes on the suggest that those who bore this title held the primary leadership roles in the local church.
14 So, while ἐπίσκοπος is not an office, to Fee’s mind, it apparently is a title, although Paul uses the title to refer to a function.
Arguments
Possible weaknesses
1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons: