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The New International Commentary on the New Testament

Paul's Letter to the Philippians (New International Commentary on the New Testament

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" “. . . undertaken to provide earnest students of the New Testament with an exposition that is thorough and abreast of modern scholarship and at the same time loyal to the Scriptures as the infallible Word of God.” "This statement reflects the underlying purpose of The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Begun in the late 1940s by an international team of New Testament scholars, the NICNT series has become recognized by pastors, students, and scholars alike as a critical yet orthodox commentary marked by solid biblical scholarship within the evangelical Protestant tradition.

While based on a thorough study of the Greek text, the commentary introductions and expositions contain a minimum of Greek references. The NICNT authors evaluate significant textual problems and take into account the most important exegetical literature. More technical aspects — such as grammatical, textual, and historical problems — are dealt with in footnotes, special notes, and appendixes.

Under the general editorship of three outstanding New Testament scholars — first Ned Stonehouse (Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia), then F. F. Bruce (University of Manchester, England), and now Gordon D. Fee (Regent College, Vancouver, British Columbia) — the NICNT series has continued to develop over the years. In order to keep the commentary “new” and conversant with contemporary scholarship, the NICNT volumes have been — and will be — revised or replaced as necessary.

The newer NICNT volumes in particular take into account the role of recent rhetorical and sociological inquiry in elucidating the meaning of the text, and they also exhibit concern for the theology and application of the text. As the NICNT series is ever brought up to date, it will continue to find ongoing usefulness as an established guide to the New Testament text.

543 pages, Hardcover

First published July 14, 1995

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About the author

Gordon D. Fee

71 books210 followers
Gordon Fee was Professor Emeritus of New Testament at Regent College, where he taught for sixteen years. His teaching experience also included serving schools in Washington, California, Kentucky, as well as Wheaton College in Illinois (five years) and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts (twelve years).

Gordon Fee was a noted New Testament scholar, having published several books and articles in his field of specialization, New Testament textual criticism. He also published a textbook on New Testament interpretation, co-authored two books for lay people on biblical interpretation, as well as scholarly-popular commentaries on 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus and on Galatians, and major commentaries on 1 Corinthians and Philippians. He is also the author of a major work on the Holy Spirit and the Person of Christ in the letters of Paul.

Gordon Fee served as the general editor of the New International Commentary series, as well as on the NIV revision committee that produced the TNIV. Besides his ability as a biblical scholar, he was a noted teacher and conference speaker. He has given the Staley Distinguished Christian Scholar lectures on fifteen college campuses as well as the annual NT lectures at Southwestern Baptist Seminary, North Park Seminary, the Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary, the Canadian Theological Seminary, Duke Divinity School, Golden Gate Baptist, Anderson School of Theology, Asbury Seminary, and Chrichton College. An ordained minister with the Assemblies of God, Gordon Fee was well known for his manifest concern for the renewal of the church.

Gordon Fee was married and had four married children.

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5 stars
201 (55%)
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122 (33%)
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35 (9%)
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
198 reviews2 followers
September 30, 2022
Un très bon commentaire explorant beaucoup (trop ?) de détail. Et comme à son habitude Fee est très bon pour faire comprendre le "mouvement du texte.

Mais contrairement à son habitude il est assez."plat".
Particulièrement sur le premier chapitre de l'épître où il donne parfois l'impression de n'avoir rien à dire de plus que des observations grammaticales.

Pour certains c'est suffisant pour un commentaire mais Fee sait d'habitude toujours glisser une application ou une raison de louer qui rend ses commentaires habituellement plus vivants et chaleureux. Comme si il était bridé par moment.

Mais à partir du chapitre 2 il reprend forme et offre à nouveau ses jaillissement qui donnent envie de fermer le livre pour tomber à genoux et adorer.
Profile Image for Heinrich DuBose-Schmitt.
46 reviews
January 3, 2026
A wonderfully written commentary on a short letter from Paul. Fee walks us through the culture and setting of the letter, and then he shows Paul's true motivation -- to know Christ -- and how it affects all of Paul's life and should also affect ours. Highly recommended.
Profile Image for Charles Puskas.
196 reviews8 followers
July 25, 2013
I am leading a Bible study for church leaders on Philippians at a local coffee shop (June-July, 2013)and find Fee's concern for the rhetorical and logical flow of the letter (providing a detailed & defensible outline of the entire letter) plus the definition of Greek words in context to be very helpful. I am still uncertain about the place of writing (i.e., Rome, Ephesus, or Caesarea) and thus tentative about dating the epistle (i.e., AD 55, 49,or 50). Although I have some doubts about the unity of the letter, Fee's presentation of the letter as a unified writing is beneficial for lay Bible study (although one of the attendees also knows Greek). His emphasis on Philippians as a friendship letter and his use of chiasm ( A, B, B' A')in certain pericopes are helpful to a point (although they do not always open up great interpretative windows for me). I see some use of deliberative rhetoric at work in the letter(i.e., assisting them in some decision making) as does Ben Witherington, but Fee does consider this particular view. For this Bible study, I am also consulting Peter T. O'Brien's The Epistle to the Philippians (NIGTC; Eerdmans, 1991) for its keen exegetical insights.
Profile Image for Jeremy Lapointe.
7 reviews1 follower
July 22, 2025
A solid technical commentary by Fee.

Fee manages to bring in a decent number of nuances throughout his work, while not feeling like it is bogged down with unnecessary details. The commentary seems like there is enough meat on the bones to satisfy the needs of clergy for sermon preparation while being understandable for some laity.

However, a few of Fee's quirks show throughout the commentary. For instance, Fee spent too much time (in my opinion) on Euodia and Syntyche because of his Pentecostal and egalitarian background, when the text (or other texts for that matter) don't give that much time to the women.

That being said, it's still overall a great commentary. If I could have, I would rated it 4.5 stars, but it definitely leans more 5 stars than it does 4.
Profile Image for David Bruyn.
Author 14 books27 followers
November 23, 2021
Sometimes unnecessarily detailed and verbose, overall a helpful blend of exegetical, and theological.
Profile Image for PD.
400 reviews8 followers
June 12, 2022
A great conversation partner to a study in Philippians. The right amount of technical and exegetical insights with eye toward pastoral concerns.
Profile Image for J.
550 reviews12 followers
February 13, 2018
No "finish" date, as I have not finished reading every page nor have I finished with the book: this is definitely a commentary I expect to return to many times. Chunky enough to really explore some knotty textual and exegetical questions, but not soooo stacked with Greek and excessively obscure or speculative arguments that the interested but not-entirely-specialist reader can't enjoy it.

Every page is sensible or illuminating in some way, and from time to time Fee's personal warmth even seeps through the authoritative tone in the lines of explanation and argument. When he really gets down to things it is a joy to see a true scholar at work, with serious command of the language, the textual evidence, and the history of interpretation (helpfully noting in footnotes where the 20 or so major commentators on the letter stand on each of the many intriguing approaches to structural, translation and theological points - how long that "tiny" element must have taken him, never mind all the engagement and refutation with said scholarship that this sort of commentary involves), outlining options, giving his own clear take on contested points, and talking sense throughout.

A nice example of this is the section that deals with the most famous section of Philippians, generally described these days (in academic and popular works) as a "hymn" or "Christ-hymn", and seen as a pre-Pauline "poem" of Christian confession that Paul is quoting. Thus, the offending passage, Philippians 2:5-11...

"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a human being,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death --
even death on a cross.

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father."

Sure looks like a poem when laid out and printed like that, which many modern translations do. And the temptation to uncover pre-Pauline textual evidence for core Christian beliefs is strong for a conservative evangelical like me who is fed up with the silly story, doing the rounds in many circles for ages now, that "Paul invented Christianity". Nevertheless, in five exemplary, neat paragraphs, Fee demolishes the idea that this is a hymn (it basically doesn't work as a poem either in Greek or in any Semitic pre-construction) and argues very strongly on linguistic and rhetorical grounds that it is entirely Pauline. His last point is that on the commonly accepted Semitic-poetic outline, one ends up with six lines that contain no verbs, which is highly irregular, indeed unprecedented. Of this he goes on to write (and I will quote at length because of the satisfaction to be had in quality work):

"Without discounting for a moment the "rhythmic" and "poetic" nature of some parts of this passage, such alleged "lines" as these are simply not the stuff of poetry as such; nor as they natural to the text as "lines" at all, but are simply the creation of scholars who have found here a "hymn".
Not all scholars, of course, adopt this scheme; indeed there are at least five other basic proposals, with modifications in several of them. It is of little moment to outline these various schemes. The very fact that there is so little agreement on this crucial matter calls the whole procedure into question. If one were to respond that there is agreement on at least the fact that it is a hymn, the rebuttal still remains: if so, then one would expect that its parts would be plainly visible to all. Such is certainly the case with Colossians 1:15-18 and 1 Timothy 3:16; but here, and this seems decisive, all the arrangements are flawed in some way or another. Either one must (1) excise lines, (2) dismiss the obvious inner logic of the whole, or (3) create lines that are either without parallelism or verbless.
It should be noted finally that any excision of words or lines, so as to reproduce the "original" hymn, is an exercise in exegetical futility. It implies, and this is sometimes vigorously defended, that the first concern of exegesis is the meaning of the "hymn" on its own, apart from its present context. But such a view is indefensible, since (1) our only access to the "hymn" is in its present form and present position, and (2) we must begin any legitimate exegesis by assuming that all the present words are included because they contribute in some way to Paul's own concerns. To assume otherwise is a form of exegetical nihilism, in which on nondemonstable prior grounds, one determines that an author incorporated foreign material for no ostensible reason..." (pp. 42-43)

You tell 'em, Gordon.
Author 1 book
July 28, 2021
An excellent commentary on the book of Philippians. Fee does a great job in tying the different parts of the letter together, expressing Paul's primary concern of gospel advancement through not only the preaching of the gospel message but also the witness of the saints in Philippi. The subthemes of friendship, joy, unity and thought/mind are hashed out through this commentary. It is easy to read and well broken down in different sections, giving explanations for certain interpretations of the text over others.
Profile Image for Jeff Ragan.
88 reviews3 followers
July 20, 2025
Fee's award-winning commentary does a spectacular job of placing the Biblical text in it's historical, social, and literary context so that the reader can confidently grasp Paul's meaning to his original audience, and thereby more faithfully apply the timeless principles to his own life in his own context. Fee's prose is accessible, delightful, and concise; he is a pleasure to read! And while he makes his own arguments confidently, he is (almost always) gracious to others when they disagree.
Profile Image for Stephanie.
148 reviews
February 14, 2023
It's truly hard to beat Fee's scholarship, writing, cultural nuances, and application overall. His is the commentary almost all the other commentary's reference, especially in a positive way. While a lot more technical than some of the other commentaries I used for my sermon series, his is consistently more thorough as well. Definitely the best.
Profile Image for Luke Schmeltzer .
231 reviews7 followers
December 18, 2023
The NICNT series is a gold standard for orthodox, evangelical, scholarly commentaries- and for good reason. This volume was very technically insightful, especially in Greek exegesis and outlining. It was a bit more detailed and technical than I needed for preaching, but it is a wonderful resource nonetheless.
Profile Image for Andrew Roycroft.
46 reviews
October 22, 2016
Fee is thorough in his handling of the text of Philippians and broad in terms of engagement with other scholars and current debates around the book. I found his contextual work on the political and social milieu of Philippi particularly helpful and this was a major factor in terms of how I in turn understood and preached the book. Very highly recommended.
Profile Image for Seth Mcdevitt.
119 reviews4 followers
August 9, 2018
This turned out to be my primary commentary for preaching through Philippians. I used others as well, but this one was my favorite. Clear, scholarly, accessible. Worth the money and space in your library.
Profile Image for Chris Gravning.
5 reviews1 follower
May 15, 2019
By far my favorite of the commentaries on Philippians. This was my first and go to commentary. Clear. Concise. Academic yet accessible to any pastor. Insights were consistent with the themes presented and within Paul's other writings and biography.
Profile Image for Jeff Elliott.
328 reviews12 followers
August 19, 2019
Definitely too scholarly for me. I did gain some important insights. At times it seems that Fee's goal is to dispute with others who have written commentaries.
Profile Image for Travis Agnew.
Author 14 books25 followers
March 26, 2020
Fee's commentary on Philippians is the technical par excellence for such a volume. It is incredibly thorough. Despite the technical language, he still gets the message across with a spiritual depth.
Profile Image for James Korsmo.
540 reviews28 followers
August 3, 2011
Paul's Letter to the Philippians by Gordon Fee is in the New International Commentary on the New Testament (NICNT) series published by Eerdmans. In this important commentary on this gem of a letter, Fee delves deeply into Paul's thought and Paul's world. I deeply enjoyed reading Fee's exposition, and was continually challenged by Paul's deep faith and his unflagging focus on Jesus Christ.

Fee surveys the important issues in the interpretation of Philippians, in constant dialogue (mostly in the notes) with other important commentators, and especially with O'Brien (NIGTC on Philippians), Silva (BECNT on Philippians), R. P. Martin, and Karl Barth, to name a few. But his commentary never gets bogged down in scholarly minutia. While he engages the pertinent issues, he almost entirely leaves his thoughtful technical discussions for the notes, where interested parties can easily find them, but where they can be left to the side to keep the focus on Philippians itself.

Fee looks at the question of the setting of the letter, and leans toward the more traditional view of Paul's Roman imprisonment as the setting (as opposed to either Caesarea or Ephesus, the latter of which has gained a good bit of attention in recent years), though the decision doesn't have much significance for understanding the letter itself. Of the more substantive matters in the letter, the "Christ Hymn" in Phil 2:5-11 has gained a mountain of scholarly attention, and Fee's careful discussion of that passage is insightful and fresh. He argues, against the tide of most modern scholarship, that the "hymn" really isn't a hymn at all, but a Pauline composition integral to the letter, even if poetic in form. And above all, he stresses that regardless, it should be treated as fully endorsed by Paul and integral to the letter, wherever one stands on its origin: Paul included it here for a reason, and it wasn't merely to give us a window into earlier hymnody.

With regard to the interpretation of the letter as a whole, Fee argues that it is a letter of friendship, and that this designation illumines many of the discussions throughout the letter, and especially the more "formal" elements at the beginning and end. This friendship can also be seen throughout in what he describes as a three-way bond between the Philippian believers, Paul, and Christ, which informs many of Paul's discussions and admonitions. As to the content of the letter itself, Fee sees steadfastness (in face of persecution and trial), unity (in face of challenges both within and without), and the unswerving focus on the gospel (living in Christ through the Spirit) as the three recurring themes and ongoing emphases throughout the letter.

There is far too much to comment on in a short review, but this great book deserves reading from cover to cover. Philippians, though not often seen as integral to understanding Paul's theology, is a very important window into Paul's heart. This volume is a great study of this short letter. It also reminds me that I really enjoy the NICNT series. It has great in-depth study of the text and the important exegetical issues, while keeping the discussions of Greek words to the notes. And the authors usually include a relatively brief reflection on the continuing significance or application of a passage to today at the end of each section. This volume, by the current editor of the series, shows why this tends to be the first place I go for NT scholarship.
Profile Image for David S. T..
127 reviews22 followers
January 15, 2015
I had this idea to read through commentaries on every book of the bible in 5 years time..I made it through this one and realized that I don't care enough to accomplish my goal. I'll probably still at least read some on Isaiah and Genesis (assuming it get into the ancient near east comparisons). As for this book its conservative and pretty good, Fee is a Pentecostal but for the most part I don't think that he has very evident biases (although I'm sure its more there in a book like 1 Cor.). Really though for someone like myself, this is was too long and too in depth, I'd be better off reading a less advanced commentary (I don't really need to know every nuance of the original greek which I can't read or speak anyways).
Profile Image for Jonathan McIntosh.
39 reviews12 followers
January 6, 2012
My favorite commentary on Philippians. It is thick and scholarly, but warm & passionate. Fee's (and Paul's) love for and commitment to Jesus Christ come out on almost every page.

The last paragraph:
"To live is Christ; to die is to gain Christ; and for the sake of such 'gain,' namely the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus as one's own Lord, all else is merely refuse. Thus, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all the readers of this letter, and with those who use this commentary to help better understand it as the Word of Christ."
Profile Image for Lindsay John Kennedy.
Author 1 book47 followers
January 24, 2012
Very thorough and comprehensive. If someone were to buy only one Philippians commentary I'd highly recommend this one. The layout is extremely helpful, with mroe technical footnotes on the bottom of the page, and a more fluid commentary in the body of the page. This was very readable.

A few disclaimers: Fee comes from more of a solid Pentecostal (wih differences) perspective. He also is an egalitarian and that shows up in some of his presuppositions, but is never really defended.
Profile Image for Sean Meade.
87 reviews28 followers
August 25, 2019
Great commentary. A little more detail than I wanted sometimes. A lot of footnotes! But at the same time the things he repeated bore repeating.
Profile Image for Cbarrett.
298 reviews13 followers
January 16, 2011
This is probably the first commentary I ever "mostly" read cover to cover. Is it possible to describe a commentary as an "I can't put it down" kind of a book?
Profile Image for Adam.
291 reviews19 followers
March 26, 2014
Comprehensive, lucid and compelling interpretation at most points. I look forward to reading more Fee.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews

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