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PharparAid to Bible Understanding
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and more to the S of that city. For this reason some favor identifying the Pharpar with the Nahr Taura, a branch of the Nahr Barada. However, Naaman’s reference to Damascus could have included the plain of Damascus through which the Nahr el-ʼAʽwaj courses.
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PhiAid to Bible Understanding
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PHI
[Φ, φ].
The twenty-first letter of the Greek alphabet, corresponding generally to our English “ph.”
Numerically, when accented (φ΄), it signifies 500, and when the subscript is added (,φ), 500,000.
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PhicolAid to Bible Understanding
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PHICOL
(Phiʹcol).
Army chief of Philistine King Abimelech. Phicol accompanied Abimelech when covenants were concluded with both Abraham and Isaac. (Gen. 21:22, 32; 26:26, 31) As these two meetings were more than seventy-five years apart, however, “Phicol” might well be a title or name used for whoever held this office rather than there being one man in the position for so long. For similar reasons his king’s name may also have been a title.
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PhiladelphiaAid to Bible Understanding
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PHILADELPHIA
[brotherly affection].
A city in W Asia minor having a Christian congregation to which one of the seven letters contained in Revelation was written. (Rev. 1:11; 3:7-13) The Lydian city of Philadelphia was situated on a hilly plateau S of the Cogamis River, about thirty miles (48 kilometers) SE of Sardis and fifty miles (80 kilometers) NW of Laodicea. It was built in the second century B.C.E. by Eumenes II, king of Pergamum, or his brother Attalus II (Philadelphus), after whom the city was named. The city lay at the head of a broad valley leading through Sardis to Smyrna on the seacoast. Roads connected it with the coast, Pergamum to the N and Laodicea to the SE. The city served as a doorway to the heart of Phrygia.
Philadelphia was the prosperous center of a wine-producing section, and its chief deity was Dionysus the god of wine. The area was subject to repeated earthquakes, one of which destroyed Philadelphia in 17 C.E. With financial aid from Rome the city was rebuilt and adopted the name Neocaesarea (New Caesarea), and, at a later period, Flavia. The site is now occupied by modern Alasehir. The ancient city was a center from which Hellenism spread in Asia Minor.
Evidently there were Jews there, Revelation 3:9 mentioning “those from the synagogue of Satan who say they are Jews.” Perhaps these worked against the faithful Christians in the city by trying to win back Christians who were Jews by birth or to persuade them to retain or take up again certain practices of the Mosaic law. The attempt was unsuccessful, Jesus commending the Christians for their endurance. He encouraged them to “keep on holding fast.”—Rev. 3:9-11.
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PhilemonAid to Bible Understanding
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PHILEMON
(Phi·leʹmon) [Gr., loving].
A Christian slave owner associated with the congregation at Colossae. His house in this city of southwestern Asia Minor served as a meeting place for the congregation there. Philemon proved himself to be a source of refreshment to fellow Christians and an example in faith and love. The apostle Paul regarded him as a beloved fellow worker. (Philem. 1, 2, 5-7; compare Colossians 4:9 with Philemon 10-12.) Paul’s desire to lodge with Philemon reflects favorably on this man’s hospitality.—Philem. 22; compare Acts 16:14, 15.
Apphia and Archippus seem to have been members of Philemon’s household, as they are also addressed in Paul’s personal letter to Philemon. Apphia was perhaps Philemon’s wife, and Archippus may have been his son.—Philem. 2.
It appears that Philemon became a Christian through Paul’s efforts. (Philem. 19) However, since Paul had done no preaching in Colossae itself (Col. 2:1), Philemon may have become acquainted with Christianity as a result of the apostle’s two-year activity in Ephesus, when “all those inhabiting the district of Asia [which embraced Colossae] heard the word of the Lord.”—Acts 19:10.
Sometime before receiving Paul’s letter, Philemon had been deserted by his slave Onesimus. This runaway slave possibly even stole funds from his master to finance the voyage to Rome, where he later met Paul and became a Christian.—Philem. 10, 11, 18, 19; see SLAVE.
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Philemon, Letter toAid to Bible Understanding
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PHILEMON, LETTER TO
A letter written by the apostle Paul with his own hand and addressed primarily to Philemon. (Vss. 1, 2, 19) It must have been composed sometime after the start of Paul’s first imprisonment at Rome (probably about 60/61 C.E.), for the apostle entertained the hope of being “set at liberty.”—Vs. 22; see ONESIMUS; PHILEMON.
The apostle’s purpose in writing this letter was to encourage Philemon to accept his runaway slave Onesimus back kindly. Rather than using his apostolic authority to command him to do so, Paul appealed on the basis of love and personal friendship. (Vss. 8, 9, 17) Knowing Philemon as a man of faith and love, Paul was confident that he would receive his formerly useless, but now Christian, slave back as he would the apostle himself. (Vss. 10, 11, 21) This is especially noteworthy, since Philemon had the legal right to mete out severe punishment to Onesimus.
Besides providing an actual example illustrating the beauty of Christian kindness, forgiveness and mercy, the letter tells us something about the early Christians. They assembled in private homes, called one another “brother” and “sister” (vss. 1, 2, 20), prayed for one another (vss. 4, 22) and were encouraged by the faith and love manifested by fellow believers.—Vss. 4-7.
OUTLINE OF CONTENTS
I. Salutation addressed to Philemon, Apphia, Archippus and the congregation in Philemon’s house (Vss. 1-3)
II. Philemon’s love and faith a source of joy and comfort to Paul, moving the apostle to mention Philemon in his prayers (Vss. 4-7)
III. Paul’s intercession in behalf of Onesimus (Vss. 8-22)
IV. Concluding greetings (Vss. 23-25)
See the book “All Scripture Is Inspired of God and Beneficial,” pp. 239, 240.
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PhiletusAid to Bible Understanding
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PHILETUS
(Phi·leʹtus) [beloved].
A first-century apostate from Christianity whom Paul implicates with Hymenaeus as false teachers concerning the resurrection, and subverters of the faith.—2 Tim. 2:17, 18.
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PhilipAid to Bible Understanding
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PHILIP
(Philʹip) [lover of horses].
1. One of the earliest disciples among the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. In the Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Philip is mentioned by name solely in the lists of the apostles. (Matt. 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:14) John’s account alone gives some detailed information about him.
Philip was from the same hometown as Peter and Andrew, namely, Bethsaida, on the N shore of Galilee. Upon hearing Jesus’ invitation, “Be my follower,” Philip did much as Andrew had done the day before. Andrew had searched out his brother Peter (Simon) and brought him to Jesus, and Philip now did this with Nathanael (Bartholomew), saying: “We have found the one of whom Moses, in the Law, and the Prophets wrote, Jesus, the son of Joseph, from Nazareth. . . . Come and see.” (John 1:43-49) The statement that “Jesus found Philip” may indicate some prior acquaintance between them, as do Philip’s words to Nathanael, inasmuch as Philip gave Jesus’ name, his family and his residence. Whether any connection other than friendship existed between Philip and Nathanael (Bartholomew) is not stated, but in Biblical lists they are usually placed together, Acts 1:13 being the exception.
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