Who are the saints in Caesar’s household?

Explanation:

Paul sends greetings to the Philippians from the household of Caesar. When we think of a household, we think of a person’s immediate family or place of residence, but this is not how the term household was used to denote Caesar’s household.⁴ Rather, to refer to Caesar’s household is to refer to anyone who worked for or otherwise served Caesar in some official capacity at any location across the massive Roman empire.⁵ This means there were members of Caesar’s household in many locations, and these included slaves, freemen, soldiers, and the like. Thus, when Paul says that the members of Caesar’s household send their greeting, he means that wherever he is located, there are some who both work for Caesar and are Christians who send their greetings.

Counterargument:

While the phrase Caesar’s household could be used to refer to slaves, freemen, and soldiers who served Caesar across the empire, it could also be used to refer to the members of Caesar’s personal palace. Caesar had high-ranking officials working in the palace, along with, presumably, sons and daughters, nieces, nephews, cousins, and so on. Of course, if Paul were to refer to a member of Caesar’s personal palace, the phrase the household of Caesar would be apt. Thus, by sending greetings from Caesar’s household, Paul could be sending greetings from a member of Caesar’s personal household.

Response to counterargument:

The phrase Caesar’s household does seem to include members of Caesar’s family, but it is unlikely that Paul has members of Caesar’s family in mind. When he says that the members of Caesar’s household send their greetings, he uses the plural. That is, he is saying not that a member of Caesar’s household greets them, but that the members of Caesar’s household greet them. If the members of Caesar’s household include slaves, freedmen, soldiers and the like, then it is plausible that many members of Caesar’s household were converts to Christianity.⁶ On the other hand, while it could be that one personal family member converted to Christianity, it is unlikely at this early stage in the history of Christianity that many have. Further, we know that Paul is in prison, where the guards and many others around Paul were members of Caesar’s household. But it is hard to see why a personal family member of the emperor would visit Paul in prison and send their greetings to Philippi. Thus, it is more likely that the phrase members of Caesar’s household refers to an ordinary employee of Caesar than a direct family member.

Explanation:

Paul says that the members of Caesar’s household greet the Philippians. We can deduce that those of Caesar’s household refers to slaves or other freedmen who served the emperor because Paul wrote to the Philippians from a prison in Ephesus. Likely, there were slaves in the prison at Ephesus who knew slaves in Philippi, and since both groups of slaves were Christians, these send their greetings.⁷

Counterargument:

It is not certain that Paul wrote the letter to the Philippians while in prison in Ephesus. Rather, he may have written the letter from a prison in Rome.⁸ There are multiple lines of evidence for this, including the fact that Paul refers to the imperial guard in Philippians 1:13, that the highest concentration of members of Caesar’s household were located in Rome, and that Paul sends greetings from Caesar’s household.⁹ Of course, if Paul wrote the letter from Rome and not Ephesus, one cannot use an argument from the notion that Paul wrote the letter from Ephesus, to decide who are the members of Caesar’s household.

Response to counterargument:

Even if Paul did write the letter from Rome, this does not rule out the notion that the members of Caesar’s household were slaves, freedmen, or others who served Caesar in some capacity. For the household of Caesar could only refer to a limited number of individuals, including Caesar’s immediate palace entourage, or those who worked outside the palace. It is hard to see why anyone from inside Caesar’s entourage would visit Paul in prison. Thus, we ought to take it that the household of Caesar refers to slaves, freedmen, or others who serviced at the behest of Caesar.

This view is fine except that it offers no evidence to support the notion that Caesar’s household includes slaves, freedmen, and others who served the emperor in some official capacity anywhere in the empire. If it is the case that Caesar’s household can be taken in this broad sense, there must be historical evidence to confirm it. Unfortunately, this view offers no such evidence.

Explanation:

Paul writes that those of the household of Caesar send their greetings to the Philippians. Now, on the face of it, the reference to Caesar’s household refers to those who were in Caesar’s palace. For who else are members of a household than those who are in the palace?¹² Since the natural reading is the most likely interpretation, we should take it that the members of Caesar’s household are people specifically connected to the royal palace.

Counterargument:

The phrase household of Caesar was not reserved for those who lived in the palace, but was used to denote all those slaves, freedmen, and soldiers who served Caesar in some formal capacity from any location in the empire (see interpretation 1, argument a). The empire included far more than the palace and even the city of Rome. Thus, one cannot deduce from the phrase Caesar’s household that it refers to those in the palace.¹³

Explanation:

We can determine what Caesar’s household denotes by considering the broad context. Earlier in the letter, Paul encourages the Philippians not to lose heart in the face of opposition but to confidently suffer for the sake of the gospel (Philippians 1:29). Such a statement implies that the Philippians faced opposition in Philippi because of their Christianity. Now, we know that Philippi was a Roman colony, so there is a good chance that opposition came from the Romans. Thus, we can understand who the members of Caesar’s household are. Likely, they are members of the emperor’s palace. These have converted, so Paul specifically sends their greetings in order to encourage the Philippians not to be afraid of Roman opposition to the gospel.¹⁴

Counterargument:

It is possible that Paul is encouraging the Philippians by signalling that some from Caesar’s palace have converted. Still, it is also possible that the converts are not from Caesar’s palace at all but are slaves or other freedmen who serve Caesar in an official capacity with which the Philippians were already familiar.¹⁵ We can detect that it is possible that the Philippians were already acquainted with the members of Caesar’s household because Paul sends greetings especially from the household of Caesar. That these especially send their greetings implies a previous relationship to the Philippians. Of course, if the members of the household of Caesar knew the Philippians previously, then it is unlikely that Paul sends their greetings to encourage the Philippians, but because of their previous acquaintance. And if Paul does not send the greetings to encourage the Philippians, the argument that these are members of Caesar’s palace falls short.

The weakness of this view is that it does not consider the scope of the phrase Caesar’s household. If the phrase was regularly used to include anyone who served Caesar in an official capacity throughout the empire, it is more probable that the members of Caesar’s household are ordinary employees of the emperor, and not members of the royal palace.