Paul’s Intentional ‘Thankless Thanks’ in Philippians 4.10-20 *

Abstract

The majority of scholarship on Philippians has subscribed to G.W. Peterman’s theory that 4.10-20 lacks an explicit word of thanks because gratitude was an unnecessary act among intimate friends, as demonstrated by friendship letters in antiquity. In this study, however, I intend to challenge this prevalent view by uncovering a theological rationale behind Paul’s supposed ‘Thankless Thanks’. To do so, I will employ the cultural model of brokerage, a financial relationship involving three participants (i.e., a patron, a broker and a client) in reciprocal exchange. Through this heuristic lens, the three-way, gift-giving relationship between God, Paul and the Philippians will come into sharper focus. Ultimately, it will be argued that Paul’s seemingly ungrateful silence intentionally discloses a theological conviction which envisages God as the supreme giver of all gifts and the Philippians as mediators of divine resources. After this relational pattern has been established, an alternative reason for the ‘Thankless Thanks’ will be propounded.