腓立比人是住在腓立比城的人民。
保罗为什么选择给他们写信？保罗认识他们吗？
是的。保罗在第二次宣教旅程中曾去了腓立比。
如果你看一下腓立比的位置，你就会知道腓立比离耶路撒冷和安提阿很远。
今天，我们使用谷歌／百度／高德地图，我们乘飞机旅行，去任何目的地都很容易，只需几个小时的飞行。但是在保罗的时代，地图与我们的非常不同，旅程也不一样。要花时费力才能到达。
事实上，我们不知道当时的地图会是什么样子。
古代存留下来最好的地图是 2 世纪的托勒密世界地图(Ptolemy World Map)，以及更详细的 Tabula Peutingeriana（4 世纪）。
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| Ptolemy World Map |
Tabula Peutingeriana 非常简明，几乎就像我们熟悉的 地铁地图，它以一条条的线将各城市连接起来。
如果保罗有这样的地图，腓立比只是地图上在远方的一个点。他为什么会有兴趣去那里？
当您对“Phillippi”和“Philippians”进行简单的单词搜索时，您会找到 原文编号 G5375 "Φίλιπποι Philippoi"，给出 4 个搜索结果；和 G5374 "Φιλιππήσιος Philippēsios"，只有一个结果。
我们查经应该从哪里开始？
关于字典，要提一句。
“Philippi”这个词的直译意思是“爱马之民”。
这是否意味着那里的人真的很喜欢马匹？或以马闻名?
不见得，这座城市的名字来自亚历山大大帝的父亲菲利普二世。
这是一个名字，人的名字。
这也并不一定意味着菲利普二世爱马。
因此，这个词与当地公民和他们的马没有什么关系。
The Philippians are those people who live in the city Philippi.
Why did Paul choose to write to them? Did Paul know them?
Yes. Paul went to Philippi during the Second Missionary journey.
If you take a look at the location of Philippi, you will know that Philippi is far far away from Jerusalem and from Antioch.
Today, we use Google Maps, and we travel by plane, it is easy to travel to any destination, just a few hours' flight. But in Paul's time, the map is very different from ours. In fact, we have no idea what the "national map" would look like. The best map from ancient times is Ptolemy's World Map from the 2nd century, and the more detailed Tabula Peutingeriana (4th century). Tabula Peutingeriana is very schematic, almost like a subway map that we are familiar with, it connects cities by city with a line.
If Paul had such a map, Philippi would be just a dot on the map. Why would he be interested to go there?
When you do a simple word search on "Phillippi" and "Philippians", you find the Strong's number G5375 "Φίλιπποι Philippoi". giving 4 search results; and G5374 "Φιλιππήσιος Philippēsios", just one result.
Where should we begin to do our Bible studies?
A word about the dictionary.
The word "Philippi " means "fond of horses". Did it mean the people there were really fond of horses?
No. The city took its name from Philip II, who was the father of Alexander the Great.
It is a just proper given name.
It does not necessarily mean that Philip II loved horses
Therefore the root of the word bears no relationship between the citizens and their horses.
