The Epistolary Structure of Philippians

 The Proposed Structure of Philippians

1) Salutation, thanksgiving and prayer (Verses 1:1-11)

2) Paul reports his condition and prospects for the future (1:12-26, 27-30)

3) Exhortation to imitate Christ by exercising humility (2:1-18)

4) Travelogue that includes commendation of Timothy and Epaphroditus (2:19-30)

5) Doctrinal Section (Chapter 3)

6) Encouragement, personal business, acknowledge the financial gift, and farewell (Chapter 4)

The structure above is a modified version of what Benjamin Wisner Bacon sets forth in An Introduction to the New Testament. See https://books.google.com/books?id=gI4aAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA122&lpg=PA122&dq=epistolary+structure+nt+letters&source=bl&ots=d4uabu6qRX&sig=ACfU3U2yxsGXDVV716_CWGNGFWAnJXM8tQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi4qaf91I_0AhVfSjABHe6NAME4WhDoAXoECAIQAw#v=onepage&q=epistolary%20structure%20nt%20letters&f=false

Other proposals are given here: https://catholic-resources.org/Bible/Paul-Philippians.htm

However, one point I want to make is that Paul's letters (like others) follow a pattern in the way they're written. We can discern such patterns by studying how ancient letters were composed, and many studies on ancient epistolary structure/conventions have been done. Jeffrey Reed also helped us appreciate that the macrostructure of Philippians seems to tell us a lot about the epistle's integrity.

See https://www.jstor.org/stable/3266819?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents