Philemon 1:17

If thou count me therefore a partner

A partner, not a prelate

He does not say, If thou count me a prelate, a ruler of the Church, but a partner; he is content to be one of them, not above them.

The angels count us partners (Revelation 19:10); Christ counts us partners (Hebrews 2:14); and shall we disdain to call one another partners? There are partners in nature, so are we all; partners of the same air, water, fruits of earth, misery, death; there are partners in office, as churchwardens, and constables; there are also partners in grace--partakers of the Divine nature, of one Christ, of one heaven. Such a partner did St. Paul desire to be accounted; and happy are they that are in this partnership. (W. Jones, D. D.)

A partner

Philemon and the apostle had been at one time associated as partners in their secular calling. The latter accordingly now falls back upon the language which business men who are so connected use in writing to each other. “If thou count me a partner, receive him as myself. Let the runaway slave stand on the footing of my agent, and be treated as the agent of a partner ought to be.” But then there came the fact which, both for the sake of justice and of the penitent himself, St. Paul had no wish to gloss over, that there had been a wrong committed. Onesimus had stolen or embezzled. How was that to be dealt with? Here also he falls into the business language of partners. “If he hath wronged thee,” etc. He was ready to debit himself with that responsibility. (Dean Plumptre.)

New arguments

The words in this verse are not many, but the observations are not few that might be concluded and collected out of the same.

1. First of all, many may marvel that the apostle is so earnest, importunate for a servant, and especially for such a servant. Surely, fear of hard and severe dealing might have moved Onesimus to distrust and despair, and therefore he useth all means to hold him up, to cherish his faith, and to further the good work begun in him, being as yet a young plant, a new convert, as a joint newly restored, and having yet, as may be thought, a tender conscience; whereby he provoketh us and all others, to seek tenderly the upholding, maintaining, confirming, and comforting, such as have given witness of their true repentance, not to quench the smoking flax, nor to break the bruised reed. For seeing we are with all mildness to receive unto us such as are weak in the faith; woe unto them that stay them that are coming forward, and lay stumbling blocks in their way to bring them back, and to cause them to return to their vomit with the dog, and to the wallowing in the mire like the sow that was washed. And seeing the sinner is thus to be helped, which hath approved his conversion unto us, that we are to make intercession unto others, to obtain pardon for the penitent; we are admonished, that they are much more favourably to be handled, and carefully to be received, and gently to be remitted by ourselves.

2. We see that to the old request he added a new reason; for we shall never find in this epistle his petition barely and nakedly propounded. He hath used diverse arguments before to persuade Philemon, yet here we have another annexed, to move him to grant it without denial or resistance. This giveth instruction to the ministers of the gospel, to teach the truth soundly and substantially, as that the consciences of the people may be well grounded and thoroughly settled therein. When matters of weight and importance are in question they must not deal rawly, they must not use weak proofs and unsufficient reasons, whereby men may be rather hardened in their errors than helped out of their errors.

3. The apostle doth not simply say: If our things be common (as he might have done), but if thou account them common, and us to have a communion between ourselves, declaring thereby that it is not enough to know a truth, unless we also yield unto it as unto a truth. It is one thing to know what is good in our judgments, and another thing to embrace it in our practices. It is one thing to know what is evil in our minds, and another to refuse it in our actions. We must labour not only to have our thoughts cleared, our understanding and our judgments rectified, to see the truth, but to have our hearts and affections sanctified to follow it. It behoveth therefore not to rest ourselves satisfied with general notions, but so to ensue after them, as that we make special application of them. David in general knew that adultery was evil; Noah knew that drunkenness was beastly; Peter knew that denying of his Master was fearful, yet in the brunt of temptation, though the mind had knowledge of it, the affections would not refuse it, but yielded as a city besieged by an enemy.

4. The apostle putteth Philemon in mind, that seeing there was so near a conjunction between them twain, that they were become as it were one man, and had one mind in two bodies; it followeth that whosoever was joined to one of them ought of necessity to be joined to the other. Whereby we see that such as are our friends ought to be also the friends of our friends, that is, of those that are joined unto us. Philemon was the friend of Paul, and therefore if Onesimus were the friend of one he must needs be the friend of the other. Paul and Philemon were as two brethren; if then Onesimus were the brother of Paul he ought also to be accounted the brother of Philemon, and therefore he would have him received as himself. It is no true friendship when one maketh profession to love another man, and yet hateth him which is his chiefest and dearest friend; for if indeed we loved him we would for his sake love the other that loveth him. This we see in the covenant made with Abraham, who is called the friend of God, whereby it appeareth that the Lord promised to be a friend to his friends, and an enemy to his enemies.

5. In the amplification of the conclusion he addeth (as myself), thereby showing that he would have him regarded no otherwise than himself. Whereby we learn that our love to the brethren ought not to be in word, or in tongue, or in show, but in deed, in truth, and in heart. This is Christian love, this was in Christ towards us, and this should be in all of us one toward another (1 John 3:18; Romans 12:9; 1 Peter 4:8). (W. Attersoll.)