Philemon 1:19

I Paul have written it Lit., "did write it;" an "epistolary aorist" (Colossians 4:8); "the tense commonly used in signatures" (Lightfoot). Here, surely, he takes the pen (cp. Colossians 4:18) and writes his indebtedness in autograph, with a formal mention of his own name; then, he gives the pen back to the amanuensis.

"A signature to a deed in ancient or mediæval times would commonly take the form … "Iso-and-so" (Lightfoot).

I will The "I" is emphatic in the Greek.

albeit I do not say Lit., and better, that I say not, not to say.

thou owest unto me … besides As if to say, "I am restoring to you Onesimus, made new; this far more than clears any loss he cost you when he fled; thus you are indebted, even in money's worth, to me; and besidesyou owe me yourself."

thine own self The converted man "comes to himself" (Luke 15:17) as never before. "It is a new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17); as it were a new self. Under God, this is due to the human bringer of the converting word; and so to him, under God, the convert feels instinctively a moral indebtedness; he owes him help and service in the new life.