ver. Philemon 1:9 presbu,thj
Although the manuscripts support presbu,thj (“an old man”), many commentators follow the conjecture of Bentley and others that presbeuth,j (“an ambassador”) should be read (cf. Ephesians 6:20). J. B. Lightfoot supposed (Commentary, ad loc.) that in koine Greek presbu,thj may have been written indifferently for presbeuth,j, for the two forms are interchanged by scribal confusion in the manuscripts of the Septuagint (cf. 2 Chronicles 32:31; 1 Macc 13.21; 14.21, 22; 2 Macc 11.34; cf. Ignatius, Smyr. 11; etc.). On the other hand, other scholars deny that the context permits the meaning “an ambassador” (cf. Theodor Zahn, Introduction to the New Testament, vol. i, p. 457, note 6, and the commentaries of M. R. Vincent, Hermann von Soden, M. Dibelius, and M. Meinertz).