_Address and Greeting_, vv. 1-3. The apostle, who joins with himself in the greetings of the Epistle his companion Timothy, salutes not only Philemon himself, but the members of his family, and the church for which he provided a place to worship in, thus making the appeal he has to present a concer... [ Continue Reading ]
Philemon 1:1. PAUL, A PRISONER. As the matter on which the apostle is about to write is rather personal and social in its character, he does not style himself an apostle in his address, but employs a word which should challenge sympathy more than make a claim to obedience. A PRISONER. This was St.... [ Continue Reading ]
Philemon 1:2. AND ARCHIPPUS, It is clear from the way in which Archippus is addressed (Colossians 4:17) that he occupied some ministerial office in the Colossian church. The word used there to describe his duty is the same that is employed concerning Timothy (2 Timothy 4:5). As he is mentioned befor... [ Continue Reading ]
Philemon 1:3. GRACE TO YOU. The gift of grace is sometimes represented as of Christ's bestowing ‘the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ;' and at other times, as here, the gift of the Father and the Son. But the same is meant in both phrases. Christ, who has been declared by His resurrection to be the So... [ Continue Reading ]
Philemon 1:4. I THANK MY GOD. He has just spoken of God as the giver of Christian grace, and the memory of such grace working in Philemon's life, calls forth his instant thanksgiving. How constantly the apostle saw and acknowledged the gifts of God to the infant Church, is testified by the frequent... [ Continue Reading ]
_Philemon's good offices to the Church St. Paul's thankfulness thereat,_ vv. 4-7. He has to appeal for an act of forgiveness to be shown to Onesimus; the apostle therefore, in words of deep thankfulness to God, recounts to Philemon the joy which he has felt at hearing of his good deeds to the breth... [ Continue Reading ]
Philemon 1:5. HEARING OF THY LOVE. This was the cause of the thankfulness. The seed sown was bringing forth fruit. How the apostle had heard of the love shown to the congregation at Colossæ, we can only speculate. In the Epistle to that church (Colossians 4:12), Epaphras, who was a Colossian, is spo... [ Continue Reading ]
Philemon 1:6. THAT THE COMMUNICATION OF THY FAITH. The A. V. seems to fix the meaning of this difficult expression as being ‘that thy faith being communicated to others may,' etc., as if the apostle's prayer at this moment were for a blessing on those among whom Philemon lived, rather than on Philem... [ Continue Reading ]
Philemon 1:7. FOR I HAD much joy. Alluding to the time when news of the state of Colossæ, and of the church there, was brought to him in his imprisonment. AND comfort. The support and solace derived from the news enabled him to bear his present sufferings the better. IN THY LOVE; in hearing of t... [ Continue Reading ]
Philemon 1:8. WHEREFORE. Here St. Paul expresses confidence that his prayers for Philemon will not be unanswered. God will show to him what his duty in this matter is, and so the apostle does not command. THOUGH I HAVE much BOLDNESS. He does not ignore the right which he had to speak with authorit... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Apostle's Petition and Arguments in support of it,_ vv. 8-22. St. Paul lays aside any claim which he might have been bold to make, and entreats that Onesimus may be taken back again. He makes this petition as an ambassador for Christ and a prisoner in His cause, and also because Onesimus has b... [ Continue Reading ]
Philemon 1:9. YET FOR LOVE'S SAKE. This might mean Philemon's love towards Paul, which from what is said in this letter may well be supposed to have been great, and such as the apostle could appeal to, but it seems more consonant with the tone of the whole Epistle to understand it of Paul's love to... [ Continue Reading ]
Philemon 1:10. I BESEECH THEE FOR MY CHILD. He puts the tenderest word in the forefront of his petition, and speaks of the fugitive slave as his child, before he mentions him by name. This touch of the language can only be preserved by ranging the English words in the same order as the Greek. WHOM... [ Continue Reading ]
Philemon 1:11. WHICH IN TIME PAST WAS TO THEE UNPROFITABLE. Alluding not only to the loss which Philemon had suffered by his slave absconding, but also to the bad service which a disaffected slave, ready to run away as soon as an opportunity offered, would have rendered to his master for a long time... [ Continue Reading ]
Philemon 1:12. WHOM I HAVE SENT BACK TO THEE IN HIS OWN PERSON. This is the rendering of the most authoritative text. The Greek of the later MSS. has been corrected, after some errors of scribes had crept into it, by the addition of the word for ‘receive him' from Philemon 1:17. But the oldest texts... [ Continue Reading ]
Philemon 1:13. WHOM I WOULD HAVE RETAINED WITH ME, St. Paul inserts the pronoun emphatically: I personally would have liked to do this. And the rest of the language is also indicative of much desire: ‘I was in the mind to hold (or keep) him unto myself.' The spiritual father had become much bound un... [ Continue Reading ]
Philemon 1:14. BUT WITHOUT THY MIND. The con-sent of Philemon should first be gained, and St. Paul will not so far influence his Judgment in the matter, as to write while Onesimus is with him, and ask that he may remain, for then it would appear as if he put some constraint upon the master. WOULD... [ Continue Reading ]
Philemon 1:15. FOR PERHAPS HE WAS THEREFORE PARTED FROM THEE FOR A SEASON. This more literal rendering brings out the force of the apostle's words more fully. St. Paul sees in the whole event something more than chance, something guided by God for good. He says not therefore ‘he ran away,' but as th... [ Continue Reading ]
Philemon 1:16. NO LONGER AS A SERVANT. He could no more be looked on as the mere slave, as before. It was not necessary that his freedom should be given to him, that might or might not be done, as seemed best to Philemon, but having been called in the Lord, he has become, though a bond-servant, the... [ Continue Reading ]
Philemon 1:17. IF THOU COUNT ME THEREFORE A PARTNER. It has been usually accepted that the apostle uses ‘partner' here in the same way in which (2 Corinthians 8:23) he speaks of Titus as his partner and fellow-labourer in the mission to the Corinthians: a sharer in the same Christian privileges, and... [ Continue Reading ]
Philemon 1:18. AND IF HE HATH WRONGED THEE. The slave setting forth on such a long journey as that from Colossæ to Rome must have needed no small amount of money, and it may well be that Onesimus had carried off in his flight money of his master's as provision for his journey. The offence of the unj... [ Continue Reading ]
Philemon 1:19. I PAUL WRITE IT WITH MINE OWN HAND. Up to this point, the apostle had probably used his amanuensis; but that the transaction may be formal and secure, he attaches his own signature to what has been written, and so transforms the Epistle into a bond. I WILL REPAY IT. It is no mere of... [ Continue Reading ]
Philemon 1:20. YEA, BROTHER, LET ME HAVE JOY OF THEE IN THE LORD. In this verse St. Paul apparently makes playful allusion to the name of Onesimus. He employs the Greek verb from which that name is derived, and the words might be literally rendered, Met me be profited by thee.' It is as though he wo... [ Continue Reading ]
Philemon 1:21. HAVING CONFIDENCE IN THY OBEDIENCE, I WRITE UNTO THEE. In the use of the word obedience, he once more implies that he had the right to command, though he does not use it. Had he commanded, Philemon would have obeyed; what will he not do, when the apostle's language takes the form of a... [ Continue Reading ]
Philemon 1:22. BUT WITHAL PREPARE ME ALSO A LODGING. It must have appeared to the apostle that his release was near at hand when he wrote these words. So we may place the date of the Epistle in A.D. 63. He did not need much preparation to be made for him , that he adds this clause, but that Philemon... [ Continue Reading ]
Philemon 1:23. EPAPHRAS, MY FELLOW-PRISONER IN CHRIST JESUS, SALUTETH THEE. Epaphras belonged to Colossæ (Colossians 4:12), and had brought word to St. Paul of the condition of the Christians there. From the terms in which St. Paul speaks of him elsewhere (Colossians 1:7), he appears to have been cl... [ Continue Reading ]
_Salutations and Benediction,_ vv. 23-25. The salutation of one whom they knew and who had laboured among them heads the list. The others who are mentioned may have been known by name if not by face. The benediction had become by this time a fixed Christian form of prayer. Here it includes with Phi... [ Continue Reading ]
Philemon 1:24. AND TO DO MARK. Doubtless the John Mark who on the first missionary journey had turned back and left Paul and Silas. He had not ceased, however, to work in Christ's cause, and the apostle's displeasure had passed away, for Mark had become profitable to him for the ministry (2 Timothy... [ Continue Reading ]
Philemon 1:25. THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST BE WITH YOUR SPIRIT. AMEN. While the salutations are offered to Philemon alone, the apostle's own blessing is invoked over him and his, and the whole church as well, to whom the letter at the outset refers.... [ Continue Reading ]