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Phi. 1 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus [not Nero], and Timothy [amanuensis], our brother, to Philemon, our beloved and fellow-worker,
Phi. 2 And to Apphia [his wife], our sister [in Christ], and to Archippus [their son], our fellow soldier [seasoned veteran in the ministry], and to the [local] assembly [at Colossia] which meets at your home:
Phi. 3 Grace [experiential sanctification] to you and prosperity [supergrace blessings] from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Phi. 4 I keep thanking my God always [on a continual basis], making mention of you [remembering Philemon] during the time of my prayers,
Phi. 5 (because from time-to-time [recurring reports] I hear about your [Philemon’s] virtue love [as fruit of the Spirit] and the doctrine which you have [in your soul] by way of application face-to-face with the Lord Jesus [in spiritual self-esteem] and toward all the saints [in spiritual autonomy]),
Phi. 6 In order that our association [fellowship], with reference to your doctrine [fruits of your Bible study], might be operational [produce continual spiritual momentum] towards Christ [category 1 love in spiritual self-esteem] by means of the full knowledge of every good of intrinsic value thing [divine good] in you;
Phi. 7 For I have come to have great inner happiness and encouragement due to your virtue love [category 3 friendship], because the deep and tender affections [emotional response] of the saints [royal family] have been repeatedly refreshed through you [blessing by association], my brother [Philemon].
Phi. 8 Therefore, though I have maximum authority [as an apostle] by means of Christ to command you to do what is fitting and proper under the given circumstances [apply virtue love as a problem-solving device],
Phi. 9 Instead, because of your virtue love [category 3 friendship], I encourage you [grace orientation] even more [allowing him to make his own decision], being such a person as Paul, an ambassador and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus.
Phi. 10 I am appealing to you [to be grace oriented] on behalf of my theological student, Onesimus, concerning whom I have fathered [spiritually] while in chains [to a Roman Praetorian Guard],
Phi. 11 The one formerly useless [in spite of his name which means “useful”] to you [as a runaway slave], but now [after regeneration] highly useful both to you [as an improved slave] and to me [as a friend and ambassador for Christ],
Phi. 12 Whom I am sending back [to resume his duties] to you [along with Tychicus], that same one who has my very own tender affections [Paul loves Onesimus as if he were his own son],
Phi. 13 Whom I wish [would have liked] to detain for myself [I’ve procrastinated in returning him to you], so that on your behalf [instead of you being here in person], he might keep on ministering to me in my chains [imprisonment] for the sake of the gospel.
Phi. 14 However, I did not want to do anything without your consent, in order that your intrinsic good [produced by doctrine in your soul] should not have to manifest itself by means of compulsion [not through Paul’s compelling arguments or legal action regarding runaway slaves], but rather voluntarily.
Phi. 15 Perhaps for this purpose [by divine design] he was separated from you [by God] for an hour [short vacation], in order that you might have him [Onesimus] back forever [lifelong service],
Phi. 16 No longer as a mere slave, but more than a slave, a beloved [exhibiting spiritual momentum] brother [Christian], most of all to me, but now much more to you, both in the flesh [Onesimus continues to be a slave of Philemon in the human realm] and in the Lord [Onesimus and Philemon are equals in the spiritual realm].
Phi. 17 Therefore, if you continue to have me as a partner [close spiritual relationship], then please receive him [Onesimus] as you would receive me [as a grace partner].
Phi. 18 And if he has wronged you [by running away or staying with Paul too long] or if he owes you anything [due to indebtedness, theft or over-spending], then charge it to my account [a grace-oriented business transaction].
Phi. 19 “I, Paul,” have written by my own hand [binding legal signature]: “I will compensate [promissory note or IOU] you,” so that I do not have to mention to you that you owe, even yourself, to me [Paul led him to Christ and taught him Bible doctrine].
Phi. 20 Okay, brother, let me benefit [as a return on doctrinal investment] from you [in this matter] because of the Lord. Refresh my deep affections [inner happiness] for you in Christ.
Phi. 21 Because I have confidence in your obedience [proper application of Bible doctrine], I have written to you, knowing that you will do even more [reading between the lines] than what I am suggesting [treat Onesimus well and setting an example to others].
Phi. 22 And at the same time [along with your reception of Onesimus], also prepare for me a lodging [guest room], for I anticipate that through your prayers, I shall be graciously given back to you [just like Onesimus].
Phi. 23 Epaphrus, my fellow prisoner [inmate], salutes you in Christ Jesus;
Phi. 24 Also Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke: my co-workers.
Phi. 25 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your [human] spirit.
Resources
Titus and Philemon, D. Edmund Hiebert, 1957, Moody Press
Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon, J.B. Lightfoot, 1879, Zondervan Publishing House
Class notes on Philemon, Dr. Dennis Wretlind, Western Theological Seminary; post-classroom discussion with Danny Williams
Commentary on Philemon, Matthew Henry, 2001, Hendrickson Publishers
Colossians and Philemon, Peter T. O’Brien, 1982, Word Biblical Commentary
Philemon: Word Pictures in the NT, A.T. Robertson, 1931, Baker Book House
Philemon, John Calvin, 2003, Baker Books
The Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon, James D.G. Dunn, 1996, William B. Eerdmans Publishing
Studies in Philemon, W. Graham Scroggie, 1982, Kregel Publications
Philemon: Word Studies in the NT, Marvin R. Vincent, 1980, Charles Scribner’s Sons
Philemon: The New Bible Commentary Revised, D. Guthrie, 1970, Eerdmans Publishing
The Interpretation of St. Paul's Epistles to the Colossians, to the Thessalonians, to Timothy, to Titus, and to Philemon, Richard C. Lenski, 1937, Augsburg Fortress Publishing
The Epistles of Paul to the Colossians, to Philemon and to the Ephesians, The Moffatt New Testament commentary, Ernest Findlay Scott, 1952, Hodder & Stoughton
Philemon: The Abingdon Bible Commentary, Charles H. Dodd, 1957, Doubleday Galilee Book
Paul's Letters from Prison: Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, and Ephesians, J. L. Houlden, 1978, Westminster Pelican
Timothy, Titus, and Philemon, Harry A. Ironside, 1974, Loizeaux Brothers
Colossians & Philemon: Exegetical Guide To the Greek New Testament, Murray J. Harris, 1995, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
Philemon, A.E. Knoch, 1968, Concordant Publishing Concern
Commentary on Paul's Epistles to the Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and to Philemon, Joseph Agar Beet, 1982, Wesleyan Books
Epistles of Paul to the Philippians and to Philemon, Jac. J. Muller, 1962, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishers
Philemon, W.O.E. Oesterley
Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon, C. F. D. Moule, 1957, Cambridge Greek Testament Commentaries
The Epistles to the Colossians, To Philemon, and To the Ephesians, Frederick F. Bruce, 1984, New Intl. Commentary, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon: The Biblical Illustrator, Volume 20, Joseph S. Exell, 1973, Baker Book House
Epistles of Paul to the Colossians and to Philemon: An Introduction and Commentary, N.T. Wright, 1988, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries
Philemon: Through the Bible, J. Vernon McGee, 1983, Thomas Nelson Publishers
Studies in Colossians and Philemon, W. H. Griffith Thomas, 1973, Baker Book House
Titus and Philemon, William Kelly, 1968, Believers Bookshelf
Philemon: New Intl. Bible Commentary, Ernest Ashby, 1979, Zondervan Books
Philemon: The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Edwin C. Deibler, 1983, Chariot Victor Publishing
Galatians, Philippians, and Philemon, John Koenig, 1985, Augsburg Press
The Epistles of Paul to the Colossians and Philemon, Herbert M. Carson, 1976, Eerdmans Publishing: Tyndale
Second Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, and Epistle of James: Expositions of Holy Scripture, Alexander Maclaren, 1942, Eerdmans Publishing
Philemon: The Pulpit Commentary, S. Eales, T. Croskery, 1962, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
Philemon, Don Williams, 1977, WIM Publishing
Philemon, W. Robertson Nicoll, W.E. Oesterley, The Expositor’s Greek Testament, 2002, Hendrickson’s Publishers
Philemon: Bible Commentary, Jamieson, Fausset, Brown, 2002, Hendrickson Publishers
The Epistles of St. Paul to Titus, Philemon, and the Hebrews, M.F. Sadler, 1905, George Bell Publishers
Chained in Christ: The Experience and Rhetoric of Paul’s Imprisonments, Craig S. Wansink, Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Supplement Series 130, 1996, Sheffield Academic Press
Colossians and Philemon, Eduard Lohse, 1971, Fortress Press
Commentary on Colossians and Philemon, H. Dermot McDonald, 1980, Word Books
Rediscovering Paul: Philemon and the Sociology of Paul's Narrative World, N.R. Peterson, 1985, Philadelphia: Fortress
Paul’s Letters from Prison, G.B. Caird, 1976, Oxford University Press
The Epistles of Paul to the Colossians and to Philemon, Charles Rosenbury Erdman, 1933, Westminster Press
Commentary on Philemon, Ernst Lohmeyer, 1964, Vandenhoect
Slavery as Salvation: The Metaphor of Slavery in Pauline Christianity, D.B. Martin, 1990, Yale University Press
First-Century Slavery and 1 Corinthians 7:21, S. Scott Bartchy, 1973, SBL Dissertation Series 11
Paul, Philemon and the Dilemma of Christian Slave-Ownership, John M.G. Barclay, 1991, New Testament Studies, Vol. 37
The American Nation, A History: Slavery and Abolition, Volume 16, Albert Bushnell Hart: Professor of History in Harvard University, 1906, Harper & Brothers Publishers
Paul the Apostle to America: Cultural Trends and Pauline Scholarship, R. Jewett, 1994, John Knox Press
Paul’s Letter to Philemon, S. Scott Bartchy, 1992, Doubleday Publishers
The Meaning of Ephesians, E.J. Gorlich, 1933, Chicago Press
Year of Jubilee, J. Morgenstern, Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, 1962, G.A. Buttrick, II
Sociology of the Biblical Jubilee, R. North; The Laws Regarding Slavery as a Source for Social History of the Period of the Second Temple, the Mishnah and Talmud, E.E. Urbach, Papers of the Institute of Jewish Studies, 1964, Jerusalem
On Slavery and Freedom II: Dio of Prusa, Dio Chrysostom, J.W. Cohoon, 1939, Cambridge Press
Studies in Biblical Law: The Laws Regarding Slavery, David Daube, 1947, Cambridge
Satyricon, Petronius, Ludwig Friedlaender, 1906, Leipzig
Slavery and the Elements of Freedom, M.I. Finley, Westermann, Intl. Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences
Slavery and Humanity, Joseph Vogt, 1957, Academy of Literature, Mainz Gymnasium,
Seneca and His Slaves, Will Richter, 1958
Roman Freedmen During the Late Republic, Susan Treggiari, 1969, Oxford
Daily Life in Ancient Rome, Lauffer: Jerome Carcopino, 1941, New Haven
Freedmen in the Early Roman Empire, A.M. Duff, 1958, Cambridge
The Babylonian Talmud, I. Epstein, 1936, London
Productive Christians in an Age of Guilt Manipulators, David Chilton, 1981, Institute for Christian Economics
Hard Sayings of the Bible, Walter C. Kaiser, F.F. Bruce, Peter H. Davids & Manfred T. Brauch, 1996, InterVarsity Press
Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon, Homer A. Kent, Arthur A. Rupprecht, Curtis Vaughan, 1996, Expositor’s Bible Commentary
Make Good Use of Your Servitude: Some Observations on Biblical Interpretation and Slavery, http://www.bible-researcher.com/slavery.html
Philemon Among the Letters of Paul, John Knox, 1960, Collins Publishers, London
St. Paul’s Corinth, J. Murphy-O’Connor, 1983, Glazier Publishers
The Roman Law of Slavery, W.W. Buckland, 1908, Cambridge University
Slaves and Masters, Bradley
Satyricon: Branding, Petronius, 103.4, 107.4
Rediscovering Paul: Philemon and the Sociology of Paul’s Narrative World, N.R. Petersen, 1985, Fortress Publishing
A Theology of the New Testament, George Eldon Ladd, 1975, Eerdmans Publishing
The South Was Right, James R. Kennedy & Walter D. Kennedy, 2006, Pelican Publishing Company
Facts Historians Leave Out, John S. Tilley, 1990, Bill Coats Ltd.
Systematic Theology, L. Berkof, 1981, Eerdmans Publishing
Biblical Interpretation and the Church: The Problem of Contextualization, D.A. Carson, 1984, Thomas Nelson Publishers
Introduction to New Testatment Exegesis, Werner Stenger, 1993, Willam B. Eerdmans’s Publishing
Paul’s Idea of Community: The Early House Churches in their Cultural Setting, Robert Banks, 1998, Hendrickson Publishers
Philemon: Word Meanings in the New Testament, Ralph Earle, 1984, Baker Book House
Manners and Customs in the Bible, Victor H. Matthews, 1998, Hendrickson Publishers
The Divine Outline of History, Tapes on Philemon, R.B. Thieme, Jr., 1989, Berachah Church Houston, TX
The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War, Thomas J. DiLorenzo, 2003, Three Rivers Press
What the Bible Really Says, Morton Smith, 1989, Prometheus Books
Slavery in Early Christianity, J.A. Glancy, 2002, Oxford University Press
Slaves in the New Testament: Literary, Social, and Moral Dimensions, J. Albert Harrill, 2006, Fortress Press
Philemon, William Hendriksen, 2007, Baker Academic
First & Second Timothy, Titus, and Philemon, Charles Ray, 2008, AMG Publishers
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