The Letter to Philemon Tree hilemor, as it happened, was one of the believers; he lived in the city of Colossae, and his house stands even to this, day. His slave, Onesimus by name, flched something, and ‘made off, and fell into the apostolic net. Now, at that time the di- vvinely-inspired Paul was in prison in Rome. It was there, then, thathe granted him saving baptism, and sent this etter tohis mas- ter: Did this man, who was not without compassion for a runaway, worthless slave and petty thief, and instead accorded him salva- tion through the spiritual teaching - did he ever bypass anybody? Paul, a prisoner of sus Christ, ad brother Timothy, to Philemon our ear fellow worker, to sister Apphia, to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (vv.1-3). He called himself prisoner to make his petition acceptable by mention of his bonds. Itis for your sake, he is saying, that I wear these bonds: had I chosen peace and quiet and not traveling the world and bringing the Gospel to all people, Iwould not have experienced them. He compliments Philemon by calling him fellow worker, and he associates with him his partner as ‘one who shares the faith; she would probably have opposed the letter’s contents had she been passed over." Archippus had been entrusted with their instruction: he wrote about him to the Colossians, “Sey to Archippus, Be careful to discharge the minis- try you received in the Lord.”* He included him in the exhortation, and as well as these people the whole household, which he called a church, for being conspicuous for piety, so that even the servants, being dignified by the apostles reference, should prove to be fel- low workers inthe exhortation. Blessed Paul, then, called (873) the 261262 Commentary on the Letters of St. Paul partner of Philemon dear as being adorned with faith. Now, let ny ‘one be surprised if some people today even have a problem with this term: those who abuse it render ita term of disrepute, whereas in olden times the word was proper and laudatory.’ give thanks to my God as I constantly remember you in my prayers, hearing as I do of your love and faith forthe Lord Jesus and towards al the saints. I pray tha the sharing of your faith may prove productive is the knowledge of every good which isin Christ Jesus (vv.A-6).Iremen- ber you always in my prayer, he is saying, and sing the praises cf the God of al for your works of virtue, knowing as Ido the extert of the faith you have manifested for the Lord who saved us, the deep love you bear, and the great care you take of those who seta high priority on divine things. Ibeg and implore our common bene- factor to give you perfect possession of these goods. Ihave, in fac, enjoyed much joy and consolation from your love, because the hearts f the saints have been refreshed through you, brother (v.7): Lam filled with deep satisfaction at your providing care of every kind to the saints, Hence, thought I have full confidence in Christ in requiring of you what isfit and proper, [would rather extort you in love (v¥8-9). Thougy able tobe confident in you as an ardent believer, and direct youss a teacher, Lam not doing it: Iam making an appeal. Then he caps off the humility of his words with a boast: Such is the condition , Paul, am in as an old man. Note who it is that is begging: the mere mention of his name suffices to make even the most hardened it- dividual tremble with fear; to hear the name Paul is to hear the name of the preacher to the whole world, tiller of land and se, vessel of election, and the other accomplishments that would re- quire countless tongues to narrate. He added also old man to suggest the hair turned grey through his labors, and thus to render hs ‘words more trustworthy. He associates a further claim with it, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ: have respect for Paul, have re- spect for my years, have respect for the bonds with which I an restrained as herald of the truth. appeal to you regarding my child (v.10): Who will speak of tte ‘mightof the Lord? who will worthily sing the praises of the divine ovingkindness? The runaway and burglar has all of a sudden be- come Paul's child, He mentions also the manner of the birth. TThe Letter to Philemon ¢ 263, whom I gave birth in my bondage: my bonds did not make impossible the pangs of the spirit. Then, after the compliments, he gave his ‘name: Onesimus, zoho once was useless to you (vv.10-11). He recalled (67) the past, but immediately indicated the alteration as well, tuhereas now he is very useful to you and t0 me. He brought out the significance ofthe alteration in manners: he is very useful not only to you (he is saying) but also to me. The sent him back (v.12): I did not presume to hold on to him, changed though he is. On your part receive him, part of me as he is.° He is my son, he is saying, born of my own being. I wwnted to keep him wit me for hin to serve me in your place in my imprisonment for the Gospel (v.13): you owe me service as a disciple owes his master = and a master preaching divine things. So I would have liked to keep him in your place for him to discharge the debt of your ser- vice to me. Notice the power of the Gospel, making the servant equal to the master. But [preferred to do nothing without your consent so that your good deed might be done not under pressure but from fre will (v.14): 1 prefer you to gain additional benefit from this so that you may reap the advantage from the concurrence of your will. Iti clear from this that it was he who proposed the saving message to the Colossians, writing as he does to Philemon as to his own disciple. In this case, note, he makes an appeal on behalf of Onesimus, whereas in that case he took him as if by agreement with Philemon and sent him as assistant to Tychicus as if he were assisting the preaching of the Gospel: “My whole situation our beloved brother Tychicus will report to you, a faithful minister and fellow slave in Christ, whom. I sent to you for this very purpose, to get to know your situation and corsole your hearts, in the company of Onesimus, faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will report to you every- thing here.”7In other words, on receipt of the letter, Philemon sent COnesimus to the apostle, who dispatched him in the company of ‘Tychicus to the Colossians. | mean, perhaps he was separated from you for a while so that you ‘might have him back forever, not still as a slave but more than a slave, @ beloved brother especially so to me but so much more to you, both in the ‘flesh and in the Lord (wv.15-16). The flight proved a cause of bless- ings tohim, he is saying: in place of a useless slave, he turned into264 & Commentary on the Letters of St. Paul a true brother. And if he is my brother, much more is he to you, o ‘whom he belongs in terms of bodily care. So if you consider nie your ‘companion, receive him back as though me (v:17). What could be mor persuasive than these words, what more striking? If you judge my companionship of any value, he is saying, take back as youwould ‘me the one who has taken on an unaccustomed change. Ihe hs ‘wronged you in some way or owes you something, pul it down to ne (618). The verse implieshe had flched and spent something wrong- fully. Onesimus had stolen, and the divine apostle asks Philemen to lay (877) the fault to his account. 1, Paul, wrote this with my own hand. I shall repay it (v.19): take tis letter asa bill;1 wrote it all, [am in debt, and I promise to repay the debt. * Then he portrays him as liable to greater indebtedness, Nit to mention yourself, that you are indebted to me even for yourself. You have received salvation through me, he is saying. From this itis clear that Philemon was the recipient of the apostolic teaching. Ys, brother, may I have this benefit from you inthe Lord, refresh my heart in ‘the Lond (v.20). The phrase, may I have this benefit from you in the Lord, means, may I enjoy your good works in Christ, may 1know you tobe rich in all the spiritual goods. Confident of your obudienc, Thave written to you in the knowledge that you will do even more thant ask (v.21): 1 know your obedience of soul -hence my writing, trus- ing that you will provide more than I asked.? As well, prepare to put me up: I hope through your prayers to be r= stored to you (v.22). It was not without purpose that he expressed ‘himself this way, but with the hope that in expecting his arrwval ke ‘would show respect also for the leters. Epaphras, my fellow prison in Christ Jesus, greets you, as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Lud, ‘my fellow workers (vw-23-24). He ineludled Epaphras here since he also happened to be a Colossian; he wrote in those terms, remen- ber, also to the Colossians, “Epaphras, the slave of Christ from your number, greets you.” He put Demas ahead of Luke as of some repute and as his fellow worker; but afterwards he abandoned the apostle, in love with this world." The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your sprit. Amen (¥.25).t behooves those vouchsafed the divine teaching to follow these laws, and thus to teach the servants to give service to their masters, # that in every way Christ the Lord may be celebrated, to whonNotes to the Letter to Philemon ¢ 265 with the Father and the all-holy Spirit belong glory and magnifi- ‘cence, now and forever, for ages of ages. Amen. * Notes to the Letter to Philemon + Agratuitously grudging remark about the wife (i wife she is). *Col 4.7. » An interesting observation about contemporary semantics «Throughout his commentary, as we have had occasion to observe, ‘Theodoret as desk theologian has not allowed himself to burst out in the sortof encomiums of his subject that we find in a preacher like Chrysostom. ‘But the pathos of this situation gets the better of him. 5 Modern commentators make much of Paul's play upon wordsin setting thename Onesimus, “profitable,” against achrestos, “useless,” here and in ‘vai. Itescapes Theodoret,oris beneath his notice (the bishop is not much for puns, we noticed). "The verse occursin a wide range of forms > Col4.7-9in a form that differs from the Koine reading on which Theodoret commented in that place after first citing this form. It does seem he has ‘more than one text before him. *Theodoret has never shown himself willing to enter into a discussion of the different stylesof authorship that Paul'smention of his signature might ‘aise; and he does not intend to do so here, seeing only an extension ofthe ‘metaphor from accounting. "A modern commentator like Fitzmyer wonders if Paul is asking for the ‘emancipation of the slave. Perhaps Theodoret in his time would prefer rot to entertain the possibility of what “more” could involve (ct his com- ‘ment on v.23). "Col 17. "2Tim 4.10. "= Theodoret, who does not write a conclusion to his work of commentary as he did in his similarly lengthy commentary on the Psalms, closes with lanaccent on slaves’ fidelity to their masters ~ hardly the drift of this letter. Is there danger that Paul may come across as too liberal for Theodoret’s society? ‘The codicil to the letter reads, unexceptionably, “The letter to Philemon «was dispatched from Rome with the servant Onesimus.”