Philemon
1 ¶ Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, Unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellow laborer,
2 and to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in thy house:
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers, 5 having heard of thy love and faith which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus and toward all saints,
6 that the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. 7 For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the hearts of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother.
8 ¶ Therefore, though I might be bold enough in Christ to enjoin thee to do that which is befitting,
9 yet for love’s sake rather I beseech thee, being such a one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ.
10 I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds.
11 In time past he was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me.
12 I am sending him back. Thou therefore receive him, who is mine own heart.
13 I would have retained him with me, that in thy stead he might have ministered unto me in the bonds of the Gospel;
14 but without thy mind would I do nothing, that thy goodness should not be, as it were, of necessity, but willingly.
15 For perhaps he therefore departed for a season, that thou shouldest receive him back for ever--
16 not now as a servant, but more than a servant: as a brother beloved, especially to me, but how much more unto thee, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
17 If thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself.
18 If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee aught, put that on mine account.
19 I, Paul, have written this with mine own hand: I will repay it; albeit I do not say to thee how thou owest unto me even thine own self besides.
20 Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord; refresh my soul in the Lord.
21 Having confidence in thy obedience I wrote unto thee, knowing that thou wilt also do more than I say.
22 But besides prepare me also a lodging, for I trust that through your prayers I shall be given unto you.
23 There salute thee Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus;
24 also Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow laborers.
25 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. 		  v1 Paul used an unusual term to describe himself, "a prisoner of Jesus Christ," see Col 4:18. Paul obviously knew Philemon well, "our dearly beloved, and fellow laborer."
v2 It was often necessary in the early Church times for a local church to meet in the house of one of the church members. See Act 18:7.
v4-7 Thanks and praise.
Paul prays for Philemon regularly, giving thanks and praise for Philemon’s care of other saints, his life, his love for Jesus and his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
v6,7 Paul prays that Philemon is able to show and tell others of his faith, telling others of all the good things which come from and through Jesus.
Paul is perhaps hoping that this loving attitude may help in the return of his slave Onesimus, especially as v18,19 may suggest that the slave also stole from Philemon.
v8,9 Paul now starts his appeal for the return of Onesimus.
Paul, as an apostle, or ambassador for Christ could have used an apostolic command, "enjoin you to do that which is befitting," but Paul makes his request to his friend in love, a personal request, from an old man in prison for his Lord.
v10,11 Paul feels that Onesimus is like a son to him, when Onesimus was converted, Paul felt that he had given birth to his own child. Compare 1 Cor 4:15.
v11 The description "unprofitable" may have been the original slave name of Onesimus, which has the meaning of useful or profitable.
Paul agrees that this slave was once useless, but since he had come to know Christ as his Saviour he has become very useful to both of us.
v11,12 Paul is sending Onesimus back to Philemon but in so doing Paul feels that he is losing part of himself.
v13-15 Paul would like to have kept Onesimus to help him in his life as a prisoner and knew that Philemon would have been happy for this to happen. But Paul, realizing that he should not be using Onesimus without the permission of his owner, Philemon, wants Philemon make any decisions over the slave.
v15,16 Paul suggests that Philemon lost the slave for a short period so that he could serve him for ever. See the instructions by God concerning a slave, Exodus 21:6. However, under the spiritual life with Christ there is no master, slave relationship, all true believers are brothers in Christ, but in the flesh Philemon is both a brother and master and Onesimus is both brother and slave. This relationship did cause problems in the early church and even today, social relationships still cause problems in churches. See 1 Tim 6:1,2; Col 3:11 v17 Having reminded Philemon gently of Christian truths, Paul now makes a direct request to Philemon that he receives Onesimus as he would have received Paul.
v18,19 Though Paul does not record what was the original offense, this verse suggests that it was more than just escaping as a slave. Paul seems to be offering Philemon a financial payment for any loss due to Onesimus, it looks as if he may have written this part of the letter himself, "I have written this with mine own hand," to confirm the offer. It is possible that Paul had actually written the whole letter but that was unusual.
v20,21 If Philemon would accept Onesimus back in Christian love, it would bring joy to Paul and refreshment in the Lord for Philemon.
Paul now ends his appeal knowing that Philemon would make the right decision.
v22-25 Conclusions.
Paul is believing that he will soon be released from prison, because of their prayers for him and hopes to have lodging with Philemon. He does not ask for more prayer, because Paul already knows that Philemon will pray for him.
v23,24 All mentioned here are also listed in Col 4:10ff.
v25 Note that Paul used the word "your," so he has included the whole church in the house of Philemon in this letter.

Easy English Translation



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