Epistle to PHILEMON
“PROFITLESS” SLAVE TO “PROFITABLE” BROTHER
2Ti 3:16-17 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
Watch for it …
- Determine what you can about the relationship and acquaintance of Paul and Philemon.
- What can we determine about the history of Onesimus.
- Note the four divisions of the epistle.
- In Phm 1:23 there is a list of greetings and blessing from the some comrades, the same as we meet in Colossians.
- Who of the brethren named in verse 24 were still with Paul in his second imprisonment?
- Which one did he ask to come to him? See 2 Timothy.
- Why do you suppose Paul’s letter to Philemon was included in the New Testament canon?
- How many arguments / reasons does Paul use to justify his request of Philemon? (14)
- What social or moral lessons are found in it?
- What spiritual analogies does it suggest?
- What life applications can we learn?
Outline of Philemon
Verses:
1-3Paul’s salutation to Philemon, and the Church at his house
4-7He extols his faith, love, and Christian charity,
8-14Entreats forgiveness for his servant Onesimus,
15-17Urges motives to induce Philemon to forgive him,
18, 19Promises to repair any wrong he had done to his master
20, 21Expresses confidence that Philemon will comply,
22Directs Philemon to prepare him a lodging,
23-25Salutations and apostolical benediction,
Philemon (NASB)
1 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved brother and fellow worker, 2 and to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers, 5 because I hear of your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints; 6 and I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for Christ's sake. 7 For I have come to have much joy and comfort in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother.
8 Therefore, though I have enough confidence in Christ to order you to do what is proper, 9 yet for love's sake I rather appeal to you--since I am such a person as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus-- 10 I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my imprisonment, 11 who formerly was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me. 12 I have sent him back to you in person, that is, sending my very heart, 13 whom I wished to keep with me, so that on your behalf he might minister to me in my imprisonment for the gospel; 14 but without your consent I did not want to do anything, so that your goodness would not be, in effect, by compulsion but of your own free will.
15 For perhaps he was for this reason separated from you for a while, that you would have him back forever, 16 no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. 17 If then you regard me a partner, accept him as you would me.
18 But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge that to my account; 19 I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand, I will repay it (not to mention to you that you owe to me even your own self as well).
20 Yes, brother, let me benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. 21 Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, since I know that you will do even more than what I say.
22 At the same time also prepare me a lodging, for I hope that through your prayers I will be given to you.
23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, 24 as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow workers. 25 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
Philemon 1:1-7 (Barclay)
1 This is a letter from Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ, and from Timothy, the brother, to Philemon our well-beloved and our fellow-worker; 2 and to Apphia, the sister, and to Archippus, our fellow-soldier, and to the Church in your house. 3 Grace be to you and peace from God, our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
4I always thank my God when I make mention of you in my prayers, 5 for I hear of your love and your faith, which you have to the Lord Jesus, and to all God's dedicated people. 6 I pray that the kindly deeds of charity to which your faith moves you may be powerfully effective to increase your knowledge of every good thing that is in us and that brings us ever closer to Christ. 7 You have brought me much joy and encouragement, because, my brother, the hearts of God's people have been refreshed by you
8 I could well be bold in Christ to give you orders as to where your duty lies, 9 but for love's sake I would rather put it in the form of a request, I, Paul, such as I am, an old man now, a prisoner of Christ. 10 My request to you is for my child, whom I begat in my bonds -- 11 I mean Onesimus, who was once useless to you, but who is now useful to you and to me. 12 I am sending him back to you, and that is the same as to send you a bit of my own heart. 13 I could have wished to keep him beside myself, that he might serve me for you in the bonds which the gospel has brought to me; 14 but I did not wish to do anything without your approval; so that the boon which I ask might not be forcibly extracted but willingly given.
15 It may be that he was parted from you for a time that you might get him back for ever; and that you might get him back, 16 no longer as a slave, but as more than a slave--a well-beloved brother, most of all to me, and how much more to you, both as a man and a Christian. 17 If you consider me as a partner, receive him as you would receive me.
18 But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge that to my account; 19 I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand, I will repay it (not to mention to you that you owe to me even your own self as well).
20 Yes, brother, let me benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. 21 Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, since I know that you will do even more than what I say.
22 At the same time also prepare me a lodging, for I hope that through your prayers I will be given to you.
23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, 24 as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow workers. 25 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
Paul at Rome
Paul wrote this private letter (about 61-62 AD) from Rome. (Act 28)
Paul was expected to appear before the Emperor, Nero. (Acts 24:11; 25:21; 27:24; 28:19)
Paul was not in a prison (Acts 28:16, 23, 30-31).
Neither was he free.
He was under house arrest in a house that he himself rented.
There were many large wooden buildings used in this way in Rome.
Paul lived in one or at least part of one.
Although Paul was not a free man, he was as busy as ever in the work of Christ.
Paul was able to receive visitors and to teach and to preach the Good News from there.
Paul had a ‘captive’ audience
The original word, G1198 “desmios”, translated prisoner could better be translated “captive or bound with a chain”
Roman soldiers came to watch Paul every day.
One of Paul’s arms was bound with a chain to the arm of the soldier to whose custody he had been delivered.
These Palace guards heard the Good News as Paul talked with them and the visitors he received.
Many of them believed in Jesus.
Php 1:12 But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; 13 So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places;
Letters by Paul from Rome
Paul’s letter to Philemon is not located in the New Testament chronologically.
The letter to Philemon was one of 5 known letters that Paul wrote and sent during his ‘stay’ at Rome.
- The others were the Epistle (or letter) to the Philippians,
- the Epistle to the Colossians,
- the Epistle to the Ephesians and
- a lost letter, the Epistle to Laodicea. (Col 4:16)
From the Colossian letter we learn several things.
Epaphras was now with Paul (Col 1:8)
He had worked for Christ faithfully in the cities of Colossae, Laodicea and Hierapolis.
Tychicus would take the letters (Col 4:7-9).
Onesimus was to go with Tychicus: (Phlm10)
Together with Paul in Rome
Timothy, Epaphras, Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, were with Paul; (Phlm 23-24)
Mark and Luke who both wrote ‘Gospels‘ were there with Paul.
They did not write their Gospel accounts from there.
And Timothy our brother
Timothy, it seems, had joined Paul coming to him at Paul’s request; 2 Tim 4:9.
Paul often mentions Timothy as present joining his name with his own in his letter 2 Co 1:1; Phlp 1:1; Col 1:1; 1Th 1:1; 2 Th 1:1.
Timothy was originally from the region of country, Ephesus/Colossae, and as he had accompanied Paul in his travels, he was doubtless acquainted with Philemon.
Slavery
•Philemon appears to have been a comparatively wealthy Colossian who owned slaves, as did most of the rich in his day
1/3 of the inhabitants of most large urban centers were slaves.
•Estimates suggest that there were 60 million slaves in the Roman Empire; men and women traded like pieces of chattel or merchandise.
The average slave sold for 500 denarii.
— (One denarii was a days wage for a common laborer.)
— Educated and skilled slaves were sold for as much as 50,000 denarii.
• A master could free a slave, or a slave could buy his freedom if he could raise the money Acts 22:28
Onesimus
Philemon had a slave named Onesimus who had run away from his master and may have stolen from him besides (v.18).
We do not know the actual reason or the details…
Onesimus found his way to Rome and by some circumstance (God led him) crossed paths with Paul.
It may be that Onesimus sought out Paul, whose public preaching, both to Jews and Gentiles, had rendered him famous in the city.
It is very likely that he was led to visit the apostle having formerly seen him at his master’s house in Colosse
His circumstances then and now were different. Paul introduced him to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now we find him a recently converted believer in the Lord Jesus (v.10).
Onesimus and Paul
Following his conversion Onesimus became a valuable helper of the apostle (v.11)
Paul desired to keep Onesimus with him but felt a greater responsibility to return the slave to his Christian master (vv13-14)
One of the first duties of the newly converted man is confession and as far as it is possible, restitution of wrongs done
Onesimus had to make things right with Philemon whom he had wronged
Onesimus knew this and was ready to return – but…
Philemon
PHILEMON, G5371 Friendly, kindly,
Affectionate or beloved, from G5368 phileo¯
This led Paul to address his letter opening with: To Philemon our DEARLY BELOVED..
Philemon's name does not appear elsewhere in Scripture
Paul’s letter to Philemon
• Epaphras was known to Philemon
Col 1:7, 4:12 --> perhaps the leader in the church at Colossae,
Philemon and his household may have been church members
A lover of good men is one characteristic of a good minister (Tit 1:8), and especially to love those who also labor the work of the gospel, and who are faithful in their calling…
•Philemon owed his salvation to Paul, (v.19)
Possibly during Paul’s 3 year stay in Ephesus (Acts 19-20)
While we have no record or mention of it in Scripture, Paul having spent 3 years in nearby (~100 miles) Ephesus, where he had a highly successful ministry, may have visited Colossae – even more than once
Paul and Philemon
Paul and Onesimus both knew the danger the slave faced in returning
Slave owners had absolute authority over their slaves and often treated them as property rather than as people
If a slave ran away, the master would register the name and description with the officials and the slave would be on the “wanted” list
— The law permitted a master to execute a rebellious slave
— Some masters were cruel, many of them were reasonable and humane
A slave was an expensive and useful piece of property and it would cost the owner to lose him
Philemon would be facing a dilemma
— If he was too easy on Onesimus, it might influence other slaves to “become Christians” to influence their masters
— If he was too hard on the man, it would affect Philemon’s testimony and ministry at Colossae
Paul, a friend of both his master and Onesimus, intercedes by writing a letter – a plea to Philemon on Onesimus behalf to:
•pacify Philemon
•effect reconciliation between the slave and his master
•commend Philemon for showing compassion to other believers (vv1-7),
•announce his plans to visit Philemon following his anticipated release (vv8-22), and
•send greetings from his associates (vv23-25)
Hand Delivered
In those days, you sent a letter when there was someone to take it
There was no private or public postal service
When Paul sent Tychicus to deliver the epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians, he entrusted Tychicus with the responsibility to protect Onesimus from arrest by slave catchers on the return journey
Paul intended that his letter to Philemon, along with Tychicus' eyewitness testimony of Onesimus conversion, would secure from Philemon forgiveness for Onesimus
The letter stops short of asking Philemon to give Onesimus his freedom, but the social conditions of the time might have relegated this to the freedom to starve..
The same persons were with Paul when he wrote his letter to the Colossians, namely, Epaphras, Mark, Aristarchus, Luke, and Demas (vv23-24; cfCol4:10, 12, 14)
Colossae
Colossae was a city in what is now Turkey, (Anatolia or Asia Minor), but it was then in the Roman province of Asia
•Tychicus would probably follow the Roman road, the Appian Way, from Rome through south Italy
•He would then have to cross the Adriatic Sea by ship and
•Follow another great Roman road, the Egnatian Way over the mountains of northern Greece to the Aegean Sea
•He might cross the sea from Neapolis to Troas by another ship(Acts 16:11; 20:6)
The whole journey was about 1600km (1,000 miles)
From Troas to Colossae was still about 400km (240 miles) probably on foot
From Ephesus it was about 160km (100 miles) eastward up the Lycus Valley to Colossae
Paul does not seem to have visited Colossae (Col 2:1) so he must have met Philemon elsewhere
This was probably during his ministry at Ephesus, (Acts 19:10) about eight years earlier
Colossae was less important in New Testament times than it had been before then
Hierapolis and Laodicea were growing faster
Colossae and Laodecia had the best water supply, but Colossae suffered more damage from ‘earthquakes’ than the other cities did
Paul wrote to the church at Colossae, but
there is no letter to Colossae among the letters to the seven churches in ‘Asia’ in Revelation 2-3 from Jesus
The church may have died out at an early date
It does not seem to play a part in the life of the early Church in later times
The commercial importance of Colosse was lost when Laodicea was established in the first century B.C
Colosse, along with Laodicea and Hierapolis, were destroyed by earthquakes in 17 A.Dduring the reign of Tiberius, and then again in 60 A.Dduring the reign of Nero
By 400 A.DColosse no longer existed as a city
The site of Colosse has never been excavated, but the remains of a theater and a few other buildings are still discernable
Philemon 1: Not Paul an Apostle of Jesus
1Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved brother and fellow worker,
Paul usually identified himself as an apostle; but here writing as a friend to a friend ,the official title is dropped
He is not writing as Paul the apostle but as Paul the prisoner of Christ
– he is in Rome in prison because that is where the Lord placed him – and he is still serving Him (Rev 1:9)
Seeking mercy for this slave, he points to his own bonds six times in this brief letter (vv1, 9, 10, 13, 22, 23)
Paul lays aside all right to apostolic authority and makes his appeal to sympathy and to love alone – brother in Christ to brother in Christ
Philemon 1: Paul a prisoner of Jesus
Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved brother and fellow worker,
Paul calls himself a prisoner (v1), not of Nero, but ‘of Christ Jesus’ (v9)
1.Paul was a prisoner of Rome because he had preached the Good News about Jesus to everyone
– the Jewish establishment objected
2.Paul was a prisoner of Rome because at this time this was the best way in which he could serve Jesus
3.But Paul was also a man who had been made a prisoner by and was now the willing captive of Christ Jesus
Philemon 1
Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved brother and fellow worker,
At one point in his life, Paul had done all that he could to destroy the Church of Christ (Gal 1:13)