Filemon 1:1-2

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹  a prisoner of Christ Jesus, ²  and Timothy our ³  brother, to Philemon, our dear friend ⁴  and colaborer, 1:2 to Apphia ⁵  our sister, ⁶  to Archippus our ⁷  fellow soldier, and to the church that meets in your house.

Filemon 1:10

1:10 I am appealing ⁸  to you concerning my child, whose spiritual father I have become ⁹  during my imprisonment, ¹⁰  that is, Onesimus,

Filemon 1:23-24

Concluding Greetings

1:23 Epaphras, ¹¹  my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you. 1:24 Mark, Aristarchus, ¹²  Demas ¹³  and Luke, my colaborers, greet you too.

[1:1]  ¹ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ² sn The phrase a prisoner of Christ Jesus implies that Paul was being held prisoner because of his testimony for Christ Jesus. Paul’s imprisonment was due to his service to Christ, in the same manner as John was exiled to the Isle of Patmos because of his testimony (Rev 1:9).

[1:1]  ³ tn “our” is not present in the Greek text, but was supplied to bring out the sense in English.

[1:1]  ⁴ tn Grk “dear.” The adjective is functioning as a substantive; i.e., “dear one” or “dear friend.”

[1:2]  ⁵ sn Apphia is thought to be the wife of Philemon.

[1:2]  ⁶ tc Most witnesses (D² Ψ Ï) here read τῇ ἀγαπητῇ (th agaphth, “beloved, dear”), a reading that appears to have been motivated by the masculine form of the same adjective in v. 1. Further, the earliest and best witnesses, along with a few others (א A D* F G I P 048 0278 33 81 104 1739 1881 pc), have ἀδελφῇ (adelfh, “sister”). Thus on internal and external grounds, ἀδελφῇ is the strongly preferred reading.

[1:2]  ⁷ tn Though the term “our” does not appear in the Greek text it is inserted to bring out the sense of the passage.

[1:10]  ⁸ tn Or “I am encouraging…”

[1:10]  ⁹ tn Grk “my child whom I have begotten.” The adjective “spiritual” has been supplied before “father” in the translation to clarify for the modern reader that Paul did not literally father a child during his imprisonment. Paul’s point is that he was instrumental in Onesimus’ conversion while in prison.

[1:10]  ¹⁰ sn During my imprisonment. Apparently Onesimus became a believer under Paul’s shepherding while he [Paul] was a prisoner in Rome.

[1:23]  ¹¹ sn Epaphras is probably a shortened form of the name Epaphroditus. This is probably the same individual whom Paul spoke of as “my brother, coworker, and fellow soldier” in Phil 2:25 (see also Phil 4:18). He is also mentioned in Col 1:7 and 4:12, where he is a founder of the church in Colossae (BDAG 360 s.v. ᾿Επαφρᾶς).

[1:24]  ¹² sn Aristarchus accompanied Paul on his collection-journey when Paul left for Rome in Acts 27:2. He is also mentioned as a fellow prisoner in Col 4:10.

[1:24]  ¹³ sn Demas is most likely the same individual mentioned by the Apostle Paul in 2 Tim 4:10. Apparently, he later on abandoned the faith because of his love of the world.