Filemon 1:3-4

1:3 Grace and peace to you ¹  from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

Thanks for Philemon’s Love and Faith

1:4 I always thank my God ²  as I remember you in my prayers, ³ 

Filemon 1:7

1:7 I ⁴  have had great joy and encouragement because ⁵  of your love, for the hearts ⁶  of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother.

Filemon 1:22

1:22 At the same time also, prepare a place for me to stay, for I hope that through your prayers I will be given back to you.

Filemon 1:5

1:5 because I hear ⁷  of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love ⁸  for all the saints. ⁹ 

Filemon 1:13

1:13 I wanted to keep him so that he could serve me in your place ¹⁰  during ¹¹  my imprisonment for the sake of the gospel. ¹² 

Filemon 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹³  a prisoner of Christ Jesus, ¹⁴  and Timothy our ¹⁵  brother, to Philemon, our dear friend ¹⁶  and colaborer,

[1:3]  ¹ tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:4]  ² sn I always thank my God. An offer of thanksgiving (εὐχαριστῶ, eucaristw) to God is a customary formula for Paul in many of his epistles (cf. Rom 1:8, 1 Cor 1:4, Eph 1:16, Col 1:3, 1 Thess 1:2, 2 Thess 1:3). The content of the thanksgiving typically points to the work of God in the salvation of the believers to whom he [Paul] writes.

[1:4]  ³ tn Grk “making remembrance (or “mention”) of you in my prayers.”

[1:7]  ⁴ tn Here γάρ (gar) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and contemporary English style.

[1:7]  ⁵ tn The Greek preposition ἐπί (epi) is understood here in a causal sense, i.e., “because.”

[1:7]  ⁶ tn The word translated “hearts” here is σπλάγχνα (splancna). Literally the term refers to one’s “inward parts,” but it is commonly used figuratively for “heart” as the seat of the emotions. See BDAG 938 s.v. σπλάγχνον 2 (cf. Col 3:12, Phil 2:1).

[1:5]  ⁷ tn The Greek present participle ἀκούων (akouwn, “hearing”) is an adverbial participle of cause relating to εὐχαριστῶ (eucaristw, “I give thanks”).

[1:5]  ⁸ sn Your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints. In accord with Paul, John also advocates this combination of “faith in Christ and love for the saints.” The believers’ invisible faith becomes visible in the demonstration of love for others. This, of course, is not only desired, but commanded (1 John 3:23). Although Paul’s comment here may appear as a stock expression to the casual reader, praising Philemon for his track record of faithfulness to Christ demonstrated in love for the saints is actually integral to the author’s argument in this short but pithy letter. Paul will soon ask Philemon to demonstrate this love toward Onesimus, his runaway slave.

[1:5]  ⁹ tn The Greek is somewhat awkward here. It appears as though the text reads “…the love and faith which you have for the Lord Jesus and for all the saints.” In other Pauline letters the emphasis seems to be “faith in Christ Jesus and love for all of the saints.” Some ancient mss have altered the wording to produce a smoother reading; scribes changed the wording to resemble the more readable versions in Eph 1:15 and Col 1:4, “your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which you have to all the saints.”

[1:13]  ¹⁰ tn This is one of the clearest texts in the NT in which ὑπέρ is used for substitution. Cf. ExSyn 387.

[1:13]  ¹¹ tn Grk “in my imprisonment.” Paul seems to expect release from his imprisonment after some time (cf. v. 22), but in the meantime the assistance that Onesimus could provide would be valuable to the apostle.

[1:13]  ¹² tn Grk “in the chains of the gospel.” On the translation “imprisonment for the sake of the gospel,” cf. BDAG 219 s.v. δεσμός 1.a where it says: “Oft. simply in ref. to the locale where bonds or fetters are worn imprisonment, prison (Diod. S. 14, 103, 3; Lucian, Tox. 29; Jos., Ant. 13, 294; 302, Vi. 241; Just., A I, 67, 6 al.) Phil 1:7, 13f, 17; Col 4:18; Phlm 10. μέχρι δεσμῶν 2 Ti 2:9. ἐν τοῖς δ. τοῦ εὐαγγελίου in imprisonment for the gospel Phlm 13; cf. ISm 11:1; Pol 1:1.”

[1:1]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn “our” is not present in the Greek text, but was supplied to bring out the sense in English.

[1:1]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “dear.” The adjective is functioning as a substantive; i.e., “dear one” or “dear friend.”