Filemon 1:4

Thanks for Philemon’s Love and Faith

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

Filemon 1:9

1:9 I would rather appeal ³  to you on the basis of love – I, Paul, an old man ⁴  and even now a prisoner for the sake of Christ Jesus ⁵  –

Filemon 1:19

1:19 I, Paul, have written ⁶  this letter ⁷  with my own hand: ⁸  I will repay it. I could also mention that you owe ⁹  me your very self.

[1:4]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Grk “making remembrance (or “mention”) of you in my prayers.”

[1:9]  ³ tn Or “encourage.”

[1:9]  ⁴ tn Or perhaps “an ambassador” (so RSV, TEV), reading πρεσβευτής for πρεσβύτης (a conjecture proposed by Bentley, cf. BDAG 863 s.v. πρεσβύτης). NRSV reads “old man” and places “ambassador” in a note.

[1:9]  ⁵ tn Grk “a prisoner of Christ Jesus.”

[1:19]  ⁶ tn Grk “I wrote” Here ἔγραψα (egraya) is functioning as an epistolary aorist. Paul puts it in the past tense because from Philemon’s perspective when he reads the letter it will, of course, already have been written.

[1:19]  ⁷ tn The phrase “this letter” does not appear in the Greek text, but is supplied in the English translation to clarify the meaning.

[1:19]  ⁸ sn With my own hand. Paul may have considered this letter so delicate that he wrote the letter himself as opposed to using an amanuensis or secretary.

[1:19]  ⁹ sn The statement you owe me your very self means that Paul was responsible for some sort of blessing in the life of Philemon; though a monetary idea may be in mind, it is perhaps better to understand Paul as referring to the spiritual truth (i.e., the gospel) he had taught Philemon.