Filemon 1:7-9

1:7 I ¹  have had great joy and encouragement because ²  of your love, for the hearts ³  of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother.

Paul’s Request for Onesimus

1:8 So, although I have quite a lot of confidence in Christ and could command you to do what is proper, 1:9 I would rather appeal ⁴  to you on the basis of love – I, Paul, an old man ⁵  and even now a prisoner for the sake of Christ Jesus ⁶  –

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

[1:7]  ² tn The Greek preposition ἐπί (epi) is understood here in a causal sense, i.e., “because.”

[1:7]  ³ 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).

[1:9]  ⁴ tn Or “encourage.”

[1:9]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Grk “a prisoner of Christ Jesus.”