Humanitext Reader

New Testament · Philemon §1.1-1.25

Paul's Appeal to Philemon for Onesimus

Passage 1 of 1 · Greek

Summary

Paul appeals to Philemon to receive back his runaway slave, Onesimus, no longer as a slave but as a beloved brother in Christ.

§1.1ΠΑΥΛΟΣ δέσμιος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ καὶ Τιμόθεος ὁ ἀδελφὸς Φιλήμονι τῷ ἀγαπητῷ καὶ συνεργῷ ἡμῶν §1.2καὶ Ἀπφίᾳ τῇ ἀδελφῇ καὶ Ἀρχίππῳ τῷ συνστρατιώτῃ ἡμῶν καὶ τῇ κατʼ οἶκόν σου ἐκκλησίᾳ· §1.3χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη ἀπὸ θεοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν καὶ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ.
Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our beloved fellow worker, and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
§1.4Εὐχαριστῶ τῷ θεῷ μου πάντοτε μνείαν σου ποιούμενος ἐπὶ τῶν προσευχῶν μου, §1.5ἀκούων σου τὴν ἀγάπην καὶ τὴν πίστιν ἣν ἔχεις εἰς τὸν κύριον Ἰησοῦν καὶ εἰς πάντας τοὺς ἁγίους, §1.6ὅπως ἡ κοινωνία τῆς πίστεώς σου ἐνεργὴς γένηται ἐν ἐπιγνώσει παντὸς ἀγαθοῦ [τοῦ] ἐν ἡμῖν εἰς Χριστόν·
I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers, hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, so that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in us for Christ.
§1.7χαρὰν γὰρ πολλὴν ἔσχον καὶ παράκλησιν ἐπὶ τῇ ἀγάπῃ σου, ὅτι τὰ σπλάγχνα τῶν ἁγίων ἀναπέπαυται διὰ σοῦ, ἀδελφέ.
For I had much joy and comfort in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother.
§1.8Διό, πολλὴν ἐν Χριστῷ παρρησίαν ἔχων ἐπιτάσσειν σοι τὸ ἀνῆκον, §1.9διὰ τὴν ἀγάπην μᾶλλον παρακαλῶ, τοιοῦτος ὢν ὡς Παῦλος πρεσβύτης νυνὶ δὲ καὶ δέσμιος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ,— §1.10παρακαλῶ σε περὶ τοῦ ἐμοῦ τέκνου, §1.11ὃν ἐγέννησα ἐν τοῖς δεσμοῖς Ὀνήσιμον, τόν ποτέ σοι ἄχρηστον νυνὶ δὲ σοὶ καὶ ἐμοὶ εὔχρηστον, §1.12ὃν ἀνέπεμψά σοι αὐτόν, τοῦτʼ ἔστιν τὰ ἐμὰ σπλάγχνα· §1.13ὃν ἐγὼ ἐβουλόμην πρὸς ἐμαυτὸν κατέχειν, ἵνα ὑπὲρ σοῦ μοι διακονῇ ἐν τοῖς δεσμοῖς τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, §1.14χωρὶς δὲ τῆς σῆς γνώμης οὐδὲν ἠθέλησα ποιῆσαι, ἵνα μὴ ὡς κατὰ ἀνάγκην τὸ ἀγαθόν σου ᾖ ἀλλὰ κατὰ ἑκούσιον.
Therefore, though I have enough confidence in Christ to order you to do what is proper, yet for love's sake I rather appeal to you—being such a one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus— I appeal to you for my child, whom I have begotten in my imprisonment, Onesimus, who formerly was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me, whom I have sent back to you in person, that is, my very heart, whom I wished to keep with me, so that on your behalf he might minister to me in my imprisonment for the gospel; but without your consent I did not want to do anything, so that your goodness would not be, as it were, by compulsion, but of your own free will.
§1.15τάχα γὰρ διὰ τοῦτο ἐχωρίσθη πρὸς ὥραν ἵνα αἰώνιον αὐτὸν ἀπέχῃς, §1.16οὐκέτι ὡς δοῦλον ἀλλὰ ὑπὲρ δοῦλον, ἀδελφὸν ἀγαπητόν, μάλιστα ἐμοί, πόσῳ δὲ μᾶλλον σοὶ καὶ ἐν σαρκὶ καὶ ἐν κυρίῳ.
For perhaps he was for this reason separated from you for a while, that you would have him back forever, 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.
§1.17εἰ οὖν με ἔχεις κοινωνόν, προσλαβοῦ αὐτὸν ὡς ἐμέ.
If then you regard me as a partner, accept him as you would me.
§1.18εἰ δέ τι ἠδίκησέν σε ἢ ὀφείλει, τοῦτο ἐμοὶ ἐλλόγα· §1.19ἐγὼ Παῦλος ἔγραψα τῇ ἐμῇ χειρί, ἐγὼ ἀποτίσω· ἵνα μὴ λέγω σοι ὅτι καὶ σεαυτόν μοι προσοφείλεις.
But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge that to my account; 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.
§1.20ναί, ἀδελφέ, ἐγώ σου ὀναίμην ἐν κυρίῳ· ἀνάπαυσόν μου τὰ σπλάγχνα ἐν Χριστῷ.
Yes, brother, let me benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ.
§1.21Πεποιθὼς τῇ ὑπακοῇ σου ἔγραψά σοι, εἰδὼς ὅτι καὶ ὑπὲρ ἃ λέγω ποιήσεις.
Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, since I know that you will do even more than what I say.
§1.22ἅμα δὲ καὶ ἑτοίμαζέ μοι ξενίαν, ἐλπίζω γὰρ ὅτι διὰ τῶν προσευχῶν ἱμῶν χαρισθήσομαι ὑμῖν.
At the same time also prepare a lodging for me, for I hope that through your prayers I will be given to you.
§1.23Ἀσπάζεταί σε Ἐπαφρᾶς ὁ συναιχμάλωτός μου ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, §1.24Μάρκος, Ἀρίσταρχος, Δημᾶς, Λουκᾶς, οἱ συνεργοί μου.
Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.
§1.25Ἡ χάρις τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ μετὰ τοῦ πνεύματος ὑμῶν.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Notes

  1. §1.6κοινωνία τῆς πίστεώς σου — The phrase "fellowship of your faith" or "participation in your faith". τῆς πίστεώς can be interpreted either as a subject genitive (the fellowship generated by your faith) or as an objective genitive (the sharing of faith). Given the following ἐνεργὴς γένηται (becoming effective), it is more naturally understood as a subjective genitive, referring to the active operation and sharing of his faith.
  2. §1.10τοῦ ἐμοῦ τέκνου, ὃν ἐγέννησα... Ὀνήσιμον — The neuter antecedent τέκνου (child) is referred to by the masculine accusative relative pronoun ὃν. This is an agreement according to sense (ad sensum) rather than grammatical gender, reflecting the actual person (Onesimus, a male). Furthermore, the name Ὀνήσιμον is drawn into the accusative case of the relative clause as an appositive, creating a tight syntactic structure that leads dramatically into the wordplay of "useless/useful" based on his name.
  3. §1.15ἐχωρίσθη — Literally, "he was parted" or "he was separated." The passive voice is employed as a "divine passive" (passivum divinum), implying God's providential intervention behind the negative event of Onesimus's flight. By avoiding an active term like "fled," Paul softens the blow for Philemon while highlighting the divine purpose.
  4. §1.19ἵνα μὴ λέγω — Literally, "lest I say" or "so that I may not say." This is a rhetorical construction known as preterition (praeteritio or paralipsis), where the speaker states they will not mention something while actually bringing it to the reader's attention. The main verb of the clause is omitted, leaving only the purpose clause to forcefully remind Philemon that he owes his very self to Paul.

Cite this passage

New Testament, Philemon §1.1-1.25. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0031.tlg018.humanitext-grc2:1.1-1.25

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