Welcome back to my study/review of The Epistle to Philemon. If you missed the previous parts of this study, you can find them HERE.
Philemon 17-25
17 So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. 18 If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19 I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. 20 Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ.
21 Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. 22 At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping that through your prayers I will be graciously given to you.
23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, 24 and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.
25 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
____________________________________
Inasmuch as Paul has made Philemon's cooperation openly voluntary, he puts a lot of pressure on him in this final section. It's noteworthy though that the pressure regards how Onesimus is to be received, not whether Philemon is to be repaid. Paul is very clear that he will repay any financial losses felt by Philemon regarding whatever transpired between himself and Onesimus previously. You see in this a desire by Paul to protect Onesimus from reprisal, in case Philemon does not respond as Paul seems to expect. We'll jump in at verse 17, from The Pulpit Commentaries:
Philemon 1:17
If thou count me therefore a partner; if thou holdest me for a friend—by our friendship entreat this. The strongest form of entreaty possible to be used. Κοινωνία in Acts 2:42 refers to the Holy Communion, and in 1 Corinthians 10:16-21 partakers of it are plainly called by implication κοινωνοὶ—partakers, or, as we should say, "communicants." But here the sense is apparently as above; literally, a partner.
Paul cannot legally require Philemon to forgive Onesimus, but this is about as much social pressure as it was possible for him to place on Philemon. Defying the earnest request of an Apostle would have been a very uncomfortable thing for him to do. Imagine telling an Apostle that you do not consider him a partner? That was a difficult thing for Philemon to do, particularly in light of the verse that follow. From Ellicott's Bible Commentary:
(18) If he hath wronged thee.—Properly, If he wronged thee, evidently referring to the time of Onesimus' escape. "If he oweth thee ought" is similarly, in all probability, an allusion to some theft at the same time, couched in a hypothetical form, but implying no doubt as to the fact.
Put that on mine account.—Comp. a similar commercial metaphor in Philippians 4:15-17, and see Note there. It is strangely out of character with the whole tone of the Apostolic life to imagine (as some commentators have done) a regular debtor and creditor account between Philemon and St. Paul.
Paul gives Philemon ample reason to comply, both socially and financially. If the damage is such that Philemon needs some aid, Paul is offering to provide it. As a result, the Epistle serves as a strong protection to Onesimus, who is returning to a place to make a reconciliation, and it also provides a srrong incentive to Philemon to give forgiveness.
You can see in this a method whereby the Church today can help to bring about reconciliation between Believers who are estranged. Onesimus has to go and put himself at Philemon's mercy. This is a potentially difficult or dangerous thing to do. The Church gives Philemon plenty of motivation to extend mercy and forgiveness. The burden is balanced between the two sides, with the Church helping to carry the weight of the transgression. Continuing on in The Pulpit Commentaries:
Philemon 1:19
I Paul have written—write it (Revised Version)—with my own hand, I will repay it. Thus St. Paul took upon himself legally the repayment of the debt. "Prioribus verbis proprie cautio [a bail or security] continetur: his autem constituti obligatio. Hoc Latine dicitur pecuniam constituere: de quo titulus est in Digestis Ἀναδέχεσθαι dicunt Graeci" (Scipio Gentilis). Albeit I do not say to thee, etc.; "though I do not remind thee [while so saying] that thou owest even thyself to me!" Philemon owed to the apostle that debt of which the obligation outweighed every other—the help by which he had been led out of spiritual darkness and brought to the knowledge of the truth. St. Paul was (as we must conclude from this allusion) the "spiritual father" of Philemon—a phrase he himself uses in 1 Corinthians 4:15.
Philemon 1:20
Yea, indeed, brother, let me have joy of thee. This word ὀναίμην is from the same root as the word "Onesimus," and the apostle, more suo, relaxing into his friendly familiar manner after the grave and touching language of the last few verses, plays upon the word. Let me have profit of thee—let me have Onesimus of thee. In the Lord. The phrase is twice repeated in this verse, and is very characteristic of St. Paul. But A, C, D*, F, G, I, read en Christo in the second clause. א has been altered, χω for κω, second.; "refresh my heart in Christ" (Revised Version).
The note reminds us of the play on words form Paul, regarding Onesimus' name. Remember that Onesimus is the Latinization of the Greek name Ὀνήσιμος (Onesimos), which meant "beneficial, profitable." The play on words would have been obvious to Philemon and would likely take some of the sting out of his imploring tone.
Continuing on in Ellicott:
(21) Confidence in thy obedience.—It is curious to notice how, in this conclusion, St. Paul seems to glide, as it were insensibly, out of the tone of entreaty as to an equal, into the authority of a superior. The word "obedience" is found in 2 Corinthians 7:15, there in connection with "fear and trembling." He preferred to appeal to Philemon's love; he knew that in any case he could rely on his deference.
Do more than I say.—This can hardly refer to anything except the manumission of Onesimus, and possibly his being sent back again to St. Paul. Exactly in this way Christianity was to work out the release of the slave—not by command, but by free and natural inference from its emphatic declaration of his true brotherhood in Christ.
As the commentary notes, the use of "obedience" here feels at odds with the letter that preceded. It does feel in line with Christianity as a whole, though. Righteousness is to be striven for, freely, without force. However, once one surrenders free will to Christ as Lord... freely... then obedience to Christ is expected. It is not expected because of outside forces, though, it is expected because of inward direction from the Holy Spirit.
The note correlates this strange tension between free will and change, as it relates to institutional slavery. The Holy Roman Empire gave us slavery voluntarily. The British Empire gave us slavery voluntarily. The American North gave us slavery voluntarily. It is notable though that while the South did not, the voluntary Abolitionist movement in the North set the stage for the conflict. Man must desire an end to slavery before an end to the practice can come about. The practice of slavery is apparently inherent in mankind. The change of the heart precedes the change in behavior.
As there are now 50 million slaves worldwide, according to the United Nations, the war to win hearts on this issue must again be of paramount importance, such that political will can follow. History suggests that winning hearts to Christianity leads to changed hearts on this issue.
Continuing on, again in The Pulpit Commentaries:
Philemon 1:21
I wrote unto thee; write (Revised Version; see Philemon 1:19), or perhaps referring back, as in Philemon 1:19, to the request in Philemon 1:17. The strong, fervid, and repeated appeals of the apostle had not been caused by distrust of Philemon, nor of their own efficacy, but were the natural outcome of the strong interest he felt in the case of Onesimus, and the desire he felt to replace him in the favor of his master; partly also, perhaps, to the warmth and fervor of his natural character, which uttered itself involuntarily in forcible expressions.
Philemon 1:22
Lodging. There was this one additional inducement that could be brought to bear upon the mind of Philemon, viz. the expectation of speedily seeing him in person, and this, in conclusion, he uses. "I do not think that the apostle was so rich or encumbered with such great packages that he needed a lodging prepared beforehand, and was not content with a narrow dwelling-place, but thought the most spacious houses scanty for the accommodation of his small body; but that, while Philemon was expecting [the apostle] to come to him, he would the more do what he had requested" (Jerome). Meyer makes much of the improbability that St. Paul, starting from Rome, should bespeak a lodging in Colossae. Yet he suggests that it was perfectly natural that, starting from Caesarea, the apostle should take Colossae on the road to Rome. But the one seems almost as probable as the other. The apostle, on his release, had, so far as we know, no definite plans; the cities of Asia Minor were familiar to him, and he would naturally prepare to go wherever the first pressing occasion, that of Onesimus, called him. N reads ἀσπάξεται, "salutes."
As the note provides, the thought of seeing Paul in person is added incentive to Philemon to receive Onesimus as Paul requests. It is one thing to spurn the council of a superior that one might never see. It is another to do so and then have to see that superior face to face. On the other hand, the news that Paul might be free from prison is also good news that will be well-received. Philemon has a prior relationship with Paul and likes him. It was almost certainly a source of grief within the Church that Paul has been imprisoned and this add-on at the end of the Letter would have been viewed as something to celebrate. Paul almost certainly knows that.
Returning to Ellicott as the Epistle concludes:
(23) My fellowprisoner.—Comp. Colossians 4:10, and see Note there. The salutations here correspond exactly in substance (though more condensed in style) with that passage, except that "Jesus, called Justus" (probably unknown to Philemon) is here omitted.
(25) The grace . . .—This form of St. Paul's usual blessing is found also in Galatians 6:18; Philippians 4:23; 2 Timothy 4:22. We notice by the word "your" that, like the opening salutation, it is addressed to all Philemon's family and "the church in his house."
Paul gives a standard closing to his letter, addressing several other people. As a result, as the Commentary states, we can know that this Letter was delivered not only for its addressee - Philemon - but for the entire church body that meets in his house.
That concludes the Epistle to Philemon. It is one of the shortest Books of the Bible, but it says much regarding reconciliation among Believers and the Church's potential role therein. It also lays some of the groundwork for the Christian worldview regarding slavery - which we saw in more depth in verses 8-16.
No comments:
Post a Comment