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Texts -- Philemon 1:8-22 (NET)

Context
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 to you on the basis of love – I , Paul , an old man and even now a prisoner for the sake of Christ Jesus – 1:10 I am appealing to you concerning my child , whose spiritual father I have become during my imprisonment , that is, Onesimus , 1:11 who was formerly useless to you , but is now useful to you and me . 1:12 I have sent him (who is my very heart ) back to you . 1:13 I wanted to keep him so that he could serve me in your place during my imprisonment for the sake of the gospel . 1:14 However , without your consent I did not want to do anything, so that your good deed would not be out of compulsion , but from your own willingness . 1:15 For perhaps it was for this reason that he was separated from you for a little while , so that you would have him back eternally , 1:16 no longer as a slave , but more than a slave , as a dear brother . He is especially so to me , and even more so to you now, both humanly speaking and in the Lord . 1:17 Therefore if you regard me as a partner , accept him as you would me . 1:18 Now if he has defrauded you of anything or owes you anything, charge what he owes to me . 1:19 I , Paul , have written this letter with my own hand : I will repay it. I could also mention that you owe me your very self . 1:20 Yes , brother , let me have some benefit from you in the Lord . Refresh my heart in Christ . 1:21 Since I was confident that you would obey , I wrote to you , because I knew that you would do even more than what I am asking you to do. 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 .

Pericope

NET

Bible Dictionary

  • Minister

    [nave] MINISTER, a sacred teacher. Index of Sub-topics Miscellany of Minor Sub-topics; Call of; Character and Qualifications of; Charge Delivered to; Courage of; Duties of; Duties of the Church to; Emoluments of; Faithful, Instanc...

  • Timothy

    [nave] TIMOTHY, called also Timotheus, the companion of Paul. Parentage of, Acts 16:1. Reputation and Christian faith of, Acts 16:2; 1 Cor. 4:17; 16:10; 2 Tim. 1:5; 3:15. Circumcised; becomes Paul's companion, Acts 16:3; 1 Thess. ...

  • Fugitives

    [nave] FUGITIVES, from servitude, not to be returned, Deut. 23:15, 16. Instances of From slavery, Shimei's servants, 1 Kin. 2:39; Onesimus, Philem. 1. See: Exodus. From justice: Moses, Ex. 2:15; Absalom, 2 Sam. 13:34-38. From t...

  • Letters

    [nave] LETTERS Written by David to Joab, 2 Sam. 11:14; king of Syria to king of Israel, 2 Kin. 5:5, 6; Rabshakeh to Hezekiah, Isa. 37:9-14; King of Babylon to Hezekiah, Isa. 39:1; Seacherib to Hezekiah, 2 Kin. 19:14. Of Artaxerxes...

  • Beloved

    [nave] BELOVED Deut. 33:12; Psa. 60:5; 108:6; 127:2; Song 5:9; Isa. 5:1; Jer. 11:15; Matt. 3:17; 12:18; 17:5; Mark 1:11; 9:7; 12:6; Luke 3:22; 20:13; Acts 15:25; Rom. 1:7; 11:28; 12:19; 16:5, 8, 9, 12; 1 Cor. 4:14, 17; 10:14; 15:58...

  • Servant

    [nave] SERVANT Distinguished as bond servant, who was a slave, and hired servant. Bond Laws of Moses concerning, Ex. 21:1-11, 20, 21, 26, 27, 32; Lev. 19:20-22; 25:6, 10, 35-55; Deut. 15:12, 14, 18; 24:7. Kidnapping forbidden, D...

  • Intercession

    [nave] INTERCESSION. Of One Person with Another 1 Sam. 2:25 Instances of: Reuben for Joseph, Gen. 37:21, 22. Judah for Joseph, Gen. 37:26, 27. Pharaoh's chief baker for Joseph, Gen. 41:9-13, with Gen. 40:14. Jonathan for David...

  • Love

    [nave] LOVE. Of Children for Parents See: Children. Of God See: God, Love of. Of Mankind for God Ex. 20:6 Deut. 5:10. Deut. 6:5; Deut. 7:9; Deut. 10:12; Deut. 11:1; Deut. 13:3; Deut. 30:6 vs. 16,20.; Josh. 22:5 Deut. 11:1, 13...

  • Master

    [nave] MASTER Jesus called, Matt. 8:19; 10:25; 23:8; 26:18, 25, 49; Mark 14:45; Luke 8:24; John 13:13, 14. Jesus prohibited the appellation, Matt. 23:8. Scriptures Relating to Masters of Servants Ex. 21:20, 21, 26, 27; Lev. 19:1...

  • Onesimus

    [ebd] useful, a slave who, after robbing his master Philemon (q.v.) at Colosse, fled to Rome, where he was converted by the apostle Paul, who sent him back to his master with the epistle which bears his name. In it he beseeches Ph...
    [nave] ONESIMUS, a fugitive slave and convert of Paul, Col. 4:9; Philem. 10.

  • Employer

    [nave] EMPLOYER. Lev. 25:43; Deut. 5:14; Deut. 24:14, 15 Lev. 19:13. Job 31:13-15; Prov. 22:16; Prov. 29:21; Jer. 22:13; Mal. 3:5; Matt. 10:10; Matt. 20:1-15; Luke 10:7; Rom. 4:4; Eph. 6:9; Col. 4:1; 1 Tim. 5:18; Philem. 15, 16; J...

  • Imputation

    [ebd] is used to designate any action or word or thing as reckoned to a person. Thus in doctrinal language (1) the sin of Adam is imputed to all his descendants, i.e., it is reckoned as theirs, and they are dealt with therefore as...

  • Forgiveness

    [nave] FORGIVENESS. Of Enemies Ex. 23:4, 5; Prov. 19:11; Prov. 24:17, 29; Prov. 25:21, 22, Rom. 12:20. Eccl. 7:21; Matt. 5:7, 39-41, 43-46 vs. 47,48;; Luke 6:27-34. Matt. 6:12 [Luke 11:4]. Matt. 6:14, 15; Matt. 18:21-35; Mark 11:...

  • Unselfishness

    [nave] UNSELFISHNESS. Rom. 12:10; Rom. 5:1-3; 1 Cor. 9:19-23; 1 Cor. 10:24, 33; 1 Cor. 13:4, 5; 2 Cor. 5:14, 15; 2 Cor. 8:9; Phil. 2:3, 4; Jas. 2:8 Instances of Abraham, Gen. 13:9; 14:23, 24. King of Sodom, Gen. 14:21. Childre...

  • Old Age

    [nave] OLD AGE. Gen. 15:15; Gen. 47:9; Deut. 34:7; 2 Sam. 19:34-37; 1 Chr. 29:28; Job 5:26; Job 11:17 Job 42:17. Job 12:12; Job 32:4-9; Psa. 71:9, 18; Psa. 90:10; Psa. 92:14; Psa. 148:12, 13; Prov. 16:31; Eccl. 6:3, 6; Eccl. 12:1-...

  • Longevity

    [nave] LONGEVITY. Gen. 6:3; Ex. 20:12; 1 Kin. 3:11-14; Job 5:26; Psa. 21:4; Psa. 34:11-13; Psa. 90:10; Psa. 91:16; Prov. 3:1, 2, 16; Prov. 9:11; Prov. 10:27; Isa. 65:20; 1 Pet. 3:10, 11 See: Old Age. Instances of Adam, 930 years...

  • God

    [nave] GOD. List of Sub-Topics Miscellany; Unclassified Scriptures Relating to; Access to; Compassion of; Creator; Creator of Mankind; Eternity of; Faithfulness of; Fatherhood of; Favor of; Foreknowledge of; Glory of; Goodness of...

  • Liberality

    [nave] LIBERALITY. Ex. 22:29, 30 Ex. 13:2, 12. Ex. 23:15 Ex. 34:20. Ex. 25:1-8; Ex. 35:4-29; Ex. 36:3-6; Ex. 38:8; Lev. 19:5 Lev. 22:29; Num. 35:8. Deut. 12:11, 12, 17-19; Deut. 14:27-29; Deut. 15:7-18; Deut. 16:10, 17; Deut. 18:1...

  • Avoidance

    [nave] AVOIDANCE Psa. 38:11; Prov. 4:15; 16:6, 17; 19:7; 20:3, 19; Eccl. 7:18; Acts 14:15; 15:20, 29; 26:18; Rom. 11:26; 16:17; 2 Cor. 8:20; 1 Pet. 2:11, 3:11; 1 Thess. 4:3; 5:22; 2 Thess. 3:6; 1 Tim. 4:3, 6:20; 2 Tim. 2:16, 2:19; ...

Arts

Questions

  • See Matt 5:26; Luke 16:10-12; Luke 19:8,9; Rom. 13:8; Philemon 1:18. The Roman law (in Christ's day) directed a fourfold restitution, which explains Zaccheus' statement in Luke 19:8. His generous addition of "the half of his ...

Sermon Illustrations

Wealthy People in the New Testament

Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • Solomon singled out a few more serious errors to avoid in addition to marital unfaithfulness. These include assuming liability for the debts of others (vv. 1-5), being lazy (vv. 6-11), being untruthful (vv. 12-15), and seven ...
  • Paul revealed his plan to visit Corinth soon after Titus and his two companions arrived to motivate the Corinthians further to complete their collection and have it ready to go to Judea. Chapter 9 continues the subject of cha...
  • 1:12 This verse is a topic sentence for all that follows through verse 26. Whenever Paul wrote, "I want you to know,"he introduced something important (cf. 2 Cor. 13:6; 2 Tim. 3:1).His readers could very understandably have c...
  • The apostle's reference to his present sufferings (vv. 17-18) led him to tell the Philippians about his plans. He wanted to send Timothy and Epaphroditus to Philippi. He said things about those two faithful fellow workers tha...
  • Timothy apparently became a Christian as a result of Paul's missionary work in Lystra (Acts 14:6-23). He joined Paul on the second missionary journey when the apostle's evangelistic team passed through that area where Timothy...
  • 4:9-10 Paul urged Timothy to join him in Rome soon. He did not expect to live much longer (cf. v. 6)."The constitutional method of inflicting capital punishment on a Roman citizen was by the lictor's axe. The criminal was tie...
  • Philemon appears to have been a comparatively wealthy Colossian who owned slaves, as did most of the rich in his day.1He evidently came to faith in Christ as a result of Paul's influence (v. 19), perhaps when Paul was residin...
  • As is true of so many of the shorter Bible books, this one too is an illustration (cf. Ruth and Esther). Philemon in particular illustrates the outworking in life of the great doctrines taught in the other Pauline writings, e...
  • Paul began this letter by introducing himself and Timothy, by naming the recipients, and by wishing them God's grace and peace. He did so to clarify these essential matters and to set the tone for his following remarks.v. 1 P...
  • v. 8 Paul's confidence (Gr. parresia) was his assurance that if he commanded Philemon to do as he requested because Paul was an apostle, Philemon would do it.16Nevertheless he declined to appeal on that basis. Rather he appea...
  • vv. 12-14 Onesimus had so endeared himself to Paul that his departure was an extremely painful prospect for the apostle. Paul could have justified keeping the slave with him, but he judged that Onesimus' obligation to return ...
  • v. 18 Paul then hastened to remove a possible obstacle. Pilfering was common among slaves (cf. Titus 2:10). Paul seemed to be unaware of anything specific that Onesimus owed Philemon, but he offered to pay whatever might be i...
  • v. 22 Paul expected release from his house arrest in Rome soon (cf. Acts 23:29; 24:13; 25:25-27; 26:31-32; Phil. 2:24). This happened, but we have no record that Paul did or did not fulfill his desire to visit Philemon. The p...
  • Barclay, William. The Letters to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. Daily Bible series. 2nd ed and reprint ed. Edinburgh: Saint Andrews Press, 1962.Barker, G. W., Lane, W. L., and Michaels, J. R. The New Testament Speaks. New York...
  • Peter proceeded to address the situation of Christians working under the authority of others."The unusual fact, unnoticed by most Bible readers, is that he [Peter], along with Paul (1 Cor. 7:21; Eph. 6:5-8; Col. 3:22-25; 1 Ti...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • … the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.'--Acts 7:58.… Paul the aged, and now am a prisoner of Jesus Christ.'--Philemon 9.A FAR greater difference than that which was measu...
  • I Paul have written it with mine own hand, I will repay it: albeit I do not say to thee how thou owest unto Me even thine own self besides.'--Philemon. 19.THE incomparable delicacy of this letter of Paul's has often been the ...
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