Text -- Philemon 1:1-4 (NET)

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon, our dear friend and colaborer, 1:2 to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church that meets in your house. 1:3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

Thanks for Philemon’s Love and Faith

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

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Phm 1:1

¹ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

² sn The phrase a prisoner of Christ Jesus implies that Paul was being held prisoner because of his testimony for Christ Jesus. Paul’s imprisonment was due to his service to Christ, in the same manner as John was exiled to the Isle of Patmos because of his testimony (Rev 1:9).

³ tn “our” is not present in the Greek text, but was supplied to bring out the sense in English.

⁴ tn Grk “dear.” The adjective is functioning as a substantive; i.e., “dear one” or “dear friend.”

NET Notes: Phm 1:2

¹ sn Apphia is thought to be the wife of Philemon.

² tc Most witnesses (D² Ψ Ï) here read τῇ ἀγαπητῇ (th agaphth, “beloved, dear”), a reading that appears to have been motivated by the masculine form of the same adjective in v. 1. Further, the earliest and best witnesses, along with a few others (א A D* F G I P 048 0278 33 81 104 1739 1881 pc), have ἀδελφῇ (adelfh, “sister”). Thus on internal and external grounds, ἀδελφῇ is the strongly preferred reading.

³ tn Though the term “our” does not appear in the Greek text it is inserted to bring out the sense of the passage.

NET Notes: Phm 1:3

¹ tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”

NET Notes: Phm 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.

² tn Grk “making remembrance (or “mention”) of you in my prayers.”