Philemon 1:24

1:24 Mark, Aristarchus, ¹  Demas ²  and Luke, my colaborers, greet you too.

Philemon 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ³  a prisoner of Christ Jesus, ⁴  and Timothy our ⁵  brother, to Philemon, our dear friend ⁶  and colaborer,

Colossians 3:9

3:9 Do not lie to one another since you have put off the old man with its practices

Philippians 2:25

2:25 But for now ⁷  I have considered it necessary to send Epaphroditus to you. For he is my brother, ⁸  coworker and fellow soldier, and your messenger ⁹  and minister ¹⁰  to me in my need. ¹¹ 

Philippians 4:3

4:3 Yes, I say also to you, true companion, ¹²  help them. They have struggled together in the gospel ministry ¹³  along with me and Clement and my other coworkers, whose names are in the book of life.

Colossians 4:11

4:11 And Jesus who is called Justus also sends greetings. In terms of Jewish converts, ¹⁴  these are the only fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me.

Colossians 4:1

4:1 Masters, treat your slaves with justice and fairness, because you know that you also have a master in heaven.

Colossians 3:2

3:2 Keep thinking about things above, not things on the earth,

¹ sn Aristarchus accompanied Paul on his collection-journey when Paul left for Rome in Acts 27:2. He is also mentioned as a fellow prisoner in Col 4:10.

² sn Demas is most likely the same individual mentioned by the Apostle Paul in 2 Tim 4:10. Apparently, he later on abandoned the faith because of his love of the world.

³ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

⁴ 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).

⁵ tn “our” is not present in the Greek text, but was supplied to bring out the sense in English.

⁶ tn Grk “dear.” The adjective is functioning as a substantive; i.e., “dear one” or “dear friend.”

⁷ tn Grk “But.” The temporal notion (“for now”) is implied in the epistolary aorist (“I have considered”), for Epaphroditus was dispatched with this letter to the Philippians.

⁸ tn Grk “my brother” instead of “For he is my brother.” Verse 25 constitutes one sentence in Greek, with “my brother…” functioning appositionally to “Epaphroditus.”

⁹ tn Grk “apostle.”

¹⁰ tn The Greek word translated “minister” here is λειτουργός (leitourgo").

¹¹ tn Grk “servant of my need.”

¹² tn Or “faithful fellow worker.” This is more likely a descriptive noun, although some scholars interpret the word σύζυγος (suzugos) here as a proper name (“Syzygos”), L&N 42.45.

¹³ tn Grk “in the gospel,” a metonymy in which the gospel itself is substituted for the ministry of making the gospel known.

¹⁴ tn Grk “those of the circumcision.” The verse as a whole is difficult to translate because it is unclear whether Paul is saying (1) that the only people working with him are Jewish converts at the time the letter is being written or previously, or (2) that Aristarchus, Mark, and Jesus Justus were the only Jewish Christians who ever worked with him. Verses 12-14 appear to indicate that Luke and Demas, who were Gentiles, were also working currently with Paul. This is the view adopted in the translation. See M. J. Harris, Colossians and Philemon (EGGNT), 207-8.