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Saint Paul letter to Philemon
This short Letter, full of warm human
feeling, and of lively affection,
not without a trace of gentle irony (‘I will repay it — to say nothing
of your owing me even your own self’) was written by St Paul as a note
to accompany Onesimus the fugitive slave, who was sent back to his
master, Philemon at Colossae, together with Tychicus, the bearer of the
Letter to the Colossians. It was thus written towards the end of Paul’s
captivity (about 62-63 A.D.); in it he expresses the hope of soon being
his friend’s guest. Onesimus, the pagan slave of the Christian
Philemon, had fled after having done ‘some injury’. When he arrived in
Rome he had been converted and baptized by St Paul. The latter did not
kcep the fugitive with him, nor does he directly command his friend to
free the slave, but he recommends him to receive him ‘no longer as a
slave but.., as a beloved
brother’. So he calls Onesimus
‘my child’, ‘my very heart’; he
intervenes with the weight of his friendship and of the debts of
gratitude which Philemon owes him, in order that the runaway may be
pardoned and welcomed with generous kindliness. In this incident may be
seen the influence of Christianity on the institutions of the day. It
does not take up an external position of hostility to the institution
of slavery on which the economy of the GraecoRoman world was based. It
does not proclaim an economic and social revolution, but destroys from
within the mistaken assumptions of this institution, and replaces them
by principles which, once they are understood and welcomed, will cause
the collapse of the institution and in the meantime will radically
transform relations between freemen and slaves in the bosom of the
Christian community.
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1 Paul, a
prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother.
To
Philemon our beloved fellow worker 2and Apphia our
sister and
Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house:
3Grace to you
and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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4 I thank my God always when I
remember you in my prayers, 5 because I hear of
your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and all
the saints, 6and I pray that
the sharing of your faith may promote the knowledge of all the good
that is ours in Christ. 7For I have derived
much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of
the saints have been refreshed through you.
8Accordingly,
though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is
required, 9 yet for love’s
sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an ambassador and now a
prisoner also for Christ Jesus—10 I appeal to you
for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment. 11(Formerly he was
useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) 12I am sending him
back to you, sending my very heart. 13I would have been
glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your
behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel; 14but I preferred to
do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not
be by compulsion but of your own free will.
15Perhaps this is
why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back
for ever, 16no longer as a
slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother, especially to me but
how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. 17So if you consider
me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. 18If he has wronged
you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19I, Paul, write
this with my own hand, I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me
even your own self. 20Yes, brother, I
want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ.
21Confident of your
obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I
say. 22At the same time
prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping through your prayers to be
granted to you.
23Epaphras, my
fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, 24and so do Mark,
Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.
25The grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
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