1. The Preface

a) The Salutation and Greeting (Phlm 1:1–3)

Phlm 1:1–2. “Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, unto Philemon our dearly beloved and fellowlabourer, and to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier, and to the church in thy house.”

“A prisoner.” When writing to the Colossians, St. Paul called himself an Apostle, but here, in place of any title, he calls himself a prisoner. This is because there it was necessary to act with apostolic authority, while here he comes to make a request — and to a request nothing gives greater force than suffering and deprivation endured for a cause that is dear also to the one being addressed. Yet even compassion alone for the prisoner could intercede on behalf of the request. “He says this not to exalt himself, but to accomplish what is beneficial and to persuade — not for his own sake, but that he might the more readily obtain mercy for another. He says as it were: for your sake I am bound by these chains” — just as he says elsewhere: “the prisoner... for you Gentiles” (Eph 3:1); “for the gospel I suffer even unto bonds” (2Tim 2:9). For him there is no higher praise than to be called a sufferer for Christ: “For I,” he said, “bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus” (Gal 6:17). “A prisoner of Jesus Christ” — because he was bound for His sake. Hearing of the bonds of Christ, who would not feel ashamed, who would not be moved, who would not give his very soul, and not merely one slave? (St. John Chrysostom). “The Apostle called himself ‘a prisoner,’ lending his bonds the greatest force to his petition. For your sake, he says, I am bound in chains. Had I loved ease and not gone throughout the world offering the Gospel to all people, I would not have experienced this” (Theodoret). “By this he greatly inclines the hearer toward his petition, showing that it is right to do a favour to one who is held in bonds for Christ” (Theophylact).

“And Timothy our brother.” “The Apostle (as though considering himself insufficient to obtain the favour — Theophylact) adds another as a co-petitioner, so that Philemon, hearing the request from many, might be the more inclined to show mercy” (St. John Chrysostom).

“Unto Philemon our dearly beloved and fellowlabourer.” These words go straight to Philemon’s heart and, even before the petition is set forth, already incline him toward it. Love compels one to do what is pleasing to the one who loves, for friendship’s sake; and partnership in work compels one for the sake of advancing the common cause. “If he is ‘dearly beloved,’ then the hope placed in him is not presumption or folly, but a sign of great friendship; if he is a ‘fellowlabourer,’ then he ought not only to receive such petitions but to be thankful for them, since through this he does good to himself as well, advancing the same work as others. Thus, even without a petition, the Apostle says, you have yet another motive for showing mercy: if Onesimus is useful for the Gospel, and you show zeal for the Gospel, then you ought not to wait for a petition but to ask it yourself” (St. John Chrysostom). Philemon is a co-worker in the cause of the Gospel, though there is no indication that he was adorned with any degree of the clergy. “Although he did not belong to the clergy, yet since out of love for Christ he assisted the Church of believers in every way, the Apostle calls him a sharer in his labours. And there are many such who, being worthy, decline the priesthood, considering themselves unequal to fulfilling that ministry as they ought. But for that very reason they prove themselves the most worthy of it” (Ambrosiaster).

“And to our beloved Apphia.” “She seems to me to have been Philemon’s wife” (St. John Chrysostom). “He praises Philemon by calling him a fellowlabourer; he joins his wife to him as a companion in the faith; it was probably the case that she, if not mentioned, would have worked against what is written in the epistle. The blessed Paul called her ‘beloved,’ as one adorned with faith, and let no one be surprised at this, even though some today take offence at such a greeting; for having misused the very thing, they have made the name reproachful; but in antiquity this word was honourable and praiseworthy” (Theodoret).

“And Archippus our fellowsoldier.” A fellowsoldier — one who serves in the same army as the Apostle. The Apostles waged war against ignorance and impiety, and with the heavenly weapons of their warfare brought all into subjection to the yoke of faith in Christ. In this same spirit and direction Archippus too made warfare, within a limited sphere among the Colossians. That is why St. Paul called him a fellowsoldier. He was entrusted with the teaching and governance of the church at Colossae — one must suppose, after Philemon declined this. But what was he to Philemon? — Son, brother, uncle, friend? It is evident that he belonged to the same household. But whoever he may have been, it is enough to know that he was a person worthy of having the care of an entire church entrusted to him. St. John Chrysostom says of him: “This is the same Archippus of whom Paul says in the Epistle to the Colossians: “’And say to Archippus: Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it’” (Col 4:17). It seems to me that he was among the clergy (‘the teaching was entrusted to him’ — Theodoret); therefore the Apostle also directs his petition to him and calls him ‘fellowsoldier,’ so as to achieve his aim with his assistance. For if he is a ‘fellowsoldier,’ he ought to take part here also (as if to say: you fight together in the work of the Gospel — fight here also). Observe the humility of Paul: he joins Timothy to himself in his petition, and entreats not the husband alone but also the wife, and yet another, apparently a friend. He does not seek to achieve what he desires by command, nor does he show displeasure if Philemon should not immediately obey his directive, but acts as though he were a person of no standing, arranging for them also to do the same and to support his petition; for not only a request from many, but also a request addressed to many, contributes to obtaining what is sought.”

“And to the church in thy house.” “The Apostle calls ‘the church’ all the believers who are in the house, including in this number the slaves as well” (Theophylact). He does not overlook the slaves, for he knew that even the words of slaves can sometimes persuade their master — especially when the petition concerns a slave; moreover, perhaps they were particularly fanning the master’s indignation against Onesimus. The Apostle, by honouring them with a greeting together with the masters, forestalls any envy they might have felt toward the one being shown mercy (“but disposes them also to become co-advocates in persuasion, having been honoured with apostolic esteem” — Theodoret). At the same time he gave the master no ground for offence. Had he named the slaves by name, the master might perhaps have taken offence; but had he made no mention of them at all, perhaps the master would have been dissatisfied. Therefore, see how wisely Paul, in mentioning the slaves, both honoured them by his remembrance and did not irritate the master. For the designation “church” (of the whole household) does not allow masters to take offence when they are placed together with slaves. Truly the Church knows no distinction between master and slave; she distinguishes one from the other by virtue and vice. Therefore, if (your house) is a church, do not take offence that a slave is placed together with you; for “in Christ Jesus... there is neither slave nor free” (Gal 3:28) — (St. John Chrysostom).

Phlm 1:3. “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

“Grace and peace” — St. Paul’s customary salutatory well-wishes. Grace — unto salvation, and every good thing is from it. Peace — the sum of all the blessings of the gracious economy of salvation: namely, the calming of the course of the inner life, ordinarily tossed about like dust by the passions that hold sway therein; reconciliation with the course of outward life in all its relations, pleasant and unpleasant; and, above all, peace with God in Christ Jesus, gladdening the soul with an unshakeable hope of eternal blessedness. In every epistle, depending on its purposes, these well-wishes may bear their own particular shades, more or less emphatic. For the present epistle, here is what St. John Chrysostom discerns in “grace and peace,” beyond their general significance: “By reminding of ‘grace,’ the Apostle recalls to Philemon’s memory his own sins. Consider, he says as it were, how many sins the Lord has forgiven you, how you are saved by grace, and imitate the Lord. He prays for ‘peace’ to be granted him — and rightly so; for peace comes when we imitate the Lord, when grace abides with us. So that unmerciful servant who was not yet demanding of his fellow servant the hundred denarii still enjoyed his master’s mercy; but when he began to demand them, he was deprived of it and handed over to the tormentors (Mt 18:34).”

b) The Opening of the Epistle (Phlm 1:4–7)

“Not immediately, and not at the very beginning of the epistle, does the Apostle ask for mercy, but first he expressed admiration for this man and praised him for his virtues; he also presented a considerable proof of his own love for him in that he always remembers him in his prayers; and he said that many find rest with him and that toward all he shows meekness and faith; and then at last he begins his word concerning mercy, and thus persuades him with particular force. For if others obtain from him what they request, then so much the more will Paul; if, having come before others, he would have been worthy to receive what is asked, then so much the more after others — and, besides, asking not for himself but for another” (St. John Chrysostom).

Phlm 1:4. “I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers.”

Every time I pray, he says, I remember you in my prayer, and in remembering you I give thanks to my God for you. By saying that he gives thanks to God for Philemon, he gives him to understand that he is pleased with him, that he acknowledges him as fully mature in the Christian life — and thereby cheers him and inspires him to greater goodness, which is not foreign to the purpose of the epistle. But by thus lifting Philemon’s spirit with him before the face of God in this act of thanksgiving, he teaches him to see in God the source of his own perfections, and to be humbled all the more in awareness of them rather than to think highly of himself — striving in every way, as the Apostle does, to show himself thankful before God: which is likewise not far from the purpose of the epistle; for one ought to give thanks not in word alone but above all in deeds pleasing to God, one of which the Apostle will presently set forth.

Phlm 1:5. “Hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus and toward all saints.”

What, then, were the qualities of Philemon — with which God had adorned him — that stirred in the Apostle feelings of gratitude to God? — Faith and love. I hear, he says, that you are an exemplary Christian, that you hold the faith rightly and firmly, and that you abound in works of love — and I give thanks to God “for your goodness” (Theophylact); for I acknowledge, as you yourself surely recognise, that the grace of God has made you such. He said “love and faith,” and then “toward the Lord and toward the saints.” Toward the saints one can and ought to manifest both love and faith, just as toward the Lord; but according to the commonly established way of thinking, faith calls to mind the Lord, as being naturally directed toward Him, while love calls to mind the holy brethren, as being most exercised in relation to them. Love toward God as well becomes visible in love toward the holy brethren. Therefore, when one reading this passage distributes in his mind what is contained in it thus — faith toward the Lord and love toward the saints — this cannot be considered inconsistent with the Apostle’s words. Our commentators paraphrase this passage in precisely this sense. Blessed Theodoret writes: “I glorify the God of all, for I hear what faith you have conceived in the saving Master, and how great a love you bear, and what services you bestow upon those who honour things divine.” The same in Ambrosiaster: “The Apostle says that he rejoices and offers thanks to God in his prayers because Philemon was firm in the faith and diligent in good works.”

“Hearing” — hearing constantly, as though someone were ever repeating it in his ears. At these words Philemon might have thought of Epaphras as the one who had praised him; but Onesimus too might have come to his mind — perhaps the Apostle had precisely him in view when saying this, and had him in view because such was indeed the case. Onesimus had praised his master before St. Paul, setting forth his good qualities so as to dispose the Apostle to write to him. Epaphras confirmed this; and the epistle is written in full confidence of its success — to which the word “hearing” was not a little to contribute. But even apart from this, the mention of Philemon’s goodness toward all the faithful seemed already to bind him beforehand to show the same goodness also toward Onesimus, who had now become one of the faithful. Blessed Theophylact sets forth the thought the Apostle presumably had in mind at this point in the following terms: “Since you love all the saints — that is, the faithful — you ought to love Onesimus as well, for he too is now one of the faithful, so that through this you may show yourself a lover of the Lord also. Do you see what compelling thoughts he gathers in Philemon’s mind toward the satisfaction of the petition?”

Phlm 1:6. “That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.”

These words may be related to St. Paul’s prayer thus: I pray, “that,” and so forth — or to Philemon’s doing of good, thus: you have faith and love, moved to this in order “that,” and so forth. All our commentators see here the continuation of St. Paul’s prayer. I give thanks to God, hearing of your love and faith, and I pray that your works of love may abound more and more, and that your faith may be shown effectual. St. John Chrysostom says: “I pray — he says — “that the communication of thy faith may become effectual.” (In what and how?) “’By the acknowledging of every good thing’” — that is, that you may attain to every virtue, that you may lack nothing. Faith becomes effectual when it is accompanied by works. For “’faith without works is dead’” (Jac 2:26). He did not say: your faith, but ‘the communication of your faith’ (your faith which you hold in common with us), uniting him with himself and suggesting that they are one body — and by this persuading him with particular force. If you, he says, are my companion in faith, you ought to be a companion in everything else as well.” Blessed Theodoret expresses this same thought briefly in general terms: “I ask and pray the common Benefactor to grant you perfect possession of good things.” And Oecumenius introduces into his commentary word by word: “that the communication of the faith” — uniting him with himself, (the Apostle) says as it were: the faith that is common (to you and me) and unifying. But (someone may ask) why do you thus give thanks to God (or for what do you so pray)? — “That,” he says, “the communication of thy faith may become effectual.” How will it become effectual? — Through your knowing and doing of every good. “In Christ Jesus” (in Christ, or for Christ Jesus). For he who does good to any person does it to Christ — especially when he does it to His saints.” The blessed Theophylact gathered all these thoughts together and presents them as follows: “I give thanks — the Apostle says — to God for your love, praying also that your faith, which you hold in common with us, may be ‘effectual’ — active and alive — in your knowing of every good work, that is, in that you may love it and bring it to action. For faith is then alive when we apply ourselves to every good work, as it is dead when it is without good works. The Apostle added also ‘which is in you,’ to show that Philemon even now already has every good work in him — as if to say: in the knowing of every good work, already now present in you, that is, in you. Having said ‘the communication of faith,’ St. Paul unites Philemon with himself and makes them one. A shared faith is also one that unifies, so that you ought to be of one mind with me (to look upon things and persons as I do). Or by ‘the communication of faith’ he means almsgiving, which comes from great faith. And so the Apostle says: I remember you in prayer, praying that your disposition to share and to give generously may never cease, but that you may pour out upon those in need every good thing “’which is in you’” — that is, which you have. — ‘In Christ Jesus.’ Whatever good you do to those in need, and especially to the saints, ascends to Christ Jesus, he says. So also now, if you receive Onesimus and give me this satisfaction, you will be doing it to Christ Himself.”

If these words are referred to Philemon, the flow of thought will be as follows: I give thanks to God in my prayers concerning you, hearing of your love and faith — toward the Lord and toward the saints — which you possess, moved to this by the desire not to allow your faith to remain idle and inoperative, but always to keep it effectual. “The communication of faith” will then mean: that you have left paganism and entered into communion with the Lord and with those who believe in Him — that you have partaken of the Christian faith. Having partaken of the one true faith, you have been zealous and continue to be zealous that it not remain idle and ineffective in you, but be operative; you are not content merely to bear the name of Christian, but strive in very deed to be one, to be truly what this faith requires. What then motivates and animates him to live and act thus? — The consciousness of the great blessings received from the faith. The word “by the acknowledging” — in the recognition, in the awareness. Having come to know and being aware of how many blessings he received in believing in the Lord, he himself is zealous for every good, zealous to act so that his faith may be operative, so as to show that he has not been counted worthy of the communion of faith in vain, but bears fruit. He says: in the awareness of “every good thing.” Not one blessing alone has been received, but every kind: the forgiveness of sins, the knowledge of the full truth, the grace of the Holy Spirit building up good dispositions in the heart, peace and joy in the Spirit, and above all the unfailing promise of the inheritance of the heavenly kingdom, with its faithful first-fruits even here. Being conscious of all this, you strive to show yourself grateful to the Benefactor by doing every good. “Which is in you” — you do not see such blessings in others, as though from afar. They are before your eyes, in each of you and in yourself. Instead of “in you” many now read “in us,” meaning Christians in general. The spiritual blessings of the Christian faith were universal, and everyone experienced them. In response to why you have passed over to the Christians, one could boldly answer: do you see how many blessings it gives? — How can one not prefer it to all other faiths? — Here in connection with the words “by the acknowledging of every good thing” there is also the possible thought: so that others not yet believing might come to understand how many blessings are in our faith, and thereby be moved to acknowledge it as the one true faith and to come over and cleave to it. — “In Christ Jesus” — may be understood in two ways. The words will then stand in direct connection with the immediately preceding: in the awareness of every good thing received in Christ Jesus, through the economy of salvation accomplished and established by Him. Or “in” may be left in its proper sense — as indicating the goal and direction of actions. Then it must be referred to — “may become effectual” — that the communication of your faith may become effectual for Christ Jesus, in pleasing Him, to the glory of His name, and in furthering the work of the salvation of all, accomplished and being accomplished by Christ Jesus.

Phlm 1:7. “For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the hearts of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother.”

The Apostle shows what moves him to give thanks to God for Philemon and to pray that he may grow ever better and better, saying as it were: your active love rejoices and consoles me — not merely because it is a mirror of your Christian perfection, but above all because you give rest to all the brethren. St. Paul was in such a living union with all believers that everything that happened to them he received as though it were happening to himself: he rejoiced when all went well with them, grieved when anyone was oppressed by sorrow and need, and was comforted when someone relieved the lot of the sorrowful and needy. So too here: he rejoiced in Philemon’s goodness and in his own sorrowful bonds found consolation in the fact that Philemon had refreshed the hearts of the saints — as though by that his own heart were being refreshed. “We not only rejoice (for you), but are also comforted (on account of those who have been refreshed), because they are our members” (St. John Chrysostom).

But why did St. Paul write of this? — Because it bore very directly upon the purpose of the epistle. Such words suggested to Philemon that if the Apostle, so beloved and honoured, is comforted when he does something for others, how much more comfort will there be for him if he does something for the Apostle himself. If St. Paul addressed himself to Philemon as to a son, and Philemon loved and honoured the Apostle as a father, then precisely such a compelling thought would naturally have arisen in Philemon and would already have disposed him to satisfy the petition even before it was made. St. John Chrysostom says: “If there ought to be such accord among us that those in sorrow, even when they themselves receive nothing, ought to rejoice upon seeing others comforted — since one body has been benefited — how much more (shall we rejoice) if you comfort us as well.”

“I have” — we have. One may allow that St. Paul had in mind St. Timothy, whom he had taken as a co-author of the letter, or others who were with him. But it is more probable that he speaks here of himself alone; therefore the Slavonic translation correctly renders the force of the Apostle’s thought, even though it does not preserve the literal reading.

“The hearts of the saints are refreshed” refers not only to the giving of rest to travellers and the poor by providing them with what they need — though this appears to be primarily what is meant — but in general to every act of beneficence, both spiritual and material, and toward all: both one’s own and strangers, both those oppressed by need and those with only some small need. Blessed Theodoret writes, speaking as if in the Apostle’s voice: “I am filled with every kind of joy, that you render services of every kind to the saints.” But is it not better to see in this expression not the breadth of the beneficence, but the force and warmth of disposition with which every good was done? So St. John Chrysostom: “He did not say: you are kind, you are yielding; but he speaks more forcefully and expressively: “’the hearts of the saints are refreshed by thee.’”” Blessed Theophylact completes this thought: “He did not say simply: you give to the saints; but ‘you refresh the hearts of the saints’ — that is, that they receive your charity with their whole soul, as something offered to them abundantly and with gladsome welcome.”