Philemon 1 commentary

PHILEMO 1 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
1 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy
our brother,
To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker—
BAR ES, "Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ - A prisoner at Rome in the cause of
Jesus Christ; Eph_3:1 note; 2Ti_1:8 note.
And Timothy our brother - Timothy, it seems, had come to him agreeably to his
request; 2Ti_4:9. Paul not unfrequently joins his name with his own in his epistles;
2Co_1:1; Phi_1:1; Col_1:1; 1Th_1:1; 2Th_1:1. As Timothy was of that region of country,
and as he had accompanied Paul in his travels, he was doubtless acquainted with
Philemon.
Unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellow-labourer - See Introduction,
Section 1. The word rendered “fellow-laborer” συνεργω sunergō, does not determine
what office he held, if he held any, or in what respects he was a fellow-laborer with Paul.
It means a co-worker, or helper, and doubtless here means that he was a helper or
fellow-worker in the great cause to which Paul had devoted his life, but whether as a
preacher, or deacon, or a private Christian, can not be ascertained. It is commonly, in
the New Testament, applied to ministers of the gospel, though by no means exclusively,
and in several instances it cannot be determined whether it denotes ministers of the
gospel, or those who furthered the cause of religion, and cooperated with the apostle in
some other way than preaching. See the following places, which are the only ones where
it occurs in the New Testament; Rom_16:3, Rom_16:9,Rom_16:21; 1Co_3:9; 2Co_1:24;
2Co_8:23; Phi_2:25; Phi_4:3; Col_4:11; 1Th_3:2; Phm_1:24; 3Jo_1:8.
CLARKE, "Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ - It has already been noted, in the
preface, that Paul was a prisoner at Rome when he wrote this epistle, and those to the
Colossians and Philippians. But some think that the term prisoner does not sufficiently
point out the apostle’s state, and that the original word δεσµιος should be translated
bound with a chain: this is certainly its meaning; and it shows us in some measure his
circumstances - one arm was bound with a chain to the arm of the soldier to whose
custody he had been delivered.
It has also been remarked that Paul does not call himself an apostle here, because the
letter was a letter of friendship, and on private concerns. But the MSS. are not entirely

agreed on this subject. Two MSS. have δουλος, a servant; the Codex Claromontanus and
the Codex Sangermanensis, both in the Greek and Latin, have αποστολος, apostle; and
Cassiodorus has αποστολος δεσµιος, Paul, an imprisoned apostle of Jesus Christ. They,
however, generally agree in the omission of the word αποστολος.
Unto Philemon our dearly beloved - There is a peculiarity in the use of proper
names in this epistle which is not found in any other part of St. Paul’s writings. The
names to which we refer are Philemon, Apphia, Archippus, and Onesimus.
Philemon, Φιληµων. Affectionate or beloved, from φιληµα, a kiss; this led the apostle to
say: To Philemon our Dearly Beloved.
GILL, "Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ,.... Not made a prisoner by Christ, though
he was apprehended, laid hold on, and detained by Christ as a prisoner of hope, at his
conversion; but this is not intended here: but he was a prisoner at Rome for the sake of
Christ, on account of professing him, and preaching in his name; his bonds were for the
sake of the Gospel of Christ; and therefore they are in this epistle called the bonds of the
Gospel. He was not a prisoner for any capital crime, and therefore had no reason to be
ashamed of his chain, nor was he; but rather gloried in it, as his taking this title and
character to himself, and prefixing it to this epistle shows; and which he chooses to make
use of rather than that of a servant of God, or an apostle of Christ, as he elsewhere does,
that he might not by constraint, or authority, but by love, move the pity and compassion
of Philemon to grant his request, and receive his servant; which, should he deny, would
be to add affliction to his bonds: and that this is his view in the choice of this character,
is manifest from Phm_1:8.
and Timothy our brother, not according to the flesh, or as being of the same country,
for he was the countryman of neither of them; nor only on account of his being a
regenerate than, born of God, a child of God, and of the same family; but chiefly because
he was of the same function, was a minister of the Gospel: him the apostle joins with
himself in the epistle, and so in the request, because he might be well known to
Philemon, and be much respected by him; and to show that they were united in this
affair, and both desired this favour of him; hoping that by their joint application it would
be obtained:
unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellow labourer: the name of Philemon
is Greek; there was a Greek poet of this name, and a Greek historian that Pliny made use
of in compiling his history: there is indeed mention made in the Jewish writings (a), of a
Rabbi whose name was ‫,פלימו‬ "Philemo"; but this our Philemon seems to have been an
inhabitant of Colosse, and rather to have been a Gentile than a Jew; he was a rich and
hospitable man, and greatly respected, and therefore here called, "our dearly beloved";
that is, dearly beloved by the apostle and Timothy, not only as being a believer, but as
being also generous and useful in his station, and likewise as he was a minister of the
Gospel; for so the next phrase, "and fellow labourer", seems to import; for though such
are sometimes said to be labourers and fellow helpers with the apostle, who assisted in
carrying on the interest of Christ, with their purses, and prayers, and private
conversation; yet as it is used in this same epistle, of such who were in the work of the
ministry, Phm_1:24 it is very probable it is so to be understood here: and now though

these expressions of affection and respect were without dissimulation; nor were they
mere compliments; yet the intention of them was to work upon the mind of Philemon, to
reconcile him to his servant; suggesting, that as he had an interest in the affections of the
apostle and others, this would be a means of establishing it, and would be acting
agreeably to his character, as a minister of the Gospel,
HE RY, 1-2, "I. In the first two verses of the preface we have the persons from and
to whom it is written, with some annexed note or title, implying somewhat of argument
to the purpose of the letter.
1. The persons writing: Paul, the principal, who calls himself a prisoner of Jesus
Christ, that is, for Jesus Christ. To be a prisoner simply is no comfort nor honour; but
such as Paul was, for the faith and preaching of the gospel, this was true glory, and
proper to move Philemon upon the request made to him by such a one. A petition from
one suffering for Christ and his gospel would surely be tenderly regarded by a believer
and minister of Christ, especially when strengthened too with the concurrence of
Timothy, one eminent in the church, sometimes called by Paul his son in the faith, but
now, it is likely, grown more in years, he styles him his brother. What could be denied to
two such petitioners? Paul is not slight in serving a poor convert; he gets all the
additional help he can in it.
2. The persons written to are Philemon and Apphia, and with them Archippus, and
the church in Philemon's house. Philemon, the master of Onesimus, was the principal, to
whom the letter is inscribed, the head of the family, in whom were the authority and
power of taking in or shutting out, and whose property Onesimus was: with him
therefore chiefly lay the business. To Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellow-labourer;
a good man he was, and probably a minister, and on both accounts dearly beloved by
Paul. A lover of good men is one property of a good minister (Tit_1:8), and especially
must such love those who labour with them in the work of the gospel, and who are
faithful therein. The general calling as Christians knits those together who are Christian;
but, when conjunction in the special calling as ministers is added, this will be further
endearing. Paul, in the highest degree of ministry, not only calls Timothy, an evangelist,
his brother, but Philemon, an ordinary pastor, his dearly beloved fellow-labourer - an
example of humility and condescension, and of all affectionate regards, even in those
that are highest in the church, towards others that are labourers in the same special
heavenly calling. With Philemon Apphia is joined, probably his yoke-fellow; and, having
a concern in the domestic affairs, the apostle directs to her likewise. She was a party
offended and injured by Onesimus, and therefore proper to be taken notice of in a letter
for reconciliation and forgiveness. Justice and prudence would direct Paul to this
express notice of her, who might be helpful in furthering the good ends of his writing.
She is set before Archippus, as more concerned and having more interest. A kind
conjunction there is in domestic matters between husband and wife, whose interests are
one, and whose affections and actings must correspond. These are the principal parties
written to. The less principal are, Archippus, and the church in Philemon's house.
Archippus was a minister in the church of Colosse, Philemon's friend, and probably co-
pastor with him; Paul might think him one whom Philemon would advise with, and who
might be capable of furthering the good work of peace-making and forgiveness, and
therefore might judge fit to put him in the inscription of the letter, with the adjunct of
fellow-soldier. He had called Philemon his fellow-labourer. Ministers must look on
themselves as labourers and soldiers, who must therefore take pains, and endure
hardship; they must stand on their guard, and make good their post; must look on one

another as fellow-labourers, and fellow-soldiers, who must stand together, and
strengthen one another's hands and hearts in any work of their holy function and calling:
they need see to it that they be provided with spiritual weapons, and skill to use them; as
labourers they must minister the word, and sacraments, and discipline, and watch over
souls, as those that must give an account of them; and, as soldiers, they must fight the
Lord's battles, and not entangle themselves in the things of this life, but attend to the
pleasing of him who hath chosen them to be soldiers, 2Ti_2:4. To those it is added, And
to the church in thy house, his whole family, in which the worship of God was kept up, so
that he had, as it were, a church in his house. Observe, (1.) Families which generally may
be most pious and orderly may yet have one or other in them impious and wicked. This
was the aggravation of Onesimus's sin, that it was where he might and should have
learned better; it is likely that he was secret in him misconduct, till his flight discovered
him. Hearts are unknown but to God, till overt acts discover them. (2.) This one evil
servant did not hinder Philemon's house from being called and counted a church, for the
religious worship and order that were kept up in it; and such should all families be -
nurseries of religion, societies where God is called on, his word is read, his sabbaths are
observed, and the members are instructed in the knowledge of him and of their duty to
him, neglect of which is followed with ignorance and all corruption. Wicked families are
nurseries for hell, as good ones are for heaven. (3.) Masters and others of the family may
not think it enough to be good, singly and severally in their personal capacities, but they
must be socially so; as here Philemon's house was a church; and Paul, for some concern
that all might have in this matter of Onesimus, directs to them all, that their affection as
well as Philemon's might return to him, and that in their way and place they might
further, and not hinder, the reconciliation wished and sought. Desirable it is that all in a
family be well affected towards one another, for furthering their particular welfare and
for the common good and benefit of all. On such accounts might it be that Paul inscribed
his letter here so generally, that all might be the more ready to own and receive this poor
convert, and to behave affectionately towards him. Next to this inscription is,
JAMISO , "Phm_1:1-25. Address. Thanksgiving for Philemon’s love and faith.
Intercession for Onesimus. Concluding request and salutations.
This Epistle affords a specimen of the highest wisdom as to the manner in which
Christians ought to manage social affairs on more exalted principles.
prisoner of Jesus Christ — one whom Christ’s cause has made a prisoner
(compare “in the bonds of the Gospel,” (Phm_1:13). He does not call himself, as in other
Epistles, “Paul an apostle,” as he is writing familiarly, not authoritatively.
our ... fellow labourer — in building up the Church at Colosse, while we were at
Ephesus. See my Introduction to Colossians.
RWP, "A prisoner of Christ Jesus (desmios Christou Iēsou). As Phm_1:9 and in
Eph_3:1; Eph_4:1. Old adjective from desmos (bond, deō, to bind). Apparently used here
on purpose rather than apostolos as more effective with Philemon and a more touching
occasion of pride as Paul writes with his manacled right hand.
Timothy (Timotheos). With Paul in Ephesus (Act_19:22) and probably known to
Philemon. Associated with Paul also in I and II Thess., II Cor., Philipp., Colossians.
To Philemon (Philēmoni). A resident of Colossae and a convert of Paul’s (Phm_

1:19), perhaps coming to Ephesus while Paul was there when his ministry had so much
influence over the province of Asia (Act_19:9., 26; 1Co_16:19). The name Philemon
occurs in the legend of Baucis and Philemon (Ovid’s Metamorphoses), but with no
connection with the brother here. He was active in the church in Colossae (“our
Corinthians-worker,” sunergōi hēmōn) and was beloved (agapētōi) by Paul.
CALVI , "The singular loftiness of the mind of Paul, though it may be seen to
greater advantage in his other writings which treat of weightier matters, is also
attested by this Epistle, in which, while he handles a subject otherwise low and
mean, he rises to God with his wonted elevation. Sending back a runaway slave and
thief, he supplicates pardon for him. But in pleading this cause, he discourses about
Christian forbearance (269) with such ability, that he appears to speak about the
interests of the whole Church rather than the private affairs of a single individual.
In behalf of a man of the lowest condition, he demeans himself so modestly and
humbly, that nowhere else is the meekness of his temper painted in a more lively
manner.
1.A prisoner of Jesus Christ. In the same sense in which he elsewhere calls himself
an Apostle of Christ, or a minister of Christ, he now calls himself “ prisoner of
Christ;” because the chains by which he was bound on account of the gospel, were
the ornaments or badges of that embassy which he exercised for Christ.
Accordingly, he mentions them for the sake of strengthening his authority; not that
he was afraid of being despised, (for Philemon undoubtedly had so great reverence
and esteem for him, that there was no need of assuming any title,) but because he
was about to plead the cause of a runaway slave, the principal part of which was
entreaty for forgiveness.
To Philemon our friend and fellow-laborer. It is probable that this “” belonged to
the order of pastors; for the title with which he adorns him, when he calls him
fellow-laborer, is a title which he is not accustomed to bestow on a private
individual.
(269) “De la douceur, moderation, et humanite.” — “ gentleness, moderation, and
kindness.”
BURKITT, "Observe here, 1. The writer of this epistle described by his name, Paul;
by his condition, a prisoner of Jesus Christ; by his office, a labourer, a soldier, a
fellow-labourer, and a fellow-soldier with Philemon and Archippus.
Where note, That to be a labourer, a soldier, and a prisoner for Jesus Christ, are the
titles that St. Paul glories in, and not in worldly dignities. Paul, a prisoner of Jesus
Christ; yet was Paul a prisoner in libera custodia, not so closely confined but he had
pen, ink, and paper; God gave Paul then, as Joseph before, favour in the sight of the

keeper of the prison; Let persecutors send the saints to prison, God can provide a
keeper for their turn. Happy was it for thee, Onesimus, that Paul was sent to gaol;
his imprisonment was the happy occasion of thy spiritual liberty.
Observe, 2. The persons to whom the epistle is directed; first, and eminently, to
Philemon the master, and to Apphia, the mistress of the family, in which and with
whom Onesimus had dwelt, but was now run from. St. Paul writes to both, judging
the mistress's consent necessary for taking this fugitive back into her family, as well
as the master's; intimating thereby, that although the husband by the ordinance and
appointment of God has the highest place, the first and chief power in the
government of the family, yet the wife being given him of God, as an assistant and
fellow-helper in government, her subordinate authority given her by God is to be
owned and acknowledged.
ext, This epistle is directed to Archippus, who dwelt with or near Philemon: him
he calls his fellow-soldier, and Philemon his fellow- labourer.
Where note, That the ministers of the gospel are compared to soldiers; they have
enemies to encounter and conflict with, Satan's temptations, the world's
persecutions, sinners' corrrupt lusts and affections. Let the ministers of God then
reckon beforehand upon a toilsome and troublesome life; if they resolve to be
faithful, the devil will plant all his artillery against them.
Last of all, the epistle is directed to the church in Philemon's house, by which some
understand the company of Christians that met together at his house to worship
God; for Christians then had not liberty publicly to perform that duty: others
understand it of Philemon's own family, which speaks at once Philemon's privilege
and duty, that he had such a well-ordered family, that it was a little church; that is,
it was a lively image and representation of the church, both in its doctrine and
worship.
PULPIT, "A prisoner of Christ Jesus. He writes a private letter, as friend to friend,
and therefore does not describe himself by his official title of apostle. Having to
plead the cause of a slave, he begins by putting himself into a similar position as the
"bondman of Jesus Christ"—"to obtain thereby the more ready compliance"
(Chrysostom). By such a reverend bondage he beseeches Philemon, "and the
bondage of Paul was liberty to Onesimus" (Scipio Gentilis). Timothy, etc. He was,
then, with St. Paul at the time of writing; therefore at Rome; and this fixes the date
of composition at all events before that of the Second Epistle to Timothy, when the
apostle was again at Rome (2Ti_1:17; 2Ti_4:6, 2Ti_4:16). Fellow-worker with St.
Paul in promoting the spread of the gospel, either by his wealth and influence, less
probably by preaching. The time when would be that of St. Paul's long stay at
Ephesus and its neighborhood (Act_19:8-22).
MACLARE , "Phm_1:1-3 {R.V}.

THIS Epistle stands alone among Paul’s letters in being addressed to a private
Christian, and in being entirely occupied with a small though very singular private
matter; its aim being merely to bespeak a kindly welcome for a runaway slave who
had been induced to perform the unheard-of act of voluntarily returning to
servitude. If the ew Testament were simply a book of doctrinal teaching, this
Epistle would certainly be out of place in it; and if the great purpose of revelation
were to supply material for creeds, it would be hard to see what value could be
attached to a simple, short letter, from which no contribution to theological doctrine
or ecclesiastical order can be extracted. But if we do not turn to it for discoveries of
truth, we can find in it very beautiful illustrations of Christianity at work. It shows
us the operation of the new forces which Christ has lodged in humanity - and that
on two planes of action. It exhibits a perfect model of Christian friendship, refined
and ennobled by a half-conscious reflection of the love which has called us " no
longer slaves but friends," and adorned by delicate courtesies and quick
consideration, which divines with subtlest instinct what it will be sweetest to the
friend to hear, while it never approaches by a hair-breadth to flattery, nor forgets to
counsel high duties. But still more important is the light which the letter casts on the
relation of Christianity to slavery, which may be taken as a specimen of its relation
to social and political evils generally, and yields fruitful results for the guidance of
all who would deal with such.
It may be observed, too, that most of the considerations which Paul urges on
Philemon as reasons for his kindly reception of Onesimus do not even need the
alteration of a word, but simply a change in their application, to become worthy
statements of the highest Christian truths. As Luther puts it, "We are all God’s
Onesimuses"; and the welcome which Paul seeks to secure for the returning
fugitive, as well as the motives to which he appeals in order to secure it, do shadow
forth in no uncertain outline our welcome from God, and the treasures of His heart
towards us, because they are at bottom the same. The Epistle then is valuable, as
showing in a concrete instance how the Christian life, in its attitude to others, and
especially to those who have injured us, is all modelled upon God”s forgiving love to
us. Our Lord’s parable of the forgiven servant who took his brother by the throat
finds here a commentary, and the Apostle’s own preoept, " Be imitators of God, and
walk in love," a practical exemplification.
or is the light which the letter throws on the character of the Apostle to be
regarded as unimportant. The warmth, the delicacy, and what, if it were not so
spontaneous, we might call tact, the graceful ingenuity with which he pleads for the
fugitive, the perfect courtesy of every word, the gleam of playfulness - all fused
together and harmonized to one end, and that in so brief a compass and with such

unstudied ease and complete self-oblivion, make this Epistle a pure gem. Without
thought of effect, and with complete unconsciousness, this man beats all the famous
letter-writers on their own ground. That must have been a great intellect, and
closely conversant with the Fountain of all light and beauty, which could shape the
profound and far-reaching teachings of the Epistle to the Colossians, and pass from
them to the graceful simplicity and sweet kindliness of this exquisite letter; as if
Michael Angelo had gone straight from smiting his magnificent Moses from the
marble mass to incise some delicate and tiny figure of Love or Friendship on a
cameo.
The structure of the letter is of the utmost simplicity. It is not so much a structure as
a flow. There is the usual superscription and salutation, followed, according to
Paul’s custom, by the expression of his thankful recognition of the love and , faith of
Philemon and his prayer for the perfecting of these. Then he goes straight to the
business in hand, and with incomparable persuasiveness pleads for a welcome to
Onesimus, bringing all possible reasons to converge on that one request, with an
ingenious eloquence bornof earnestness. Having poured out his heart in this
pleasure adds no more but affectionate greetings from his companions and himself.
In the present section we shall confine our attention to the superscription and
opening salutation.
I. We may observe the Apostle’s designation of himself, as marked by consummate
and instinctive appreciation of the claims of friendship, and of his own position in
this letter as a suppliant.
He does not come to his friend clothed with apostolic authority. In his letters to the
Churches he always puts that in the forefront, and when he expected to be met by
opponents, as in Galatia, there is a certain ring of defiance in his claim to receive his
commission through no human intervention, but straight from heaven. Sometimes,
as in the Epistle to the Colossians, he unites another strangely contrasted title, and
calls himself also "the slave" of Christ; the one name asserting authority, the other
bowing in humility before his Owner and Master. But here he is writing as a friend
to a friend, and his object is to win his friend to a piece of Christian conduct which
may be somewhat against the grain. Apostolic authority will not go half so far as
personal influence in this case. So he drops all reference to it, and, instead, lets
Philemon hear the fetters jangling on his limbs - a more powerful plea. "Paul, a
prisoner," surely that would go straight to Philemon’s heart, and give all but
irresistible force to the request which follows. Surely if he could do anything to show

his love and gratify even momentarily his friend in prison, he would not refuse it. If
this designation had been calculated to produce effect, it would have lost all its
grace; but no one with any ear for the accents of inartificial spontaneousness, can
fail to hear them in the unconscious pathos of these opening words, which say the
right thing, all unaware of how right it is.
There is great dignity also, as well as profound faith, in the next words, in which the
Apostle calls himself a prisoner "of Christ Jesus." With what calm ignoring of all
subordinate agencies he looks to the true author of his captivity! either Jewish
hatred nor Roman policy had shut him up in Rome. Christ Himself had riveted his
manacles on his wrists, therefore he bore them as lightly and proudly as a bride
might wear the bracelet that her husband had clasped on her arm. The expression
reveals both the author of and the reason for his imprisonment, and discloses the
conviction which held him up in it. He thinks of his Lord as the Lxjrd of providence,
whose hand moves the pieces on the board - Pharisees, and Roman governors, and
guards, and Caesar; and he knows that he is an ambassador in bonds, for no crime,
but for the testimony of Jesus. We need only notice that his younger companion
Timothy is associated with the Apostle in the superscription, but disappears at once.
The reason for the introduction of his name may either have been the slight
additional weight thereby given to the request of the letter, or more probably, the
additional authority thereby given to the junior, who would, in all likelihood, have
much of Paul’s work devolved on him when Paul was gone.
The names of the receivers of the letter bring before us a picture seen, as by one
glimmering light across the centuries, of a Christian household in that Phrygian
valley. The head of it, Philemon, appears to have been a native of, or at all events a
resident in, Colossse; for Onesimus, his slave, is spoken of in the Epistle to the
Church there as "one of you." He was a person of some standing and wealth, for he
had a house large enough to admit of a " Church " assembling in it, and to
accommodate the Apostle and his travelling companions if he should visit Colossae.
He had apparently the means for large pecuniary help to poor brethren, and
willingness to use them, for we read of the refreshment which his kindly deeds had
imparted. He had been one of Paul’s converts, and owed his own self to him; so that
he must have met the Apostle, - who had probably not been in Colossae, - on some of
his journeys, perhaps during his three years’ residence in Ephesus. He was of
mature years, if, as is probable, Archippus, who was old enough to have service to
do in the Church {Col_4:17}, was his son.
He is called "our fellow-labourer." The designation may imply some actual co-
operation at a former time. But more probably, the phrase, like the similar one in
the next verse, "our fellow-soldier," is but Paul’s gracefully affectionate way of

lifting these good people’s humbler work out of its narrowness, by associating it
with his own. They in their little sphere, and he in his wider, were workers at the
same task. All who toil for furtherance of Christ’s kingdom, however widely they
may be parted by time or distance, are fellow-workers. Division of labour does not
impair unity of service. The field is wide, and the months between seedtime and
harvest are long; but all the husbandmen have been engaged in the same great
work, and though they have toiled alone shall "rejoice together." The first man who
dug a shovelful of earth for the foundations of Cologne Cathedral, and he who fixed
the last stone on the topmost spire a thousand years after, are fellow-workers. So
Paul and Philemon, though their tasks were widely different in kind, in range, and
in importance, and were carried on apart and independent of each other, were
fellow-workers. The one lived a Christian life and helped some humble saints in an
insignificant, remote corner; the other flamed through the whole then civilized
western world, and sheds light to-day : but the obscure, twinkling taper and the
blazing torch were kindled at the same source, shone with the same light, and were
parts of one great whole. Our narrowness is rebuked, our despondency cheered, our
vulgar tendency to think little of modest, obscure service rendered by commonplace
people, and to exaggerate the worth of the more conspicuous, is corrected by such a
thought. However small may be our capacity or sphere, and however solitary we
may feel, we may summon up before the eyes of our faith a mighty multitude of
apostles, martyrs, toilers in every land and age as our - even our - workfellows. The
field stretches far beyond our vision, and many are toiling in it for Him, whose work
never comes near ours. There are differences of service, but the same Lord, and all
who have the same master are companions in labour. Therefore Paul, the greatest of
the servants of Christ, reaches down his hand to the obscure Philemon, and says,
"He works the work of the Lord, as I also do."
In the house at Colossae there was a Christian wife by the side of a Christian
husband; at least, the mention of Apphia here in so prominent a position is most
naturally accounted for by supposing her to be the wife of Philemon. Her friendly
reception of the runaway would be quite as important as his, and it is therefore most
natural that the letter bespeaking it should be addressed to both. The probable
reading "our sister" {R.V.}, instead of "our beloved" {A.V.}, gives the distinct
assurance that she too was a Christian, and like-minded with her husband.
The prominent mention of this Phrygian matron is an illustration of the way in
which Christianity, without meddling with social usages, introduced a new tone of
feeling about the position of woman, which gradually changed the face of the world,
is still working, and has further revolutions to affect. The degraded classes of the
Greek world were slaves and women. This Epistle touches both, and shows us
Christianity in the very act of elevating both. The same process strikes the fetters
from the slave and sets the wife by the side of the husband, "yoked in all exercise of
noble end," - namely, the proclamation of Christ as the Saviour of all mankind, and

of all human creatures as equally capable of receiving an equal salvation. That
annihilates all distinctions. The old world was parted by deep gulfs. There were
three of special depth and width, across which it was hard for sympathy to fly.
These were the distinctions of race, sex, and condition. But the good news that
Christ has died for all men, and is ready to live in all men, has thrown a bridge
across, or rather has filled up, the ravine; so the Apostle bursts into his triumphant
proclamation, There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there
is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."
A third name is united with those of husband and wife, that of Archippus. The close
relation in which the names stand, and the purely domestic character of the letter,
make it probable that he was a son of the wedded pair. At all events, he was in some
way part of their household, possibly some kind of teacher and guide. We meet his
name also in the Epistle to the Colossians, and, from the nature of the reference to
him there, we draw the inference that he filled some "ministry" in the Church of
Laodicea. The nearness of the two cities made it quite possible that he should live in
Philemon’s house in Colossae and yet go over to Laodicea for his work.
The Apostle calls him "his fellow-soldier," a phrase which is best explained in the
same fashion as is the previous " fellow-worker," namely, that by it Paul graciously
associates Archippus with himself, different as their tasks were. The variation of
soldier for worker probably is due to the fact of Archippus’ being the bishop of the
Laodicean Church. In any case, it is very beautiful that the grizzled veteran officer
should thus, as it were, clasp the hand of this young recruit, and call him his
comrade. How it would go to the heart of Archippus!
A somewhat stern message is sent to Archippus in the Colossian letter. Why did not
Paul send it quietly in this Epistle instead of letting a whole Church know of it? It
seems at first sight as if he had chosen the harshest way; but perhaps further
consideration may suggest that the reason was an instinctive unwillingness to
introduce a jarring note into the joyous friendship and confidence which sounds
through this Epistle, and to bring public matters into this private communication.
The warning would come with more effect from the Church, and this cordial
message of goodwill and confidence would prepare Archippus to receive the other,
as rain showers make the ground soft for the good seed. The private affection would
mitigate the public exhortation with whatever rebuke may have been in it.
A greeting is sent, too, to "the Church in thy house." As in the case of the similar
community in the house of ymphas {Col_4:15}, we cannot decide whether by this

expression is meant simply a Christian family, or some little company of believers
who were wont to meet beneath Philemon’s roof for Christian converse and
worship. The latter seems the more probable supposition. It is natural that they
should be addressed; for Onesimus, if received by Philemon, would naturally
become a member of the group, and therefore it was important to secure their good
will.
So we have here shown to us, by one stray beam of twinkling light, for a moment, a
very sweet picture of the domestic life of that Christian household in their remote
valley. It shines still to us across the centuries, which have swallowed up so much
that seemed more permanent, and silenced so much that made far more noise in its
day. The picture may well set us asking ourselves the question whether we, with all
our boasted advancement, have been able to realize the true ideal of Christian
family life as these three did. The husband and wife dwelling as heirs together of the
grace of life, their child beside them sharing their faith and service, their household
ordered in the ways of the Lord, their friends Christ’s friends, and their social joys
hallowed and serene - what nobler form of family life can be conceived than that ?
What a rebuke to, and satire on, many a so-called Christian household!
II. We may deal briefly with the apostolic salutation, "Grace to you and peace from
God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ," as we have already had to speak of it in
considering the greeting to the Colossians.
The two main points to be observed in these words are the comprehensiveness of the
Apostle’s loving wish, and the source to which he looks for its fulfilment. Just as the
regal title of the King, whose Throne was the Cross, was written in the languages of
culture, of law, and of religion, as an unconscious prophecy of His universal reign;
so, with like unintentional felicity, we have blended here the ideals of good which
the East and the West have framed for those to whom they wish good, in token that
Christ is able to slake all the thirsts of the soul, and that whatsoever things any races
of men have dreamed as the chiefest blessings, these are all to be reached through
Him and Him only.
But the deeper lesson here is to be found by observing that " grace " refers to the
action of the Divine heart, and " peace " to the result thereof in man’s experience.
As we have noted in commenting on Col. i. 2, " grace " is free, undeserved,
unmotived, self-springing love. Hence it comes to mean, not only the deep fountain
in the Divine nature, that His love, which, like some strong spring, leaps up and
gushes forth by an inward impulse, in neglect of all motives drawn from the

lovableness of its objects, such as determine our poor human loves, but also the
results of that bestowing love in men’s characters, or, as we say, the "graces" of the
Christian soul. They are "grace," not only because in the aesthetic sense of the word
they are beautiful, but because, in the theological meaning of it, they are the
products of the giving love and power of God. "Whatsoever things are lovely and of
good report," all nobilities, tendernesses, exquisite beauties, and steadfast strengths
of mind and heart, of will and disposition - all are the gifts of God’s undeserved and
open-handed love.
The fruit of such grace received is peace. In other places the Apostle twice gives a
fuller form of this salutation, inserting "mercy" between the two here named; as
also does St. John in his second Epistle. That fuller form gives us the source in the
Divine heart, the manifestation of grace in the Divine act, and the outcome in human
experience; or as we may say, carrying on the metaphor, the broad, calm lake which
the grace, flowing to us in the stream of mercy, makes, when it opens out in our
hearts. Here, however, we have but the ultimate source, and the effect in us.
All the discords of our nature and circumstances can be harmonized by that grace
which is ready to flow into our hearts. Peace with God, with ourselves, with our
fellows, repose in the midst of change, calm in conflict, may be ours. All these
various applications of the one idea should be included in our interpretation, for
they are all included in fact in the peace which God’s grace brings where it lights.
The first and deepest need of the soul is conscious amity and harmony with God,
and nothing but the consciousness of His love as forgiving and healing brings that.
We are torn asunder by conflicting passions, and our hearts are the battleground
for conscience and inclination, sin and goodness, hopes and fears, and a hundred
other contending emotions. othing but a heavenly power can make the lion within
lie down with the lamb. Our natures are " like the troubled sea, which cannot rest,"
whose churning waters cast up the foul things that lie in their slimy beds; but where
God’s grace comes, a great calm hushes the tempests, " and birds of peace sit
brooding on the charmed wave."
We are compassed about by foes with whom we have to wage undying warfare, and
by hostile circumstances and difficult tasks which need continual conflict; but a man
with God’s grace in his heart may have the rest of submission, the repose of trust,
the tranquillity of him who "has ceased from his own works": and so, while the
daily struggle goes on and the battle rages round, there may be quiet, deep and
sacred, in his heart.

The life of nature, which is a selfish life, flings us into unfriendly rivalries with
others, and sets us battling for our own hands, and it is hard to pass out of ourselves
sufficiently to live peaceably with all men. But the grace of God in our hearts drives
out self, and changes the man who truly has it into its own likeness. He who knows
that he owes everything to a Divine love which stooped to his lowliness, and
pardoned his sins, and enriched him with all which he has that is worthy and noble,
cannot but move among men, doing with them, in his poor fashion, what God has
done with him.
Thus, in all the manifold forms in which restless hearts need peace, the grace of God
brings it to them. The great river of mercy which has its source deep in the heart of
God, and in His free, undeserved love, pours into poor, unquiet spirits, and there
spreads itself into a placid lake, on whose still surface all heaven is mirrored.
The elliptical form of this salutation leaves it doubtful whether we are to see in it a
prayer or a prophecy, a wish or an assurance. According to the probable reading of
the parallel greeting in the second Epistle of John, the latter would be the
construction; but probably it is best to combine both ideas, and to see here, as
Bengel does in the passage referred to in John’s Epistle, "votum cum affirmatione"
- a desire which is so certain of its own fulfilment, that it is a prophecy, just because
it is a prayer.
The ground of the certainty lies in the source from which the grace and peace come.
They flow “from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." The placing of both
names under the government of one preposition implies the mysterious unity of the
Father with the Son; while conversely St. John, in the parallel passage just
mentioned, by employing two prepositions, brings out the distinction between the
Father, who is the fontal source, and the Son, who is the flowing stream. But both
forms of the expression demand for their honest explanation the recognition of the
divinity of Jesus Christ. How dare a man, who thought of Him as other than Divine,
put His name thus by the side of God’s, as associated with the Father in the bestowal
of grace? Surely such words, spoken without any thought of a doctrine of the
Trinity, and which are the spontaneous utterance of Christian devotion, are
demonstration, not to be gainsaid, that to Paul, at all events, Jesus Christ was, in the
fullest sense. Divine. The double source is one source, for in the Son is the whole
fullness of the Godhead; and the grace of God, bringing with it the peace of God, is
poured into that spirit which bows humbly before Jesus Christ, and trusts Him
when He says, with love in His eyes and comfort in His tones, " My grace is
sufficient for thee"; "My peace give I unto you."

BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, "Phm_1:1
Paul a prisoner of Jesus Christ
A pathetic commencement
St.Paul does not give himself the title of “apostle” in this place. The very first word
in which he speaks of himself is pathetic. He refers to his chains no less than five
times in this short letter (Phm_1:1; Phm_1:9-10; Phm_1:13; Phm_1:23). He feels it
glorious to suffer shame for his Lord’s sake, and blessed to inherit the beatitude of
those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake (Mat_5:10). He literally fulfils the
exhortation of St. Peter (1Pe_4:14-16). (Bp. Wm. Alexander.)
A lofty title
To me it seems a loftier thing that he should style himself “prisoner of Jesus Christ”
than “apostle.” The apostles gloried because they were counted worthy to suffer
shame for the ame (Act_5:41); but the authority of bonds is irresistible. He who is
about to plead for Onesimus feels that he should plead in such a form that he could
not be refused. (Jerome.)
The bondman seen to advantage
We dwell on the circumstances of his imprisonment--we fondly recall his vexatious
position--because the whole “surroundings” of this letter lend additional effect to its
inherent grace. It is when the fragrant herb is pressed that it gives forth the richest
odour; and it is when Paul’s heart is being tried that it breathes out the tenderest
sympathy. Himself a bondman, “with gyves upon his wrist,” he pleads the cause of
that other bondman, whose story is the burden of the letter. It is when he is a much
wronged captive that he begs forgiveness for a wrongdoer, and when society is
making war upon himself he plays the part of peacemaker with others. As dewdrops
are seen to best advantage on the blades of grass from which they hang, or gems
sparkle brightest in their appropriate settings, so may we regard Paul’s
imprisonment as the best foil to the design of this letter. Wrongs and oppressive
suffering may drive even wise men mad; but here it only seems to evoke Paul’s
tenderest feelings, and open wide the sluices of his affectionate sympathies. (A. H.
Drysdale, M. A.)
Christ the Christian’s supreme motive

“Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ.” The one point in this clause that we have to do
with now is that wherever Paul was and whatever he was doing, the place he was in
and the work he was about were always coloured by reminiscences and
considerations of the relation in which he stood to his Divine Lord, Jesus Christ. If it
was any kind of service he was rendering, why, he writes himself “the servant of
Jesus Christ.” If he viewed himself in the character of a message bearer, why, then,
always it was from Christ he received the message; and he writes himself “the
apostle of Jesus Christ.” That relation of his to his Lord underlay every other
relation: it was the fundamental fact in his experience, and determined everything
that pertained to him, inwardly and outwardly. And now in this letter to Philemon it
is “Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ.” This means not simply that it was Christ that
had imprisoned him, or that his imprisonment came about in consequence of his
having preached Christ’s gospel; he means all of this, perhaps, but he means,
besides, that in whatever place he is, in whatever relation he stands, he is Christ’s in
that place and relation; Christ was the Greenwich from which he counted longitude,
the Equator from which be reckoned latitude. If he was out of doors and at liberty,
why then he was the Lord’s freeman; if he was in prison and fettered, then he was
the Lord’s prisoner. This same determining influence comes out in the fourteenth
chapter of his Roman letter, when he says, “Whether we live, we live unto the Lord;
and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live, therefore, or die, we are
the Lord’s.” This explains the compactness of Paul’s life--the gathering in of all the
loose ends--the unity of it. Wherever you touch him, after his conversion, you find
him the same man all through. At the same time, nobody finds in the devotedness to
Christ of this man Paul anything unwholesome. That is one of the startling and
instructive features of his case. We are constantly encountering people who have a
great deal of piety, but who take piety in a hard way. They are what we are going to
call cranks--holy cranks. ot impostors, but holiness that has passed the line that
divides between health and fever. Paul’s letters make good reading for any one who
suspects that there is any inherent antagonism between ordinary sense and a mind
all alive unto the Lord. The more reason a man has, the more opportunity there is
for faith; and the greater his faith, the more need of reason to foster, sustain, and
guarantee it. If what are known as very holy people are sometimes intellectually out
of joint with the good sense of the people about them, it is due to some other cause
than the whole heartedness of their devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. Abnormal
specimens of piety ought not to be taken as indices of the true quality and import of
piety, any more than deranged minds should be accepted as fair exponents of what
intelligence is and can do, or than a man with an excess of fingers, or two heads, or a
club foot, should be counted a just exponent of human anatomy. It is rather
surprising, and betrays lack of honesty, that in matters of religion objectors pick for
the most unlucky examples, and insist on estimating religion by them, but in other
matters grade their judgments by the best obtainable exponents. Because buildings
sometimes fall beneath their own weight, we do not give up our faith in architecture;
and when we go into a new town to live, the first thing we seek for is a house to live
in. Do not, then, be repelled from this matter of whole hearted commitment to Jesus
Christ because you know of some people who have made very hard and awkward
and morbid work of being holy. Select the most winning specimens, not the most
repellent, you know of, and take from the best the law of your estimate. In that way

only can you be just to yourselves and just to the truth. Besides this, in insisting
upon the unifying of our nature--this bending of it all to one end, in order to the
largest attainments in Christian character and living--we are only commending that
same policy of whole heartedness which prevails in secular matters, and which,
unfortunately, asserts itself there with a good deal more constancy and
strenuousness than it does in affairs distinctively personal and Christian. Other
things being equal, the amount that we attain in any department will be according
to the intensity with which we concentrate ourselves upon the one object that we are
in pursuit of. o one understands this better than the business men and the money
makers that are here this morning. Concentration pays. Incompatible motives
weaken results. I only want it should be realised what a practical thing this whole
heartedness is, and how full of effect it is. All of this points one way. It means that
you must gather yourself in upon a purpose if you are going to succeed in it. It is
just as true in art, law, medicine, literature, as in money making. Attainments are
according to the degree in which we make ourselves solid in their pursuit. There is,
then, nothing absurd or impracticable in the matter of concentration. When,
therefore, we ask a man to become solid for Christ, we are only asking him to bend
himself beneath the sweep of one imperial motive, and to aim at Christian results
along the only way by which in any field of acquisition the largest results are
attainable. This matter goes by supreme motive. And it is not hard to find out the
supreme motive. We have occasional warm days in winter, but there is no difficulty
deciding whether it is January or July. If you fall in with a man who has devoted
himself in any generous, cordial way to art, you never have difficulty in saying
whether he is an artist or an engineer. His conversation will carry the flavour of art;
his library or studio will exhibit the literature and tokens of art. His whole style,
taste, choices, phrases, haunts, will be redolent with his aesthetic engrossments.
These matters are not brought in review by way of criticism. A man can do nothing
well while working counter to the grain of his impulses. A man’s hands will not do
good work, his thoughts will not do good work, unless heart goes with them. If a
man who is engrossedly an artist brings everything to the arbitrament of beauty,
then a man who is engrossedly a Christian brings everything to the arbitrament of
Christ; and wherever he is, the conscious or unconscious sense of what Christ is to
him will shape his thoughts, mould his affections, determine his purposes, and
engender his activities. I hope it is not necessary to say that this does not stand in the
way of men’s having other aims and ends. Christianity has never embarrassed
wholesome art, or science, or literature, or trade, or commerce; rather has she been
the foster mother of all these. Because the moon goes around the sun does not hinder
its going around the earth every day on its way round. Christ is the Christian’s sun.
Whatever other orbits he describes--and there will be a good many of them,
according to the various relations in life in which he is naturally and properly and
necessarily placed--whatever other orbits he describes, they will only be fluctuations
this side and that of the one continuous circuit about the solar centre. To any one,
then, who asks what it is to be a Christian, and who wants a definite answer, here is
a definite answer. Take that man whose character and life are delineated in the
evangelists; familiarise yourself with that delineation; walk by faith with the unique
person it depicts--call it, to begin with, what you please, but walk with it; let it show
itself to you and tell its best story to you, and let it, so fast as it becomes revealed to

you, decide for you what you shall be and what you shall do. You perceive we are
saying nothing about doctrines; we are talking about a life. We are not urging you
to accept something that you find yourself mentally incapacitated from believing.
Let the unique figure delineated in the gospels grow upon you, if it will, and it
probably will, if you lend yourself to it; and then so fast as it does become a personal
fact and a real presence to you, let it settle for you the questions of daily living in the
order in which they come up to be settled, making it the final court of appeal, and
saying in each perplexity, What does the light of such a life as that show that I ought
to do in this exigency? I am distressed by the dilettanteism that is in our Christian
communities, by which I mean the numbers, even inside of the Church, who have
taken up Christianity simply as polite pastime; men and women who are not
supremely motived by Christ, and who gain a little smattering in the matter because
it is rather a nice thing to do, or take it up on occasion when there is nothing else
pressing; men and women who are worldly in all their heart experiences and
ambitions, and to whom Christianity--what they have of it--is only a wash or a
veneer. The initial act in becoming a Christian is to subordinate everything to Jesus
Christ, and then the question as to field and occupation comes in for adjustment
afterwards. (C. H. Parkhurst.)
The blot wiped out
The title of a prisoner, in the eyes of the world, is full of reproach; but when it is for
Christ’s sake the blot is wiped out. (W. Attersoll.)
A prisoner for Christ
The apostle testifieth he was a prisoner for Christ and the gospel, not for his own
sins and offences. It is not our suffering barely considered can honour us with the
reward of glory and the crown of martyrdom, but the cause in which we die and the
quarrel in which we suffer. True it is, afflictions are common to the godly and
ungodly, they are imprisoned alike; but albeit the afflictions be one and the same,
yet the cause is not one and the same for which they are afflicted. The ungodly are
punished for their sins; the godly are afflicted for a good conscience. Abel is
murdered of his brother; Cain is cursed and condemned to be a fugitive upon the
earth. Both of them are afflicted, but the cause is diverse. Abel is killed for his
godliness; Cain is punished for his wickedness. Christ had His feet and His hands
nailed on the Cross, so had the two thieves; they suffered all one punishment, but
how contrary were the causes of Him and them, seeing He suffered without cause,
but they justly had the sentence of death executed upon them, as one of them
confessed (Luk_33:5). Let us not, therefore, only fasten our eyes and look upon the
bare punishment, but consider what the cause is, and, according to the cause, esteem
both of the person and of the punishment. Some are prisoners of men, others are
prisoners of the devil, of whom they are holden captive, and both of them for their

wickedness; but if we will be martyrs of Christ we must be the prisoners of Christ.
(W. Attersoll.)
Lessons
I. This epistle came out of the prison. The Spirit, therefore, was Paul’s companion in
the prison, and so is He to all God’s children that are prisoners of Jesus Christ, and
in more special sort communicating Himself unto them, whereby it cometh to pass
that at such times, and in such estates, they are more fit for holy duties than in any
other. Then pray they more feelingly and fervently (Rom_8:1-39), then also as here
we see writ, they exhort more powerfully and passionately, as me thinketh, in those
Epistles which Paul wrote in the prison, there seemeth a greater measure of holy
zeal and fervent affections than in any other.
II. But now Paul, writing this Epistle in the prison, as many others also, herein
further appeareth the good providence of God.
1. In that even in the time of this his restraint, he had yet liberty of pen, will, and
paper, yea, and of a scribe too, sometimes, and those which did minister unto him.
2. God’s providence also herein did show itself that would not suffer Paul, so skilful
a workman, to be idle and do nothing in the business of the Lord, but would have a
supply of his apostolical preaching made by his writing.
III. Again, it is to be observed that St. Paul doth not simply call himself prisoner,
but with this condition, of Jesus Christ. The title of a prisoner in itself is
ignominious; but when he addeth “of Jesus Christ” all stain of ignominy is clean
wiped away.
IV. But here is not all that we must look to in our sufferings, that our cause be good,
but also that we suffer for a good cause, in a good manner. The which point is
further commended unto us in Paul’s example, who was not only a prisoner of Jesus
Christ, but also a cheerful and courageous prisoner of Jesus Christ; for so far was
he from being ashamed of his chain, wherewithal for the hope of Israel’s sake he
was bound, that he even glorieth in it, accounting it far more honour able than a
chain of gold about his neck.

V. Lastly, we are to observe in Paul’s example the duty of all the ministers, namely,
to make good their preaching by the prison, if need be, their sayings by their
sufferings. Oh, base is that liberty, yea, baser than the basest bondage, which is got
by flinching from that truth, which we have preached and professed. (D. Dyke, B.
D.)
A prisoner of Christ
Samuel Rutherford, in prison, used to date his letters, “Christ’s Palace, Aberdeen.”
He wrote to a friend: “The Lord is with me; I care not what man can do. I burden
no man. I want nothing. o king is better provided than I am. Sweet, sweet, and
easy is the cross of my Lord. All men I look in the face, of whatsoever rank, nobles
and poor. Acquaintance and strangers are friendly to me. My Well-beloved is
kinder and more warm than ordinary, and cometh and visiteth my soul. My chains
are over-gilded with gold. o pen, no words, no engine, can express to you the
loveliness of my only Lord Jesus. Thus in haste I make for my palace at Aberdeen.”
The Lord’s prisoner
When Madame Guyon was imprisoned in the Castle of Vincennes, in 1695, she not
only sang but wrote songs of praise to her God. “It sometimes seemed to me,” she
said, “as if I were a little bird whom the Lord had placed in a cage, and that I had
nothing now to do but sing. The joy of my heart gave a brightness to the objects
around me. The stones of my prison looked in my eyes like rubies. I esteemed them
more than all the gaudy brilliancies of a vain world. My heart was full of that joy
which Thou givest to them that love Thee in the midst of their greatest crosses.”
And Timothy our brother--
Paul and Timothy--the old and the young
I. In the text we see age and youth together. ot separate, not looking ashamed at
each other, not divided by incompatibilities or jealousies, but in union. The young
often flee from the old. The old are often impatient with the young. Here is an
instance of union. The advantages are obvious.
1. The old will contribute the wisdom of experience.
2. The young will quicken the animation of hope. o doubt temporary difficulties
will arise.

II. Though age and youth are together, yet age takes precedence of youth. It is Paul
and Timothy, not Timothy and Paul. A principle of right settles all questions of
priority. It is not beautiful, because it is not right, that youth should take precedence
of age. There are many ways of taking virtual precedence.
1. Contradiction.
2. Impatience.
3. eglect.
III. Though age takes precedence of youth, yet both age and youth are engaged in
common service. Paul and Timothy are both servants, it is not Paul the master and
Timothy the servant, they are both included under one name. See how one great
relationship determines all minor conditions and attitudes; as between themselves,
Paul was father, and Timothy was son; Paul was renowned, and Timothy was
obscure; Paul was senior, and Timothy was junior; but looked at as before Christ
the one Lord, they were both servants. Many reflections arise out of this regulating
power of one absorbing relationship or union. The Alps and Apennines are great
mountains in themselves; yet they are less than pimples when looked at in their
relation to the whole world. The earth itself is a “great globe” to its own inhabitants;
it is a mere speck of light to the nearest star. A man who is a very important
tradesman in a small town, may not have been so much as heard of in the great city.
Through and through life we see how relationships supremely important as between
themselves, are modified by one great bond. The right way to take our proper
measure, and to chasten our ambition, is to look at the highest relationships of all.
The great citizen dwindles into his right proportions when he looks at the Creator;
the mighty potentate, when he looks at the King of kings; the philanthropist, when
he looks at the Saviour. The noisy, rushing, furious train seems to be going fast; let
it look at the flying stars, and be humble! Compared with them it is a lame insect
toiling in the dust. Life should never be looked at as merely between one man and
another. Look at it as between the finite and the infinite--between the momentary
and the eternal--between the ignorant and the omniscient. It will thus be elevated.
o man will then think of himself more highly than he ought to think. The Alps will
not scorn the molehills. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Brotherhood in Christ
In the Church of Christ all are brethren. They have “one heavenly Father; one first-
born brother, Christ; one seed of regeneration, the Divine Word; one inheritance of
eternal life.” Mutual love is the basis of true Church fellowship. “As natural

relationship produces natural affection, so spiritual relationship produces spiritual
affection.” It will be--
1. An unfeigned love (1Pe_1:22). ot the profession of the lip, which may fail if put
to a practical test.
2. A pure love. In sympathy with whatever is godlike in fellow believers. Grace in
the heart seeking and fostering its kindred grace in others. There is need of clearer
evidence that the love which is of God has place in hearts on earth.
3. A fervent love. A fire burning up natural selfishness. An habitual consideration of
the things of others rather than our own.
4. A lasting love. It has come from God, the eternal source of light, and it bears us
on to Him again. (A. W. Johnson.)
Lessons
I. The humility of Paul, who, though an apostle in the highest degree of the ministry
(Eph_4:11; 1Co_12:28), yet disdaineth not to yoke himself, not only with the
Evangelist Timothy, an inferior degree, but even with an ordinary pastor, Philemon,
who was yet of a lower place than Timothy. Art thou a pastor? Speak and do as a
pastor to thy fellow pastors, and not as though thou wert an apostle or evangelist.
II. I observe the cause of Paul’s love to Philemon by the conjunction of these two
things together, beloved and fellow worker. The latter is the cause of the former,
therefore was Philemon beloved of Paul, because his fellow worker in the ministry.
Those that are joined together in the same calling ought in this regard more dearly
to love one another. True it is that the general calling of a Christian should be a
sufficient bond to knit together in true love the hearts of all Christians. But when to
this bond there cometh a second of our special callings, our hearts should be more
firmly knit together, that so it might appear that when our hearts shall be linked
together by the bond of nature, or Christian and special calling, that a three-fold
cord is not easily broken. But where shall we find this sweet conjunction of beloved
and fellow worker? In the most men the proverb is verified. One potter envies
another. But far be this envy from all Christians of what calling soever, specially of
the ministry. The ministers must love together as brethren, and with one heart and
hand give themselves to the Lord’s business. Far be from them the mind of the
monopolists, that they should go about to engross the Word of God to themselves;
nay, rather with Moses let them wish that all God’s people were prophets. (D. Dyke,
B. D.)

Two better than one
Paul joineth Timothy with him in this suit, because howsoever he were in great
credit with Philemon, and able to obtain a great matter at his hands, yet he knew he
should prevail better by the help of another than he could do himself alone, seeing
two may prevail more than one. He honoureth him also with the name of a dear
brother, whom oftentimes, because he had converted him, he calleth a natural son,
that his gifts and graces may be considered with his person, and carry the greater
weight in his suit, and so Philemon sooner yield his consent and grant this request,
being requested, and as it were set upon by so many. From this practice of the
apostle we learn that what good thing soever we take in hand we shall better effect it
with others than alone by ourselves. The joining unto us the hand and help of others
is profitable and necessary to all things belonging unto us for the better performing
and accomplishing of them. Two are better than one. Abimelech, being directed by
God to stir up Abraham, obtaineth by his means, who prayed for him, that which he
could not compass and accomplish alone by himself. Absalom not being able to
purchase and procure of himself the goodwill of his father, moved Joab to deal for
him, Joab useth the help of the subtle woman of Tekoah, whereby he is reconciled to
his father. Hereby it cometh to pass that Paul so often requesteth the prayers of the
Church that utterance may be given unto him, that he may open his mouth boldly to
publish the secrets of the gospel. All those places of Scripture prove plainly and
directly unto us, that what matter of weight and importance soever we enterprise
and go about, it is good for us to take to ourselves the help of others to further us
therein. (W. Attersoll.)
Unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellow labourer--
A Christian household
The names of the receivers of the letter bring before us a picture seen, as by one
glimmering light across the centuries, of a Christian household in that Phrygian
valley. The head of it, Philemon, appears to have been a native of, or at all events a
resident in, Colosse, for Onesimus his slave, is spoken of in the Epistle to the Church
there as “one of you.” He was a person of some standing and wealth, for he had a
house large enough to admit of a “church” assembling in it, and to accommodate the
apostle and his travelling companions if he should visit Colosse. He had apparently
the means for large pecuniary help to poor brethren, and willingness to use them,
for we read of the refreshment which his kindly deeds had imparted. He had been
one of Paul’s converts, and owed his own self to him. He is called “our fellow
labourer.” The designation may imply some actual cooperation at a former time.
But more probably the phrase is but Paul’s gracefully affectionate way of lifting his
humbler work out of its narrowness, by associating it with his own. All who toil for

furtherance of Christ’s kingdom, however widely they may be parted by time or
distance, are fellow workers. The first man who dug a shovelful of earth for the
foundation of Cologne Cathedral, and he who fixed the last stone on the topmost
spire a thousand years after, are fellow workers. However small may be our
capacity or sphere, or however solitary we may feel, we may summon up before the
eyes of our faith a mighty multitude of apostles, martyrs, toilers in every land and
age as our--even our--work fellows. The field stretches far beyond our vision, and
many are toiling in it for Him whose work never comes near ours. There are
differences of service, but the same Lord, and all who have the same master are
companions in labour. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Fellow labourers
They that put to their helping hand any kind of way, for the furtherance of the
gospel, are the minister’s fellow labourers, that edify their brethren in the most holy
faith, that exhort one another while it is called today, that comfort one another, that
are as bells to toll others to Christ, are the preacher’s fellow labourers. So was the
woman of Samaria that called the whole city to Christ, those women that ministered
to Christ of their own substance, also Priscilla and Aquila, who expounded to
Apollos the way of God more perfectly. Let us all thus be fellow labourers, and our
labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. (W. Jones, D. D.)
Philemon
He addresses himself unto Philemon as his dearly beloved and fellow labourer. ow
if he was so dearly beloved by Paul he could not but love one by whom he was so
much beloved; and if he had that love for Paul, which Paul’s love for him challenged
as a suitable return of gratitude, he would give him a testimony of his affection by
gratifying him in his request. It was a great honour to Philemon to be beloved by so
eminent an apostle as St. Paul. It was still a greater honour to be numbered amongst
his dearest friends. He could not doubt of the sincerity of St. Paul, when he made
these large professions of love and kindness to him. It was not agreeable with the
character of the apostle to use these expressions, as empty forms, words of course,
and idle compliments; but they came from his heart as well as from his pen.
Philemon had found real and undoubted proofs of St. Paul’s love to him in the pains
he had taken in his conversion to Christ. He had received from him the greatest
instances of kindness that one man could receive from another. He had been turned
by him from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God, and owed
to him the means of grace and the hopes of glory. If, therefore, he had any sense of
gratitude, any sparks of generosity in him, he must be very desirous to find out some
opportunity of making his acknowledgments to one to whom he was so deeply
indebted. He could not but with great greediness embrace an opportunity which was
put into his hands of obliging one to whom he was so highly obliged, He could now

no longer be at a loss how he might in some measure requite St. Paul for the great
and inestimable benefits he had received from him, since he could not doubt but
what was so earnestly asked by the apostle would be in a peculiar manner
acceptable to him. And as the apostle thus strongly enforces his request, by applying
to Philemon as his dearly beloved, so doth he give it yet farther advantage by
addressing to him under the notice of his fellow labourer. For if Philemon was an
assistant of St. Paul in ministering unto him in the execution of his apostolical office,
he would not complain of the absence of Onesimus, who did in his place and stead
minister to the apostle. He would be pleased that he tarried with St. Paul to supply
his absence and to do his work. He would not think himself deprived of the service
of Onesimus whilst he was employed in that work in which he himself was a
labourer. This his servant would be even then looked upon as doing his master’s
business, whilst he was subservient to the apostle, whose minister his master was.
(Bp. Smalridge.)
St. Paul’s relations with Philemon
During his three years’ stay at Ephesus he had come across trader from Colosse,
who carried on in that city the business of a cloth weaver and a dyer, for which the
three cities of the valley of the Lycus--Laodicea, Hierapolis, and Colosse itself--were
all alike famous, and who had come to the city of Artemis probably during the
month of May, which was sacred to the goddess, to seek a market for his goods. The
work of making up the bales of cloth into curtains, hangings, and the like, was one
which fell in with St. Paul’s calling as a tent maker, and as Aquila and Priscilla had
left Ephesus to return to Rome (Rom_16:3), he was glad to be able to carry out his
rule of maintaining himself by the labour of his own hands, by entering into
partnership with one in whose character there was so much to esteem and love
(Phm_1:17). When they first became acquainted with each other, Philemon was as
one of those not far from the kingdom of God, a Gentile who, like the centurion at
Capernaum and Cornelius at Caesarea, had come to be a worshipper of the God of
Israel, and to share the hope of the children of Abraham in the manifestation of His
kingdom. To him the apostle had pointed out the more excellent way of faith in
Christ crucified, risen, ascended, as the Head of that kingdom; and he was
accordingly baptised with his wife Apphia, and his son Archippus. The master of a
warehouse, well to do and benevolent, with many slaves and hired labourers
working under him, was naturally an important personage. His employes
themselves were a congregation. His house became the meeting place of an
“ecclesia,” which included friends and neighbours as well. St. Paul was a frequent
guest there, spoke as a teacher, and took part in the Eucharistic meal on the first
day of the week. As elsewhere (Gal_4:14-15), he gained the affection and goodwill
even of those who were as yet outside the faith. The very slaves learnt to love one
who never lost his temper, never gave a harsh command, who found in all men, as
such, that which was a ground of brotherhood. They would run errands for him,
wait upon his wants, nurse him when he was ill. The partnership was, however,
interrupted by St. Paul’s plans for his work as an apostle. He left Ephesus, and if he

contemplated any return to it at all, it was not likely, to be till after the lapse of some
years. Then came the journeys to Macedonia, and Achaia, and Jerusalem, the two
years’ imprisonment at Caesarea, the voyage to Italy, the shipwreck at Melita, the
two years’ residence at Rome. And now the apostle had at last heard some tidings of
his former friends. (Dean Plumptre.)
2 also to Apphia our sister and Archippus our
fellow soldier—and to the church that meets in
your home:
BAR ES, "And to our beloved Apphia - This was a female (Greek ᅊγαπητሀ
agapētē), and was probably the wife of Philemon.
And Archippus our fellow-soldier - See the notes at Col_4:17. It has been
supposed that he was a son of Philemon, and this would appear not to be improbable, as
he was one of his family. On the term “fellow-soldier,” see the notes at Phi_2:25. It is
applied here to one who was a minister of the gospel, and who is spoken of in con
nection with Paul as enlisted under the banners of the Captain of salvation, and waging a
warfare with the wickedness of the world; compare the notes at 2Ti_2:3-4. That
Archippus was a minister of the gospel, is clear from Col_4:17.
And to the church in thy house - Either the church that commonly met in his
house, or more probably that was composed of his own family; compare the notes at
Rom_16:5.
CLARKE, "Apphia. Απφια. Under the word Απφα Suidas says: Αδελφης και αδελφου
ᆓπακορισµα· Appha is the affectionate address of a brother or sister; or the diminutive of
a brother and sister, used to express kindness and affection. Hence the apostle, referring
to the meaning of the word, says: Και Απφιᇮ τᇽ αδελφᇽ αγαπητᇽ· And to Apphia the
beloved sister. Though αδελφᇽ, sister, be not in our common text, it is found in AD*EFG,
several others, the Itala, Vulgate, Slavonic, etc.; and is undoubtedly genuine.
Archippus, Αρχιππος. The ruler or master of the horse; from αρχων, a chief, and ᅷππος,
a horse. Heroes of old were, both among the Greeks and Trojans, celebrated for their

skill in managing and taming the horse, and employing him in war; this frequently
occurs in Homer. The import of the name of Archippus might suggest this idea to the
apostle’s mind, and lead him to say: Archippus our Fellow Soldier.
Suidas mentions a person of this name, who was once victor at the games, in the
ninety-first Olympiad.
There was one of the pupils of Pythagoras of this name; and I introduce him here for
the sake of a quotation from St. Jerome, (Apol. adv. Ruffin.), relative to the doctrines
taught by him and his fellow disciple, Lysis: Φευκτεον πανταπασι και εκκοπτεον ασθενειαν
µεν του σωµατος, απαιδευσιαν δε της ψυχης, ακολασιαν δε της γαστρος, στασιν δε της πολεως,
την δε διαφωνιαν απο της οικιας, και κοινᇽ απο παντων το ακρατες· “By all means and
methods these evils are to be shunned and cut off: effeminacy from the body; Ignorance
from the soul; delicacies from the belly; sedition from the city; discord from the house;
and, in general, intemperance from all things.” Vid. Fab. Thes. Erud. Schol.
Onesimus, Ονησιµος. Useful or profitable; from ονηµι, to help. The import of this name
led the apostle to play upon the word thus: I beseech thee for any son Onesimus - which
in time past was to thee Unprofitable, but now Profitable to thee and me.
To the Church in thy house - The congregation of Christians frequently
assembling in Philemon’s house; for at this time the Christians had neither temples,
churches, nor chapels. See the note on Rom_16:5, and the reference there.
It is very probable that Apphia was the wife of Philemon, and Archippus, their son, the
pastor of the Church at Philemon’s house.
GILL, "And to our beloved Apphia,.... The Alexandrian copy reads, "to sister
Apphia"; and the Vulgate Latin version, "to the beloved sister Apphia"; for this is a
woman's name; and it is thought that she was the wife of Philemon, since she is placed
next to him, and before Archippus, a minister of the word; and very prudently is she
wrote to, and justly commended, in order to engage her to use her interest with her
husband to receive his servant again, who otherwise might have stood against it, and
been a very great hinderance to a reconciliation: this clause is wanting in the Ethiopic
version:
and Archippus our fellow soldier; that this Archippus was a preacher of the Gospel
at Colosse is manifest from Col_4:17 wherefore the apostle styles him a fellow soldier;
for though this character belongs to private Christians, who are enlisted as volunteers
under Christ, the Captain of salvation, and fight under his banners, against sin, Satan,
and the world, being accoutred with the whole armour of God, and are more than
conquerors through Christ that has loved them; yet it very eminently belongs to the
ministers of the Gospel, who are more especially called upon, to endure hardness, as
good soldiers of Christ; to war a good warfare, to fight the good fight of faith; and
besides the above enemies common to all believers, to engage with false teachers, and
earnestly contend for the faith of the Gospel, that so it may continue with the saints.
Now this man was in the same company, and in the same service, engaged in the same
common cause, against the same enemies, and under the same Captain, and was
expecting the same crown of immortality and glory, and therefore he calls him his fellow
soldier; and he wisely inscribes his epistle to him, that he might make use of the interest
he had in Philemon, and his wife, to bring this matter to bear, the apostle writes about:

and to the church in thy house: not in the house of Archippus, but in the house of
Philemon; and designs not the church at Colosse, as though it met at his house; but his
own family, which for the great piety and religion which were among them, and for the
good order and decorum in which they were kept, were like a church of themselves; and
here again the apostle acts the wise part, in order to gain his point, by taking notice of
them, who might some of them have been injured or affronted by Onesimus, when with
them; and so entertained some resentment against him, and might put a bar in the way
of his reception into the family again.
JAMISO , "Apphia — the Latin, “Appia”; either the wife or some close relative of
Philemon. She and Archippus, if they had not belonged to his family, would not have
been included with Philemon in the address of a letter on a domestic matter.
Archippus — a minister of the Colossian Church (Col_4:17).
fellow soldier — (2Ti_2:3).
church in thy house — In the absence of a regular church building, the houses of
particular saints were used for that purpose. Observe Paul’s tact in associating with
Philemon those associated by kindred or Christian brotherhood with his house, and not
going beyond it.
RWP, "To Apphia our sister (Apphiāi tēi adelphēi). Dative case in address. A
common name in Phrygian inscriptions and apparently the wife of Philemon. “Sister” is
in the Christian sense.
To Archippus (Archippōi). Dative case in address. It is uncertain whether he is the
son of Philemon or not. Apparently he is prominent in the church in Colossae, possibly
even pastor, probably not in Laodicea as some understand Col_4:17 to imply.
Fellow-soldier (sunstratiōtēi). Old word, only here and Phi_2:25 in N.T. In
metaphorical sense. Perhaps while Paul was in Ephesus.
To the church in thy house (tēi kat' oikon sou ekklēsiāi). The church that met in
the house of Philemon. In large cities there would be several meeting-places. Before the
third century there is no certain evidence of special church buildings for worship (White,
Exp. Grk. T.). See note on Act_12:12 for Mary’s house in Jerusalem, 1Co_16:19 for the
house of Aquila and Prisca in Ephesus, Rom_16:5 for the house of Prisca and Aquila in
Rome, Col_4:15 for the house of Nympha in Laodicea.
CALVI , "2.And to Archippus our fellow-soldier. He next adds “” who appears
also to have been a minister of the Church; at least, if he be the same person who is
mentioned towards the conclusion of the Epistle to the Colossians, (Col_4:17,) which
is not at all improbable; for the designation — “” — which he bestows on this latter
individual, belongs peculiarly to ministers. Although the condition of a soldier
belongs to all Christians universally, yet because teachers may be regarded as
standardbearers in the warfare, they ought to be ready more than all others to fight,
and Satan usually gives them greater annoyance. It is also possible, that Archippus
attended and shared in some contests which Paul maintained; and, indeed, this is

the very word that Paul makes use of, whenever he mentions persecutions.
And to the Church which is in thy house. By employing these terms, he bestows the
highest praise on the family of Philemon. And certainly it is no small praise of a
householder, that he regulates his family in such a manner as to be an image of the
Church, and to discharge also the duty of a pastor within the walls of his dwelling.
or must we forget to mention that this good man had a wife of the same character;
for she, too, not without reason, is commended by Paul.
PULPIT, "Our beloved Apphia. Codices A, D*, E*, F, G, and à (Sinaiticus) read
adelphē (sister) for agapē̄ (beloved), and also Jerome, Griesbach, Meyer; which also
has been adopted in the Revised Version. The name Appia, or Apphia, is either the
Roman Appia Hellenized, which was the conjecture of Grotins (see Introduction), or
more probably a native Phrygian name, from Appa or Appha, a term of
endearment. The name does not occur elsewhere in Scripture. The word ἀδελφῆ is
not unlikely to have been added by way of explanation. St. Paul has used it in five
other places, and always in the same sense, viz. Rom_16:1, Rom_16:15; 1Co_7:15;
1Co_9:5; 1Ti_5:2. Most commentators, and particularly Chrysostom, Theodoret,
and Theophylact, among the ancients, infer that Apphia was the wife of Philemon.
Otherwise, why mention her name here? Archippus; comp. Col_4:17, where he is
said to have received a διακονία , i.e. a ministry or service, in the Church. This
word, when used without a determining genitive, denotes service to others in a
general and undefined sense. But more commonly with some limiting word; as
διακονία λόγου , office of teaching (Act_6:4); διακονία τοῦ θανάτου , office or
function of death (2Co_3:7). The general view is that Archippus was the presbyter
who ministered to that congregation which assembled at the house of Philemon,
though Ambrose and Jerome, with other commentators ancient and modern, think
that he was the bishop. Grotius, however, takes him to have been a deacon. (It is a
very precarious inference that he was a son of Philemon and Appia.) Probably he
was fulfilling a temporary mission only in Colossae, and that would be the διακονία
in the passage cited. Epaphras, a resident in Colossae (Col_4:12), is spoken of as
having been the founder of the Church there (Col_1:7, Col_1:8), and as still being
responsible for it (Col_4:13). Primasius calls Epaphras bishop and Archippus
deacon; and so Grotius. It may be that these theories err in ascribing too rigid and
technical a meaning to the terms of ecclesiastical service at this early stage of their
employment. Epaphras was, however, at this time in Rome with St. Paul (Col_4:12,
Col_4:13), and it is possible that Archippus was filling his place temporarily. It will
be safer to call him (with Bishop Wordsworth) a presbyter. It is, as we have said, an
unsupported idea of some writers ancient and modern (Theod. Mopsuest.,
Michaelis, Rosenmuller, Olshausen, Lightfoot) that he was the son of Philemon (but
see below). Our fellow-soldier; i.e. of himself and St. Timothy, as engaged in the
same warfare for Christ (1Co_9:7; 2Co_10:4; 1Ti_1:18). The same term is applied
in Php_2:25 to Epaphroditus, and also the συνεργός of Php_2:1. And to the Church
in thy house. Mede (so Chrysostom and Theodoret also) understands this as
meaning "and to the whole of thy family" (which is a Christian one)—a suggestion
quite worth considering. For a separate letter "to the saints and faithful brethren in

Christ which are at Colossae" (Col_1:2) was brought by the same messengers, and it
would seem natural that, in a matter so personal to Philemon, salutations should be
confined to his own family. The phrase is used more than once (see Rom_16:5; 1Co_
16:19, which seems rather to point the other way; but especially Col_4:15,
" ymphas and the Church which is in his house," which, since it was in Colossae
itself, seems almost conclusive for that meaning). The Ecclesia domestica was very
familiar in the apostolic times. Theodoret states that the house of Philemon was still
pointed out as late as the fifth century.
BI, "Phm_1:2
Our beloved Apphia
Apphia
It seems in the highest degree probable that Apphia was Philemon’s wife; probable,
but in a lower degree, that Archippus was their son.
The mention of a woman between two such men, one the apostle’s “fellow
labourer,” the other his “fellow soldier,” is a noble example of the spirit of the
gospel (Gal_3:28). It is an unobtrusive yet real hint of the elevation of woman, as the
whole letter is of the release of the other victim of classical civilisation, the slave.
“Thus, supported on both sides, she seems to have the place not of her own sex, but
of her worth.” (Bp. Wm. Alexander.)
A new reading
The reading “the sister” seems preferable to “the beloved.” It is superior in uncial
authority. It is of course conceivable that “beloved” might have been exchanged for
“sister” from motives of false delicacy. (Bp. Lightfoot.)
Sister
On the other hand, the adjective applied to Philemon might readily have suggested
the same prefix to Apphia. The reading “beloved” seems scarcely grave enough for
the dignified reserve which St. Paul never forgets in his tenderest moments. Above
all, the word “sister” distinctly adds to the meaning. For it shows that Apphia had
embraced the gospel, and was a baptised member of the Church, and thus preserves
the line of thought in the sentiments balancing the epithets “fellow worker,” “fellow
soldier,” applied to Philemon and Archippus. (Bp. Lightfoot.)

Addressed to both
Her friendly reception of the runaway would be quite as important as Philemon’s,
and it is therefore most natural that the letter bespeaking it should be addressed to
both. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Archippus our fellow soldier--
Archippus
He was perhaps Philemon’s son; or a family friend; or the minister of the family;
the former hypothesis being perhaps the most probable, as the letter concerns a
family matter. (Dean Alford.)
Archippus
was a Christian pastor at Colosse (Col_4:7), and a fellow soldier of St. Paul, in
fighting the good fight of faith against the enemies of the gospel. (Bp. Chris.
Wordsworth.)
Fellow soldier
The notion of the spiritual life--more especially as connected with definite
ministerial functions--being a warfare, a campaign, a soldier’s life, passed into ew
Testament from Old Testament (cf. um_4:23; um_8:24; 1Sa_2:22; 1Co_9:7;
2Co_10:4; 1Ti_1:18; 2Ti_2:4)
. The “gospel campaigns” in which Archippus was St. Paul’s comrade in arms may
have been those during the apostle’s sojourn at Ephesus (A.D. 54-57). Those who
hold that St. Paul had a personal connection with Colosse will also point to Act_
18:23. (Bp. Wm. Alexander.)
Soldier instead of worker
The variation of “soldier” for “worker” probably is due to the fact of Archippus
being the bishop of the Laodicean church. In any case, it is very beautiful that the
grizzled veteran officer should thus, as it were, clasp the hand of this young recruit,
and call him his comrade. How it would go to the heart of Archippus! (A. Maclaren,

D. D.)
A stern message
A somewhat stern message is sent to Archippus in the Colossian letter. Why did not
Paul send it quietly in this, instead of letting a whole church know of it? It seems at
first sight as if he had chosen the harshest way; but perhaps further consideration
may suggest that the reason was an instinctive unwillingness to introduce a jarring
note into the joyous friendship and confidence which sounds through this Epistle,
nor would he bring public matters into this private letter. The warning would come
with more effect from the church, and this cordial message of goodwill and
confidence would prepare Archippus to receive the other, as rain showers make the
ground soft for the good seed. The private affection would mitigate the public
exhortation, with whatever rebuke may have been in it. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Fellow soldier
He calleth him a fellow soldier because they of the ministry (if they be faithful) are
in continual warfare, not only against the continual engines and assaults of Satan,
who withstandeth their ministry, but against false teachers, and against many other
unreasonable men, as also against the sins and corruptions that reign or arise in
their several charges. We see how men destitute of faith make continual war against
them one way or other. (W. Attersoll.)
Ministers are soldiers
I. In the field.
1. Conflict.
(1) With Satan’s temptations.
(2) With persecutions (Timothy 2:3).
(3) With the perverse understanding, will, and affections of sinful man (2Co_10:4).
2. In victory.
(1) Over the elect, who are taken captive and made willingly to submit themselves to

Jesus Christ, against whom formerly they fought under Satan’s banner.
(2) Over the reprobate, who are quite killed with the spiritual sword, and because
they will not bend, are broken to pieces.
II. In the garrison. Though returned home glorious in victory, yet he must not sit
down and rest, as though all were now despatched, but on with his defensive
weapons, that he may be able to maintain his own. And herein first of all consisteth
the second part of the minister’s soldiership at home, namely, in having a wakeful
eye to discern even the clouds of danger even arising afar off, and thereupon to give
warning. Secondly, having so done, which is the half-arming of his people,
according to the proverb, “Forewarned, forearmed,” he must fortify and make them
strong against the power of the adversaries. First, by instructing them how to carry
themselves, how both to wear and how to use that complete harness of the Christian
soldier. Thus like a good captain doth he train his soldiers, teaching their hands to
fight and fitting their fingers for the battle. Secondly, by praying for them; wherein
he playeth the valiant soldier indeed, combating and conflicting with the Lord God
Himself. This is called standing in the gap, and making up of the hedge (Eze_22:30).
Look as the wife and provident martiallist will see where the city is weakest when
the walls are anything decayed, and will bend his forces most of all to fortify that
place, knowing the enemy will be sure to take advantage of that place for his more
easy entering upon them, so likewise doth the faithful minister consider with himself
where the sins of the people have most weakened them, and made any breaches in
their walls, any gaps in their fence for God’s judgments to run in upon them, and
there doth he make up the breach and stand up in the gap by earnest praying and
calling upon the name of the Lord, as Aaron ( um_16:47). (D. Dyke, B. D.)
The warfare of work
Paul, indeed, loves to think of himself as a soldier; for in all earnest work there is
verily something of war. Real labour itself is but a war against sloth and self-
indulgent idleness. Agricultural labour is war on the weeds and the stubbornness of
the soil. And so shall all work that kindles into the white heat of earnestness burst
often into a war flame. (A. H. Drysdale, M. A.)
Fulfilling the true soldiership
We look past the lounging mercenary at his wrist. ot he, but Paul, is fulfilling the
true soldiership of the world. We see the apostle’s work, by its intensity, rising into
warfare; and as we hear him in his prayers, the warfare rises into worship before
the Lord. (A. H. Drysdale, M. A.)

Christians are fellow soldiers
Those who speak of the Christian warfare, as I have observed, almost always limit it
to the narrow path in which one treads alone. That was the idea so grandly wrought
out by Bunyan in his “Pilgrim’s Progress.” But that sort of warfare belonged to the
days of knight errantry. The modern soldiers of the Cross, like other soldiers, are
massed in armies. o doubt each Christian has many a fight single-handed with the
adversary. But those thrilling appeals in the Epistle to the Ephesians, concerning
taking the whole armour of God, were addressed to the Church collectively.
Individualism has its perils. Christians are fellow soldiers. We need to build a
common barrier against the common foe. Side by side we need to charge on the
enemy’s works. And then, in the final day of triumph, we shall join with “thousands
of thousands, and ten times ten thousand,” in shouting the glad chorus of victory. (J.
Hovey.)
The church in thy house--
Early Christian churches
As vast buildings, publicly consecrated and set apart, were impossible from the
nature of the case in the earliest years of Christianity, houses of considerable size
were employed for worship--like those of Aquila at Rome, of ymphas or Philemon
at Colosse--and the name of “church” seems to have been transferred at an early
period from the collection of living souls to the building in which they met. (Bp.
Wm. Alexander.)
An act of zeal
This was one way in which Philemon might be said to have “refreshed the bowels of
the saints” (Phm_1:7), and to have shown his Christian faith and love to his poorer
brethren. Here probably it was that St. Paul preached when at Colosse. This
concession of some apartment in their own houses for the purposes of the public
worship of the Christian Church, “a sect everywhere spoken against” in those days,
was an act of zeal and courage on the part of the wealthier members of the Christian
community, and seems to have elicited special expressions of notice, approval, and
affection from St. Paul and the other apostles (Rom_16:5; Rom_16:23; Col_4:15; cf.
2Ti_1:16; 2Ti_4:19; 3Jn_1:6-7). (Bp. Chris. Wordsworth.)

A comprehensive salutation
He did not omit the slaves here; for he knew that the words of slaves can often
change a master’s purpose, and especially when they plead for a fellow servant.
Some of them perhaps had stirred up Philemon against Onesimus. He does not
permit them there to have any feeling of grudge, as he addresses them with the
family. or does he give the master just reason for anger. If he had addressed the
slaves by name, Philemon probably would have been displeased. See, then, how
prudently he deals. For the word “Church” does not permit masters to be angry, if
they are numbered with slaves. For the Church knows not the distinction of master
and slave (Gal_3:28). (Chrysostom.)
Tact
Meyer remarks the tact of the apostle in associating with Philemon those connected
with his house, but not going beyond the limits of the house. (Dean Alford.)
The domestic church
1. A Christian’s household a church of Christ.
2. Means and influences suited to make it such.
3. Pleasures and secular habits which tend to prevent it;
(1) by quenching the religious spirit;
(2) by interfering with domestic worship and training;
(3) by placing godliness in a secondary position.
4. Motives which should urge the Christian to utmost effort to secure it.
(1) Salvation of children and servants greatly dependent on him;
(2) God holds him responsible;
(3) world needs well-trained workers. (A. D. Johnson.)
A Church in a house

Philemon 1 commentary

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Philemon 1 commentary