The Letter to Philemon

Scot McKnight

• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9780802873828
• eBook ISBN: 9781467448765
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

The Academy of Parish Clergy's 2018 Top Five Reference Books for Parish Ministry Paul's letter to Philemon carries a strong message of breaking down social barriers and establishing new realities of conduct and fellowship. It is also a disturbing text that has been used to justify slavery. Though brief, Philemon requires close scrutiny. In this commentary Scot McKnight offers careful textual analysis of Philemon and brings the practice of modern slavery into conversation with the ancient text. Too often, McKnight says, studies of this short letter gloss over the issue of slavery—an issue that must be recognized and dealt with if Christians are to read Philemon faithfully. Pastors and scholars will find in this volume the insight they need to preach and teach this controversial book in meaningful new ways.

Text and Commentary

I. INTRODUCTION: AUTHORS, ADDRESSEES, AND SALUTATION (1–3)¹

¹Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus,^a and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker^b— ²also to Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier—and to the church that meets in your home: ³Grace and peace to you^c from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

a. As with Colossians, I will compare the NIV (the printed text in the Commentary and abbreviated as NIV) to the Common English Bible (CEB) and highlight significant differences. The simpler “a prisoner of Christ Jesus” (NIV) is made more explicit in the “who is a prisoner for the cause of Christ Jesus” (CEB).

b. CEB: “our dearly loved coworker.”

c. CEB postpones “to you” (NIV) until the end to form “be with you.”

The length of Philemon, a mere 335 words in Greek, approximates the average length of a letter in the Roman, Greek, and Jewish worlds of the first century CE. Unlike the other canonical letters of Paul, Philemon is less overtly theological. Yet, the letter is highly suggestive of what theology looks like on the ground level as the apostle becomes pastor and friend. In spite of the brevity and practicality of Philemon, it too contains the standard elements of a Pauline letter:² salutation or greeting,³ a thanksgiving,⁴ and the main body.⁵ The terms Paul uses are theologically evocative. They tempt the reader into seeing more than needs to be seen: “grace and peace” after all are the apostle’s terms for “greetings.”⁶

Philemon 1–3 are designed not only to communicate the necessary information about the authors and addressees but also to set the tone for the rhetoric and content that will follow, especially in vv. 8–22. In no other letter written by Paul is his personal presence (parousia) to be felt more than in the public reading of this letter to the church at Colossae.⁷ If Onesimus or Tychicus is the reader and if he looked at Philemon in the name of Paul when he got to vv. 8–22, then his eyes were the eyes of the apostle himself. In addition, the letter itself is a medium through which the apostle Paul expresses his personal presence and love for Philemon and for Onesimus. He expresses his love by becoming an advocate for Onesimus in his appeal to Philemon to act honorably.⁸

A. AUTHORS (1A)

1aThe letter opens with “Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother.” This typical opening indicates dual authorship.⁹ As with Colossians (1:1; 4:18) so with Philemon (1, 19), someone else physically wrote this letter on papyrus.¹⁰ We are to imagine Paul at work sketching ideas, talking to his companions, someone composing drafts of letters, Paul hiring at considerable cost a secretary or scribe for the more official writing with a copy or two for himself, and then hiring or finding a letter carrier to deliver the letter—in this case probably Tychichus and Onesimus (Col 4:7–9). Paul probably did not write out by hand any of his letters, each of his letters reflects the grammar, style, and contribution of his secretary and companions in the process. Paul’s letters were drafted in conversation and debate with his companions. He did not simply dictate his letters to a secretary and probably did not write out letters in one sitting.

In contrast to Colossians where Paul calls himself “apostle,” Paul here calls himself “prisoner.”¹¹ If there is a pattern already established—and this depends in part on the dating of Paul’s letters—the use of “prisoner” would be atypical (but cf. Rom 1:1; Phil 1:1; Titus 1:1).¹² Paul does not anchor himself in “saber-rattling” apostolic authority (e.g., Galatians).¹³ Rather, he relies upon a rhetorical strategy that both solicits sympathy for his condition of imprisonment and demonstrates the authenticity of his message. The result is a summons for Philemon to exercise an obedience similar to Paul.¹⁴ Of note, in the Greco-Roman world, prison was normally a temporary holding station prior to a trial, not a final punishment. Noticeably, Philemon and the others are not in prison. His stated appeal emerges from his confined location, their freedom, and the bond of friendship.¹⁵ One thinks of John the Baptist in prison similarly appealing to Jesus (Matt 11:2–3), just as one thinks of Jesus urging his followers to care for those in prison (25:31–46). The term “prisoner” also intentionally identifies Paul with the analogous marginal condition of Onesimus, who could well have experienced the humiliation of being shackled: one “in bonds” in prison is far closer to the slave Onesimus than Philemon.¹⁶ In the letter to Philemon, Paul presents himself in other terms: “old man” (v. 9), “prisoner” (vv. 1, 9, 10), the spiritual parent of Onesimus (v. 10), brother of Onesimus (v. 16), and the brother, fellow gospel minister, partner, and future guest of Philemon (vv. 1, 6, 17, 22). As a prisoner, Paul is dependent upon others for support, including his need for food and water. Under the best circumstances, he would only have received a minimum of both from the prison guards. If chained or underground—both common in Roman prisons—Paul was in pain and deprived of natural light and almost certainly living in horrendous conditions.

Paul is a prisoner of “Christ Jesus.”¹⁷ Some think “Christ” is not so much Jesus’s role as Messiah as a second name with barely a whiff of the historic role as Messiah. However, recent studies have concluded that whenever Paul uses christos he never loses touch with the historic claim that Jesus is the Messiah of Israel.¹⁸ To call Jesus “Messiah” moves in two directions at once. Jesus, as Messiah, changes Israel’s story; Jesus, as Messiah, pushes against Roman honor. Romans despised having a king (rex). From the days of the republic through Julius Caesar until the period of Octavian (Caesar Augustus)—who established not a “kingdom” but the Principate (symbolizing the one true Roman senator/citizen leading and representing all true Roman citizens), the Romans would not call their leader rex. To call Jesus “Messiah” was evocative of sinister intentions against Romans. The early Christians proclaimed Jesus was “king” and that he was bringing a “kingdom,” terms that burned with deep suspicion.¹⁹ It is best not to affirm that Paul was “anti-empire.” Rather, Paul’s claims were not so much an anti-imperial critique as they were a supra-imperial critique.²⁰

Timothy contributed to this letter in content,²¹ thus the inclusion of his name in the epistolary prescript.²² Timothy is Paul’s best friend, closest coworker and associate, and a man about whom we know plenty even if he is always in the background.²³ To take a maximalist view of the evidence about him: Timothy’s father was a Gentile but his mother a Jew; he probably came to believe in Christ during Paul’s first missionary journey to Lystra where Timothy surely saw Paul being stoned; Timothy’s mother was a believer; Paul chose Timothy to be with him on his second missionary journey and he received a special endowment of the Spirit through the laying on of hands; to regulate his status, Paul had Timothy circumcised; when Paul traveled in Athens, Timothy stayed with Silas in Berea and then joined Paul in Athens. In addition, Timothy encouraged the Christians in Thessalonica and reported good news about the Thessalonians to Paul later, part of that good news expressed by a gift of money for the poor saints in Jerusalem. Timothy helped Paul write both 1 and 2 Thessalonians, assisted in the evangelization of Corinth, and helped write 2 Corinthians (probably also Romans). He traveled with Paul to Jerusalem as Lystra’s delegate to the Jerusalem church, and then helped Paul in writing Colossians, Philemon, and Philippians. Later Paul may have sent Timothy to Philippi. Timothy was encouraged to stay in Ephesus and to eventually meet Paul in Rome (?) during winter. In addition, Timothy was imprisoned for the gospel and eventually released.²⁴ What Lewis and Tolkien were to one another and Bethge was to Bonhoeffer is what Timothy was to Paul.

Timothy is “our brother,”²⁵ a term that indicates spiritual and real kinship in the church as well as a coworker in the gospel.²⁶ Furthermore, the term evokes Paul’s special love for Timothy (1 Cor 4:17; Phil 2:19–23). We see in this designation not a hierarchy of relations but coordination in a mutual calling to the gospel. This term resonates throughout the letter (cf. vv. 2, 7, 9, 10, 12, 16, 17, 20).²⁷

B. ADDRESSEES (1B–2)

1b–2As the authors are plural, so too the addressees: “To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker—also to Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier—and to the church that meets in your home.” The addressees in Greek are neatly coordinated: To (1) Philemon, (2) Apphia, (3) Archippus, and (4) to the church. Philemon is mentioned first because of his primary importance in the letter. It is likely that “the church that meets in your [masculine] home” is Philemon’s. Hence, as can be seen in the translation above, the NIV brackets Apphia and Archippus so it can connect the house church to Philemon.

Philemon,²⁸ otherwise unknown in the NT, is both a “dear friend” and a “fellow worker.”²⁹ Philemon was a convert of Paul (v. 19). This new relationship reconfigures Philemon’s household and Paul becomes the paterfamilias.³⁰ Being “dear friend” (or, “loved”) creates the need in honor-shame as well as benefaction cultures to reciprocate in loving friendship (i.e., sending Onesimus back to Paul):³¹ thus, v. 9: “I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love.” Paul calls Philemon a “fellow worker” and so Philemon is now in a long list: Urbanus and Timothy (Rom 16:9, 21), Apollos (1 Cor 3:9), Titus (2 Cor 8:23), Epaphroditus (Phil 2:25), Euodia, Syntyche, and Clement (Phil 4:2–3), Timothy (1 Thess 3:2), as well as Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke (Phlm 24). A coworker of Paul serves various ministries alongside Paul in God’s mission, which means evangelizing, teaching, planting churches, administrating, pastoring and discipling—a...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Dedication
• General Editor’s Preface
• Author’s Preface
• Abbreviations
• Bibliography
• INTRODUCTION
• TEXT AND COMMENTARY
• Index of Subjects
• Index of Authors
• Index of Scripture and Other Ancient Texts