11

Paul used these words in verse 11 to encourage Philemon to act favorably toward Onesimus.

11a

Formerly: This refers to the time after Onesimus ran away from Philemon and before Onesimus met Paul.

11a-b

useless…useful: The name Onesimus means “useful” (verse 10a). When Onesimus ran away from his master Philemon, he became useless (no longer useful) to him, which was opposite to what his name meant. But when Onesimus became a Christian, he became useful (helpful) again, so that the meaning of his name fit him again. See Display for verse 11a and 11b.

11b

to you and to me: Onesimus helped Paul while Paul was in prison. And when Onesimus returned to Philemon as his slave, he would help him and obey him. So he now could be useful to both Philemon and Paul.

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Section 22–25

Others greet Philemon

In verses 22-25 Paul wrote to the group of Christians who were with Philemon. So he used “you (plur)” in these verses as he did in verse 3. But in the main Sections of the letter (verses 4–21) he used “you (singular)” rather than “you (plur).” This is one thing that shows that verses 1–3 and verses 22–25 are separate from the other Sections of the letter. So verses 22–25, as a unit, are also a Section that is separate from the other parts of the letter.

After making his main point in the letter in verses 8–21, Paul finished the letter with a few final words in verses 22–25. He asked Philemon to prepare a guest room for him (verse 22), because he hoped that God would answer the prayers of the Christians at Colosse by allowing him to visit them again. Then Paul sent greetings to Philemon from five Christian friends who were there with Paul (verses 23–24). These peoples’ names are also in Colossians 4:10–14. Finally, Paul ended the letter with a Christian blessing (verse 25).

Read verses 22–25 carefully in the Berean Standard Bible and the Good News Translation.

Paragraph 22 Paul asks Philemon to prepare for Paul to come

In this verse, Paul asked Philemon to get things ready for Paul to come and visit Philemon.

Read verse 22 again.

22a

In the meantime: You could translate the Greek words here: “At the same time.” For example:

⌊ At the same time that I am asking this favor for Onesimus,⌋I will ask another favor ⌊for myself. ⌋

prepare a guest room for me: Paul was asking Philemon to prepare a place for him to stay at Colosse. This would be a place in Philemon’s house where Paul could sleep and where Philemon’s servants could cook food for him. Paul apparently thought that the people who had put him in prison would soon free him from prison.

22b

I hope that through your prayers I will be restored to you: Paul was not simply saying that he wanted to go and see Philemon and the Colossian Christians. He was saying that someone else—probably God—would need to cause this to happen.

Here are two examples of a free translation of this part of verse 22:

I hope that God will make a way for me to become free so I can see you again.

I hope that God will cause those who imprisoned me to free me so I can see you again.

I hope: Paul did not say that he was sure the Roman leaders would free him, but he wanted and expected this to happen. Bible scholars do not know whether Paul ever went to Colosse again or if he ever saw Philemon again.

through your prayers: Paul knew that the Christians in Colosse were praying that he would be able to leave prison. So he was saying that, if he became free, it would be because God had answered their prayers.

restored to you: Paul hoped that the people who had put him in prison would release him, and that as a result, he would be able to visit the Colossians.

to you: Paul used you (plur) two times in this verse. So here again he was writing not only to Philemon but also to the Christians at Colosse who worshipped God in Philemon’s house.

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Section 1–3

Paul and Timothy greet Philemon

When Christians in New Testament times wrote a letter, they usually started by doing three things. First they wrote the name of the person or people who were writing the letter. Then they wrote the name of the person or people who would be receiving the letter. Then they wrote a Christian greeting. Paul did all three things in his letter to Philemon. He included:

• The name of the person who wrote the letter: Paul (verse 1)

• The name of the person receiving the letter: Philemon (verse 1)

• A Christian greeting (verse 3)

Your translation may be easier to read if each of these three parts is a separate paragraph, as in the Good News Translation, Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, and Revised Standard Version versions.

Carefully consider the best way to arrange the information in verses 1–3 when you translate verses 1–3. What is the usual way to begin a letter in your language? Can you follow that style and still include the three parts from Paul’s opening Section? All of the information in this opening Section should also be in the opening Section of your translation. For example, do not take Paul’s name out of the opening paragraph even though writers in your language put their name at the end of the letter. After you have decided what is the best way to begin a letter in your language, follow that same basic way consistently in your translations of all of Paul’s letters.

Read verses 1–3 carefully in the Berean Standard Bible and the Good News Translation. Then read the following notes and the Display before you begin to translate.

1a

Paul: The apostle Paul wrote this letter. He began by writing his name. There is no verb in verse 1 in the Greek text. But many languages require complete sentences, so you may need to add a verb. Paul was writing a letter to Philemon, so you could use a form of the verb “write” or the verb “greet.”

It is not natural in some languages for someone to talk about himself in the third person. For example, it would not be correct in some languages for Paul to write, “Paul is writing to you.” In such cases, you could translate this in a first person form:

I, Paul, am writing this letter.

a prisoner of Christ Jesus: Paul was saying, “I am in prison because I do the work of Christ Jesus.” Good News Translation: “A prisoner for the sake of Christ Jesus.” Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter. But that was not because he did something wrong. People put him in prison because he preached the Good News about Jesus Christ. Those who didn’t believe in Jesus Christ didn’t like Paul’s message, and so they put him in prison.

Christ Jesus: Paul and other authors who wrote New Testament books usually wrote “Jesus Christ” as Paul did in verse 3, instead of the name Christ Jesus, which Paul wrote here. The meaning is the same either way. If people who read your translation will think that Christ Jesus is a different person from “Jesus Christ,” you should use the more common order “Jesus Christ” here also.

1b

Timothy: Timothy also sent Philemon his greetings. Timothy was Paul’s close friend who worked for Jesus just as Paul did. Bible scholars think that Timothy probably did not help Paul write this letter. But he was with Paul at the time Paul wrote the letter, and he also wanted to greet Philemon.

brother: The word brother in this context refers to a fellow believer in Christ. Paul, Timothy and Philemon were probably not physically related to each other as members of the same earthly family are. Timothy was a younger Christian, a fellow believer of Paul and also of Philemon and the other Christians at Colosse.

The word brother as used among Christians means that they are spiritual brothers and sisters because they are God’s children. They are closely related to one another in this sense. Perhaps you can use the term “brother” for men who are Christians and “sister” for women who are Christians (as in verse 2). Or perhaps there is a word that you could use to include both men and women (such as “sibling” in English). If your language has different words for “older brother” and “younger brother,” use “younger brother” here in verse 1 because Timothy was younger than both Paul and Philemon. If “brother” means only a member of the same family in your language and no one will understand a spiritual relationship here, a footnote could explain how Christians used the term then. Or perhaps there may be another term you can use to show how one family member is related to another family member.

To Philemon: This means “We greet you, Philemon.” This was a way people wrote letters in Paul’s time. Philemon, who received the letter, understood the implied meaning “we send greetings.”

Philemon: Philemon was the main person Paul was writing this letter to. Philemon, who lived in the town of Colosse, was an important man and was probably rich. He was also the master of the slave Onesimus. Paul had helped Philemon to become a Christian (see verse 19b).

1c

our beloved: Both Paul and Timothy loved Philemon very much. You could translate the phrase our beloved as “We love you very much.” See Display for verse 1c.

fellow worker: The phrase fellow worker means that Philemon helped to spread the Good News, like Paul and Timothy did. He probably did not work together with Paul in the same place.

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Paragraph 12–14 Paul sends Onesimus back to Philemon

In this letter, which Onesimus himself took to Philemon, Paul told Philemon that he was sending Onesimus back. Paul wanted Onesimus to stay with him and help him while he was in prison. But he was sending Onesimus back to Philemon because Onesimus was Philemon’s slave. It was Philemon, not Paul, who must decide whether Onesimus would come back later to help Paul while Paul was in prison.

Read verses 12–14 again.

12

sending back…him: The Greek word anapempō here means “send” or “send back.” Paul used this word because Onesimus had come from Philemon, and Paul was sending Onesimus back to him.

my very heart: These words mean that Paul loved Onesimus very much and did not want him to leave. It was like he was sending away a part of himself. If you have an expression in your language that shows this kind of strong emotion, it would be good to use it here.

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Paragraph 23–24 Fellow believers greet Philemon

In verses 23–24 Paul sent greetings to Philemon from fellow Christians who were where Paul was. Consider how you would translate such a greeting into your language.

Read verses 23–24 again.

23

Epaphras: This was a friend of both Philemon and Paul. Paul also wrote about this same Epaphras in Colossians 1:7, 4:12.

my fellow prisoner: There are two ideas about what this means:

(1) a man who was in prison with Paul

(2) a man who had been a prisoner like Paul was

The first meaning is probably the closest to what Paul was saying, because Paul sent greetings from Epaphras to the Colossian Christians. Since Epaphras was there with Paul as his fellow prisoner, it is more likely that he was in prison with Paul.

in Christ Jesus: Both Paul and Epaphras were in prison because of the Good News of Jesus Christ. Paul also referred to himself as “a prisoner of Christ Jesus” in verse 1. Paul was in prison because many people didn’t want him to continue preaching about Jesus. Some commentators say that Epaphras went into prison so that he could help Paul. Others say that Epaphras was in prison because he also preached the Good News, and the phrase “my fellow prisoner” seems to imply this.

sends you greetings: Epaphras and the others whose names are in verse 24 asked Paul to send their greetings to their friend Philemon. The you (singular) means that these friends were greeting Philemon as an individual person. It was their way of reminding Philemon that they still loved him and thought well of him.

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2

to Apphia…Archippus…the church: Paul included these people’s names in the list of the people he was greeting, but he wrote the letter mainly to Philemon. Beginning at verse 4, Paul wrote directly to Philemon. Even if your translation addresses Philemon in the second person (“to you, Philemon”), perhaps you should refer to these people in the third person. For example, “We send greetings to Apphia…,” or “Give our greetings to Apphia….”

2a

sister: Paul also greeted Apphia. The phrase “Apphia our sister” means that Apphia was a believer in Christ as Paul was. She did not have the same father or mother as Paul and Philemon. See the note on “brother” in verse 1b.

2b

fellow soldier: Paul also greeted Archippus. The phrase Archippus our fellow soldier implies that Archippus spoke out bravely for Christ when people were against the Good News, like a soldier fights to protect his country. (Colossians 4:17, 1 John 2:14) But there is nothing to indicate that Archippus was a soldier in any earthly army.

2c

church: Paul also greeted the believers that met in Philemon’s house. They met together with Philemon regularly to worship the Lord. Christians didn’t have church buildings in those days. They met in homes. See “church”, sense 1 in Key Biblical Terms.

your house: This refers to Philemon’s home.

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13

I would have liked: “I would like” (Good News Translation). You could freely translate the first part of verse 13 as “If I did what I wanted, I would keep him here.” But Paul didn’t do what he wanted to do for himself. He let Philemon decide (verse 14).

keep him with me: Paul wanted Onesimus to stay near him in the town where Paul was in prison so that Onesimus could visit him and help him.

on your behalf he could minister to me: Paul knew that Philemon wanted to help Paul in any way he could. If he had lived near Paul, he would have come to the prison and helped him. Philemon’s slave Onesimus was there, and he could have helped Paul in Philemon’s place, or on his behalf.

on your behalf: This means “instead of you, in your name, for you.” Some other ways to translate it are: “what you would have done” (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English), “take your place” (New International Version), “as you would wish” (New English Bible).

in my chains: Another way to express the meaning of the phrase in my chains here, is “during the time I am in prison.” See notes on verse 10.

for the gospel: He was in prison because he preached the Good News about Jesus Christ (see verse 1).

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24

as do: This means “these others also send you greetings.”

Mark: This was John Mark, the Jewish Christian who wrote the Gospel of Mark. (Acts 12:25).

Aristarchus: Another Jewish Christian who was there with Paul was Aristarchus. His hometown was Thessalonica. (Acts 19:29).

Demas: Demas was a Gentile Christian, not a Jew. Bible scholars don’t know if this was the same Demas who later left Paul (2 Timothy 4:10).

Luke: This was the same Luke who wrote the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. He was a Gentile Christian and a medical doctor (Colossians 4:14).

my fellow workers: These four men were working together with Paul, helping him in various ways to help people know about the Good News (see verse 1). Notice that Paul did not say they were his “fellow prisoners,” as he said about Epaphras (verse 23). These four men were free to continue working with Paul to spread the Gospel, even though he himself was in prison.

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Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.

All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.

BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.