Because I love you represents the Greek “on account of love,” which might be rendered impersonally “on the basis of (Christian) love,” or mutually, “because we love another” (Barclay). The rendering of love in this context should suggest friendship and sincere appreciation.
I make a request translates parakaleō (also verse 10), here with the meaning of “to plead, appeal,” perhaps “to beg a favor.” An appeal is often expressed figuratively, for example, “I ask you with my heart exposed” or “I ask you from my abdomen.”
What follows in the verse comes as a concessive clause, even though I am, which implies that what Paul is gives him the right to do otherwise than make a request. The concessive clause I do this even though … may be restructured in some languages as “I could do it differently, for I am…”
Ambassador translates the Greek presbutēs, which is usually “an old man” (see Luke 1.18, Titus 2.2; “old women” in Titus 2.3). But this word sometimes appears as a variant spelling of presbeutēs, and on this basis Good News Translation Revised Standard Version New American Bible Barclay New English Bible Translator’s New Testament Barclay Goodspeed Twentieth Century New Testament and others take it here to mean ambassador, which seems much more appropriate in the context (so Lightfoot, Moule). (The noun presbeutēs does not appear in the NT, but the cognate verb presbeuō is used in 2 Cor 5.20, Eph 6.20.) Others (Vincent, Lohse) think “an old man” is meant, and that is how it is translated in Jerusalem Bible Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch Traduction œcuménique de la Bible Bible en français courant Biblia Dios Habla Hoy New International Version Moffatt Phillips. It is impossible to decide precisely how old Paul would be; according to the sixth-century B.C. Greek physician Hippocrates, this word applied to an individual between 49 and 56.
Ambassador may be rendered as “one who represents” or “one who carries a message on behalf of” or “one who travels in order to speak for.”
A prisoner for his sake: see Philemon 1.9.
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to Philemon. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1977. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .