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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