Paul says that two things he has heard make him thank God for Philemon: Philemon’s love for all of God’s people and his faith in the Lord Jesus. The Greek text employs a literary figure known as chiasmus (see Lightfoot, Moule), in which the order of the elements in two parallel phrases is a-b-b-a: love-faith-Lord Jesus-saints. Good News Translation (also Bible en français courant Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch Barclay) has abandoned the figure, since a literal reproduction of it (as in Revised Standard Version Jerusalem Bible New American Bible) leads to misunderstanding. The contents of the verse are identical with that of Col 1.4. Some take pistis here in the sense of “faithfulness, loyalty,” because of the preposition pros “to, toward” and the use of “the Lord” as the one to whom the pistis is directed. But the same preposition is used in 1 Thes 1.8, and the usual meaning of “faith,” in Paul’s letters, that is, trust in Christ, is most probably the one intended here.

Since what Paul heard was actually a report of Philemon’s love for God’s people, it may be important to make this relationship explicit, for example, “I have heard people speak about your love for all of God’s people” or even “people have told me how much you love all God’s people.” If this must be expressed in direct discourse, one may say “people have told me, ‘Philemon loves all of God’s people.’ ”

In translating the term love, it is important to avoid connotations of sexual interest and of “desire” in the sense of “desiring to possess” or “wanting to control.” A more satisfactory equivalent in some languages is “how you take care of all of God’s people” or “how you are so concerned for all of God’s people.” The emphasis is upon the manner in which Philemon has a desire to help God’s people rather than his emotional attachment to God’s people.

The faith you have in the Lord Jesus may be expressed as “the way in which you trust the Lord Jesus” or “… our Lord Jesus.”

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 .