18

It is not clear whether Onesimus did anything wrong except run away. But remember, Philemon was his master. Onesimus belonged to him. He did not have to pay Onesimus to work for him. When Onesimus ran away, Philemon may have had to hire another worker and pay him. So he may have felt that Onesimus owed him the money that he had had to pay the other worker. Onesimus may also have stolen something from Philemon, but Bible scholars are not certain about this.

owes: He needed to repay something to Philemon.

charge it to my account: This does not refer to a bank account. Paul did not have any kind of financial account with Philemon. Paul was saying, “Whatever Onesimus owes you, don’t say he owes it but say I owe it to you.” Paul was promising to repay to Philemon anything that Onesimus owed him. But the next two verses give reasons why Philemon would probably not let Paul repay him.

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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.

Paragraph 17–21 Paul asks Philemon to welcome Onesimus back

In this paragraph Paul finally stated clearly to Philemon what he wanted him to do. He wanted Philemon to welcome Onesimus back in the same way that Philemon would welcome Paul if Paul were visiting him. This is the main point of the whole letter.

Paul promised to repay Philemon for anything Onesimus may have taken from Philemon or for anything wrong he may have done against him. But Paul knew that Philemon probably would not ask him to repay him, because Paul had helped him to become a Christian. Christ surely changed the way Philemon thought about life and about money. In fact, Paul was sure that Philemon would do what he was asking him to do and even more.

Paul was also sending Onesimus back to Philemon because Onesimus needed to obey his master again and help him and show that he had changed. If Onesimus did this, he and Philemon could have peace with each other again.

Read verses 17–21 again.

17a

So: Instead of saying So, Paul could have said “On the basis of what I have just said.” (verses 8–16). This would mean the same thing. He could also have said, “Thinking of what I have just written to you.”

if: Another way of expressing what Paul means by the word the Berean Standard Bible translates as if is “since” or “because.” Paul often used the word if with this meaning. If you translated 17a as “I am not sure you consider me a partner,” this would be the wrong meaning. Paul knew that Philemon thought of him as his partner. So he was saying, “Since you think of me as your partner.”

partner: The Greek word koinōnos in this verse means “a friend who is a fellow Christian” (see verse 17 in Living Bible, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English). It refers to someone who works together with someone else to serve the Lord. This is very similar to the meaning of the term that the Berean Standard Bible translates as “fellow worker” in verse 1.

17b

receive: To receive someone means to welcome him, to accept him gladly. Paul was asking Philemon to receive Onesimus back just as gladly as he would have received Paul.

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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.

16a

no longer as a slave: This does not mean that Onesimus was not a slave any more. He was still Philemon’s slave. It means that Philemon should not think of him only as a slave, but also especially as his Christian brother. Good News Translation: “he is not just a slave.”

slave: Onesimus belonged to Philemon because he was Philemon’s slave. For more information on “slave”, see Introduction to Philemon.

16b

even more so to you: Paul was saying that Philemon had a reason to love Onesimus even more than Paul did. This was because Onesimus would now be a faithful slave and a Christian brother to Philemon.

16c

in person: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates person here probably means that Onesimus was still a slave. But Philemon would be able to love him now as a person who would obey him and not run away.

in the Lord: This refers to Onesimus as a “fellow Christian,” someone who was united to the Lord Jesus just as Philemon was.

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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.

Paragraph 15–16 Onesimus is now a brother in Christ

In these verses Paul said that it could be a good thing that Onesimus ran away from Philemon. As a result, Onesimus became a Christian. As he went back to Philemon, he went back not only as a slave, but also as a Christian brother. If he had not run away, he might not have become a Christian.

Read verses 15–16 again.

15a-b

for a while…for good: (Good News Translation🙂 “short time…all time” The short time that Onesimus was away from Philemon—perhaps a few months—helped him to return and be with him for all time (on this earth and in heaven) as a fellow Christian. Another way to say this would be that Philemon lost a slave for a short time so he could get back a Christian brother for all time.

15a

perhaps: Paul was not certain that what he said in 15a–16a was God’s plan, but he thought that it was likely.

was separated from you: What this really means is that Onesimus ran away. But Paul said it in a way that made it seem like God allowed him to run away or even that God caused this to happen. This then helped Onesimus to meet Paul and become a Christian.

15b

have him back: This means that Philemon could have Onesimus with him again.

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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.

14a

What Paul meant in this verse was that he did not ask Onesimus to stay with him, since Philemon was not there to approve of it. If he had asked Onesimus to stay, this would have been like forcing Philemon to let Onesimus help Paul. Paul may have meant that he wanted Philemon to send Onesimus back later so he could help Paul while Paul was in prison. But Paul wanted Philemon to do this only if Philemon himself wanted to do it, not because Paul said he must do it.

anything: The word anything here means “anything (in this matter about Onesimus).” Paul would not keep Onesimus with him and would not ask Onesimus to come back (to Paul) unless Philemon approved.

without your consent: Other ways to express this are “unless you say OK” or “without you saying it is all right.” See Display for verse 14a.

14b

so that: This phrase introduces the reason why Paul said in 14a “I did not want to do anything without your consent.” The reason is in 14b: “if you agree to do what I ask, it will be because you yourself want to do it, not because I have said you must do it.”

your goodness: Another way to state this is “If you help me like this….”

goodness: Paul was referring here to something kind or helpful Philemon might do for him. See “ appeal” in verse 10.

not be out of compulsion, but by your own free will: If Philemon did a favor for Paul, Paul wanted it to be something Philemon himself decided to do, not something that Paul ordered him to do whether Philemon wanted to do it or not.

out of compulsion: When someone makes or compels you to do something, or forces you to some action.

by your own free will: This means “without someone telling you to do it.” To do it willingly because you want to do it.

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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.

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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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.

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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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.

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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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.