Philemon Verses 15-19 | |
15. For perhaps he therefore departed for a season, that thou shouldest receive him for ever; | 15. Forte' enim ideo separatus fuit ad tempus, ut perpetuo eum retineres; |
16. Not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved, specially to me, but how much more unto thee, both in the flesh and in the Lord? | 16. Non jam ut servum, sed super servum fratrem dilectum maxime mihi, quanto magis tibi et in carne et in Domino? |
17. If thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself. | 17. Si igitur me habes consortem, suscipe eum tanquam me. |
18. If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee aught, put that on mine account; | 18. Si vero qua in re to laesit, vel aliquid debet, id mihi imputa |
19. I Paul have written it with mine own hand, I will repay it: albeit I do not say to thee how thou owest unto me even thine own self besides. | 19. Ego Paulus scripsi mea manu, ego solvam, ut ne dicam tibi, quod et to ipsum mihi debes. |
15.
Paul therefore reminds Philemon that he ought not to be so greatly offended at the flight of his slave, for it was the cause of a benefit not to be regretted. So long as Onesimus was at heart a runaway, Philemon, though he had him in his house, did not actually enjoy him as his property; for he was wicked and unfaithful, and could not be of real advantage. He says, therefore, that he was a wanderer for a little time, that, by changing his place, he might be converted and become a new man. And he prudently softens everything, by calling the flight a departure, and adding, that it was only
We must hold it to be an undoubted truth, that Paul does not rashly or lightly (as many people do) answer for a man of whom he knows little, or extol his faith before he has ascertained it by strong proofs, and therefore in the person of Onesimus there is exhibited a memorable example of repentance. We know how wicked the dispositions of slaves were, so that scarcely one in a hundred ever came to be of real use. As to Onesimus, we may conjecture from his flight, that he had been hardened in depravity by long habit and practice. It is therefore uncommon and wonderful virtue to lay aside the vices by which his nature was polluted, so that the Apostle can truly declare that he has now become another man.
From the same source proceeds a profitable doctrine, that the elect of God are sometimes brought to salvation by a method that could not have been believed, contrary to general expectation, by circuitous windings, and even by labyrinths. Onesimus lived in a religious and holy family, and, being banished from it by his own evil actions, he deliberately, as it were, withdraws far from God and from eternal life. Yet God, by hidden providence, wonderfully directs his pernicious flight, so that he meets with Paul.
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There remains one question. How does Paul-who, if he had not been aided by the churches, had not the means of living sparingly and frugally -- promise to pay money? Amidst such poverty and want this does certainly appear to be a ridiculous promise; but it is easy to see that, by this form of expression, Paul beseeches Philemon not to ask anything back from his slave. Though he does not speak ironically, yet, by an indirect figure, he requests him to blot out and cancel this account. The meaning, therefore, is -- "I wish that thou shouldest not contend with thy slave, unless thou choosest to have me for thy debtor in his stead." For he immediately adds that Philemon is altogether his own; and he who claims the whole man as his property, need not give himself uneasiness about paying money.
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