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Phm C1
Phm 1 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V22 V23 V24 V25
OET (OET-LV) Having_persuaded by_the obedience of_you, I_wrote to_you, having_known that even above what I_am_saying, you_will_be_doing.
OET (OET-RV) I wrote to you because I was sure that you’d obey my request, in fact knowing that you’d do even more than what I ask.
This is the main part of the letter. Paul stated clearly in verse 17 what he was asking Philemon to do. He said, “Welcome Onesimus back just as you would welcome me.” But before Paul asked Philemon to do this, he told Philemon several reasons why he should welcome Onesimus back. In verses 8–11, he told Philemon that he wanted him to do something to help Onesimus because Onesimus had become a Christian and would be useful to Philemon. Paul told Philemon that another reason why he should help Onesimus was because Philemon loved Paul and his other Christian brothers. In verses 12–14, Paul said that he was sending Onesimus back to Philemon, even though he wanted to keep Onesimus with him. In verses 15–16, Paul told Philemon why God may have allowed these things to happen, and that he (Paul) loved Onesimus very much. Then in verses 17–21, Paul finally said clearly that he wanted Philemon to welcome Onesimus. Paul offered to pay for anything Onesimus owed to Philemon. He also reminded Philemon that in the past he had helped Philemon become a Christian. This was another reason why Paul expected that Philemon would do what he asked.
In this Section (verses 8–21) Paul, as a Christian brother, asked Philemon to help Onesimus, but did not command him to do it.
Read verses 8–21 carefully in the BSB and the GNT.
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.
This verse is a summary of what Paul was asking Philemon to do for Onesimus. Paul believed quite strongly that Philemon would do what he was asking him to do. And Paul may also have been thinking as he wrote this verse that perhaps Philemon would cancel all of Onesimus’ debt. See notes on verses 19 and 20.
Confident of your obedience, I write to you,
Even as I write to you, I am sure you will do what I asked.
confident: Paul meant, “I am sure,” or, “I know.” He was reassuring Philemon that he believed that Philemon would be willing to do what Paul was asking him to do.
your obedience: The Greek words translated your obedience literally mean “that you will agree to my request.” Paul had said in verses 8 and 9 that he was asking Philemon to do only what Philemon chose willingly to do. He was not ordering him. The way the CEV translates it is probably closer to the actual meaning: “knowing that you will do what I ask you.”
I write: Paul himself wrote the part in verse 19 but probably did not write the whole letter with his own hand. He usually had someone write for him while Paul told him what to write. Paul was saying here that he was the one who had chosen what words to put in the letter.
knowing that you will do even more than I ask.
Yes, I know that you will do even more than I asked.
even more than I ask: Paul believed that Philemon would do all that was right as a Christian. This meant not only doing what Paul asked, which was to accept Onesimus back, but doing more as well. Paul may have been thinking about two things when he said even more: (a) Perhaps Philemon would not force Onesimus or Paul to repay any of Onesimus’ debts. And (b) perhaps Philemon would free Onesimus from slavery. But Bible scholars do not know whether Paul was thinking this, and they don’t know if Philemon did either of these things.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
πεποιθὼς τῇ ὑπακοῇ σου
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Πεποιθώς τῇ ὑπακοῇ σοῦ ἔγραψα σοί εἰδώς ὅτι καί ὑπέρ ἅ λέγω ποιήσεις)
If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the idea behind the abstract nouns confidence and obedience with verbs. Alternate translation: [Because I am confident that you will obey]
ἔγραψά σοι
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Πεποιθώς τῇ ὑπακοῇ σοῦ ἔγραψα σοί εἰδώς ὅτι καί ὑπέρ ἅ λέγω ποιήσεις)
Paul used the past tense here because the action of writing would be in the past when Philemon read the letter. Use the tense that is most natural in your language. Alternate translation: [I write to you]
OET (OET-LV) Having_persuaded by_the obedience of_you, I_wrote to_you, having_known that even above what I_am_saying, you_will_be_doing.
OET (OET-RV) I wrote to you because I was sure that you’d obey my request, in fact knowing that you’d do even more than what I ask.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.
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