InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEUT JOB YEHO (JOS) HERO (JDG) RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG YOEL (JOEL) MIC ISA ZEP HAB YIR (JER) LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBAD DAN EZEK EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL 2 PS WIS TOB MAN BAR G DAN G ESD L ESD ESG JDT 3 MAC SIR 1 MAC 2 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL LAOD PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
InterlinearVerse Phm
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People tagged in the matching LV passage: Jesus Christ · Paul
Dictionary: Jesus
OET-LV because_of the love rather I_am_exhorting you such being, as Paulos (an_older_man and right_now also a_prisoner of_chosen_one/messiah Yaʸsous/(Yəhōshūˊa)),
OET (OET-RV) but because of love as Paulos, an older man and now also a prisoner for Yeshua (Jesus; Grk. Yesus) the messiah, I’m just going to encourage you to do it.
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.
Read verses 8–11 again, then read the following notes before you translate.
I prefer to appeal on the basis of love.
Instead, I am simply asking you to do it because we (dual-incl) love each other and God’s people.
But I will only ask you, because I know you love me and your fellow believers.
I prefer: The phrase I prefer indicates that Paul wanted to appeal to Philemon on the basis of love instead of ordering him what to do.
to appeal: Paul was asking Philemon to do something. This was not the same as telling him to do it. And he was not asking a question.
on the basis of love: Rather than ordering Philemon to obey a command, Paul wanted Philemon to help Onesimus because of love. But it is not clear who loved whom. There are three interpretations:
Philemon should do what Paul wanted simply because he loved Paul.
Philemon should do what he ought to do, not because of a command, but because he loved all of God’s people.
Paul did not use his authority to tell Philemon what to do. The reason was: Paul loved Philemon. GNT follows this third interpretation.
All three interpretations are possible, and perhaps Paul was thinking about all these meanings when he wrote this passage. But the first interpretation seems most likely because of the following words in 9b. Verse part 9b implies that Philemon should show that he was thankful to Paul, an old man in prison. And he also should be thankful for Paul helping him to trust in Christ.
For I, Paul, am now aged, and a prisoner of Christ Jesus as well.
I, Paul, am asking you as an old man now, and as someone whom people have put in prison because I serve Jesus Christ.
I do this as Paul—an old man, and now also in prison for the sake of Christ Jesus.
I, Paul: Paul was giving reasons why Philemon should agree to do what Paul asked him to do. For example:
He was Philemon’s friend, Paul.
He was an old man.
He was suffering because he trusted in Christ.
am now aged: The Greek word presbutēs has two possible meanings in this verse:
“old man” (BSB, NIV, JB, JBP, NLT, KJV)
“ambassador,” a man who speaks for important people (GNT, NEB, RSV)
The phrase am now aged probably represents the right meaning in this verse because Paul had just said that he was not giving an order to Philemon, as a man of authority (verse 8) would do. Paul, as an aged man in prison for Christ (verse 9), was appealing to Philemon.
a prisoner: See notes on verse 1a.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
διὰ τὴν ἀγάπην
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: διά τήν ἀγάπην μᾶλλον παρακαλῶ τοιοῦτος ὤν ὡς Παῦλος πρεσβύτης νυνί δέ καί δέσμιος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ)
Paul does not say for whom this love is. If you need to use a verb here and say who loves whom, this could refer to: (1) the mutual love between him and Philemon. See the UST. (2) Paul’s love for Philemon. Alternate translation: [because I love you]; (3) Philemon’s love for his fellow believers. Alternate translation: [because I know that you love God’s people]
δέσμιος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ
˓a˒_prisoner ˱of˲_Christ Jesus
Paul was in prison because people in authority did not want him to preach about Jesus. They put him there in order to stop him and to punish him. This does not mean that Jesus had put Paul in prison. Alternate translation: [a prisoner for the sake of Christ Jesus]
OET-LV because_of the love rather I_am_exhorting you such being, as Paulos (an_older_man and right_now also a_prisoner of_chosen_one/messiah Yaʸsous/(Yəhōshūˊa)),
OET (OET-RV) but because of love as Paulos, an older man and now also a prisoner for Yeshua (Jesus; Grk. Yesus) the messiah, I’m just going to encourage you to do it.
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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