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Philemon · Darby Translation

Philemon 1 Darby Translation

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About Darby
  • Protestant
  • OT: Masoretic Hebrew
  • NT: Critical text
  • Protestant (66 books)
  • Very literal
  • 1890
  • Public domain

Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings

1 Paul, prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timotheus the brother, to Philemon the beloved and our fellow-workman, 2 and to the sister Apphia and to Archippus our fellow-soldier, and to the assembly which [is] in thine house. 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and [the] Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I thank my God, always making mention of thee at my prayers, 5 hearing of thy love and the faith which thou hast towards the Lord Jesus, and towards all the saints, 6 in such sort that thy participation in the faith should become operative in the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in us towards Christ [Jesus]. 7 For we have great thankfulness and encouragement through thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother. 8 Wherefore having much boldness in Christ to enjoin thee what is fitting, 9 for love's sake I rather exhort, being such a one as Paul the aged, and now also prisoner of Jesus Christ. 10 I exhort thee for my child, whom I have begotten in [my] bonds, Onesimus, 11 once unserviceable to thee, but now serviceable to thee and to me: 12 whom I have sent back to thee: [but do thou receive] him, that is, my bowels: 13 whom I was desirous of keeping with myself, that for thee he might minister to me in the bonds of the glad tidings; 14 but I have wished to do nothing without thy mind, that thy good might not be as of necessity but of willingness: 15 for perhaps for this reason he has been separated [from thee] for a time, that thou mightest possess him fully for ever; 16 not any longer as a bondman, but above a bondman, a beloved brother, specially to me, and how much rather to thee, both in [the] flesh and in [the] Lord? 17 If therefore thou holdest me to be a partner [with thee], receive him as me; 18 but if he have wronged thee anything or owe anything [to thee], put this to my account. 19 I Paul have written [it] with mine own hand; I will repay [it]: that I say not to thee that thou owest even thine own self also to me. 20 Yea, brother, I would have profit of thee in [the] Lord: refresh my bowels in Christ. 21 Being confident of thine obedience, I have written to thee, knowing that thou wilt do even more than I say. 22 But withal prepare me also a lodging; for I hope that I shall be granted to you through your prayers. 23 Epaphras salutes thee, my fellow-prisoner in Christ Jesus; 24 Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow-workmen. 25 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be] with your spirit.

People & places in this chapter

From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.

People

  • Apphia

    Sister addressed with Philemon

    Addressed by Paul together with Philemon and Archippus in the letter to Philemon.

    Cited in the guide: Philemon 2

  • Archippus

    Fellow soldier of Paul

    Called by Paul his fellow soldier and told to complete the ministry he received in the Lord.

    Cited in the guide: Colossians 4:17; Philemon 2

  • Demas

    Coworker of Paul

    A coworker of Paul who sends greetings from Rome, but later deserted him because he loved the present world.

    Cited in the guide: Colossians 4:14; 2 Timothy 4:10; Philemon 24

  • Epaphras

    Founder of the Colossian church

    A faithful minister of Christ who taught the Colossians, wrestled for them in prayer, and was Paul's fellow prisoner.

    Cited in the guide: Colossians 1:7; Colossians 4:12; Philemon 23

  • Luke

    Beloved physician and coworker of Paul

    Paul's beloved physician and coworker who stayed with him when others had left him in his final imprisonment.

    Cited in the guide: Colossians 4:14; 2 Timothy 4:11; Philemon 24

  • Onesimus

    Runaway slave of Philemon

    A slave who became a believer through Paul in prison and whom Paul sent back to Philemon as a beloved brother.

    Cited in the guide: Colossians 4:9; Philemon 10

  • Philemon

    Beloved coworker of Paul

    The believer to whom Paul wrote on behalf of Onesimus; a church met in his house.

    Cited in the guide: Philemon 1

Cross references (25)

Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.

  1. 1 Philippians 2:25; Ephesians 3:1; Colossians 1:1; Philemon 9; 1 Corinthians 3:9
  2. 2 Philippians 2:25; Colossians 4:17; Romans 16:5; Colossians 4:15; 2 Timothy 2:3–4
  3. 3 Romans 1:7; Ephesians 1:2; 2 Corinthians 13:14
  4. 4 Romans 1:8; Ephesians 1:16; Colossians 1:3; Philippians 1:3; 2 Thessalonians 1:3
  5. 5 Colossians 1:4; Ephesians 1:15; Psalm 16:3; 1 John 5:1–2; 1 Corinthians 16:1
  6. 6 2 Peter 1:8; Philippians 1:9–11; Colossians 1:9; 1 Peter 1:5–8; Matthew 5:16
  7. 7 2 Corinthians 7:13; 2 Corinthians 7:4; 1 Thessalonians 3:9; 3 John 3–6; 1 Thessalonians 2:19
  8. 8 1 Thessalonians 2:6; 2 Corinthians 10:8; 2 Corinthians 3:12; 2 Corinthians 10:1–2; 1 Thessalonians 2:2
  9. 9 2 Corinthians 5:20; Romans 12:1; Ephesians 4:1; Ephesians 3:1; Philemon 1–25
  10. 10 Colossians 4:9; 1 Corinthians 4:15; Galatians 4:19; 1 Timothy 1:2; Titus 1:4
  11. 11 2 Timothy 4:11; Job 30:1–2; 1 Peter 2:10; Luke 15:32; Romans 3:12
  12. 12 Matthew 6:14–15; Ephesians 4:32; Luke 15:20; Mark 11:25; Jeremiah 31:20
  13. 13 Ephesians 3:1; Philippians 1:7; 1 Corinthians 16:17; Philippians 2:30; Philemon 1
  14. 14 2 Corinthians 9:7; 1 Peter 5:2–3; 1 Chronicles 29:17; 1 Corinthians 9:17; 2 Corinthians 8:12
  15. 15 Genesis 50:20; Genesis 45:5–8; Isaiah 20:6; Acts 4:28
  16. 16 Colossians 3:22; Matthew 23:8; 1 Timothy 6:2; 1 Corinthians 7:22; Ephesians 6:5–7
  17. 17 2 Corinthians 8:23; Matthew 10:40; Philemon 12; Matthew 18:5; Ephesians 3:6
  18. 18 Isaiah 53:4–7
  19. 19 Galatians 6:11; 1 Corinthians 16:21–22; Galatians 5:2; James 5:19–20; 1 Corinthians 4:15
  20. 20 Philemon 7; 3 John 4; Hebrews 13:17; Philemon 12; 1 Thessalonians 3:7–9
  21. 21 2 Thessalonians 3:4; 2 Corinthians 2:3; 2 Corinthians 7:16; Galatians 5:10; 2 Corinthians 8:22
  22. 22 2 Corinthians 1:11; Philippians 2:24; 2 John 12; Acts 28:23; Philippians 1:19
  23. 23 Colossians 1:7; Colossians 4:12; Romans 16:7; Colossians 4:10
  24. 24 Colossians 4:10; 2 Timothy 4:10–11; Colossians 4:14; Acts 12:12; Acts 15:37–39
  25. 25 2 Timothy 4:22; Galatians 6:18; Romans 16:20; Romans 16:23

Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences

What the Fathers said

Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).

How these were chosen

“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).

  1. Commentary 1 John Chrysostom, Homilies on Philemon (Homily I)

    These things are said to a master in behalf of a servant. Immediately at the outset, he has pulled down his spirit, and not suffered him to be ashamed, he has quenched his anger; calling himself a prisoner, he strikes him with compunction, and makes him collect himself, and makes it appear that present things are nothing.

    Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 13 (1889)