Philemon
The Epistle of Paul to Philemon, usually referred to simply as
Philemon, is a prison letter to Philemon from Paul of Tarsus.
Philemon was a leader in the Colossian church. This letter,
which is one of the books of the New Testament, deals with
forgiveness.
It is now generally regarded as one of the undisputed works of
Paul. It is the shortest ...
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This most beautiful of all Paul's Epistles, and the most
intensely human, is one of the so-called Captivity Epistles
of which Ephesians, Colossians, and Philippians are the
others. Of these four PHILIPPIANS (which see) stands apart,
and was written more probably after the other three. These
are mutually interdependent, sent by the same bearer ...
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fi-le'-mon, fi-le'-mun (Philemon): Among the converts of
Paul, perhaps while at Ephesus, was one whom he calls a
"fellow-worker," Philemon (Philem 1:1). He was probably a
man of some means, was celebrated for his hospitality
(Philem 1:5-7) and of considerable importance in the
ecclesia at Colosse. It was at his house (Philem 1:2) that
the Col...
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the name of the Christian to whom Paul addressed his epistle
in behalf of Onesimus. He was a native probably of Colosse, or
at all events lived in that city when the apostle wrote to
him: first, because Onesimus was a Colossian, Col 4:9 and
secondly because Archippus was a Colossian, Col 4:17 whom Paul
associates with Philemon at the beginning...
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an inhabitant of Colosse, and apparently a person of some note
among the citizens (Col. 4:9; Philemon 1:2). He was
brought to a
knowledge of the gospel through the instrumentality of
Paul
(19), and held a prominent place in the Christian
community for
his piety and beneficence (4-7). He is called in the
epistle a
"fellow-labourer," and the...
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is one of the letters which the apostle wrote during his
first captivity at Rome A.D. 63 or early in A.D. 64. Nothing
is wanted to confirm the genuineness of the epistle: the
external testimony is unimpeachable; nor does the epistle
itself offer anything to conflict with this decision. The
occasion of the letter was that Onesimus, a slave of
...
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was written from Rome at the same time as the epistles to
the
Colossians and Ephesians, and was sent also by
Onesimus. It was
addressed to Philemon and the members of his family.
It was written for the purpose of interceding for
Onesimus
(q.v.), who had deserted his master Philemon and
been
"unprofitable" to him. Paul had found Onesimus at...
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A Christian householder who hospitably entertained the
saints (Philemon 1:7) and befriended them with loving
sympathy at Colossae, for Onesimus and Archippus were
Colossians (Colossians 4:9; Colossians 4:17; Philemon 1:1-2;
Philemon 1:10); to whom Paul wrote the epistle. He calls
Philemon "brother," and says "thou owest unto me even thine
own...
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Anthenticity of. Origen (Hom. 19, Jer. 1:185) quotes it as
Paul's. Tertullian (Marcion 5:21), "the brevity of this
epistle is the cause of its escaping Marcion's falsifying
hands." Eusebius (E. H. 3:25) ranks it among "the
universally acknowledged (homologoumena) epistles of the
canon." Jerome (Prooem. Philemon iv. 442) argues against
those w...
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