Philemon-Introduction-Canonicity, Literary Genre, Authorship, Recipients, Date and Place of Origin, Occassion and Purpose and Themes
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday February 17, 2013
Philemon: Introduction-Canonicity, Literary Genre, Authorship, Recipients, Date and Place of Origin, Occasion and Purpose and Themes
Lesson # 1
Please turn in your Bibles to Philemon 1:1.
Paul’s epistle to Philemon is the shortest of all his letters and is one of the most personal of all his letters, if not the most personal.
Of all the literature in the New Testament, Philemon is unique since it is the only personal or person to person letter, even though the entire Christian community was also in view when Paul wrote it.
The other epistles in the New Testament are to churches and contain exhortations, instructions or a dissertation or treatise in the form of a letter.
Philemon on the other hand is correspondence between the apostle Paul and a Christian slave owner named Philemon.
This epistle is also valuable because it gives us great insight one of the great institutions in the Roman Empire in the first century A.D. namely slavery.
It helps us understand the relationship between slave and slave owner.
Philemon 1 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our beloved brother and fellow worker, 2 and to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your 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 you in my prayers, 5 because I hear of your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints; 6 and I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for Christ’s sake. 7 For I have come to have much joy and comfort in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother. 8 Therefore, though I have enough confidence in Christ to order you to do what is proper, 9 yet for love’s sake I rather appeal to you—since I am such a person as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus— 10 I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my imprisonment, 11 who formerly was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me. 12 I have sent him back to you in person, that is, sending my very heart, 13 whom I wished to keep with me, so that on your behalf he might minister to me in my imprisonment for the gospel; 14 but without your consent I did not want to do anything, so that your goodness would not be, in effect, by compulsion but of your own free will. 15 For perhaps he was for this reason separated from you for a while, that you would have him back forever, 16 no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. 17 If then you regard me a partner, accept him as you would me. 18 But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge that to my account; 19 I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand, I will repay it (not to mention to you that you owe to me even your own self as well). 20 Yes, brother, let me benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. 21 Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, since I know that you will do even more than what I say. 22 At the same time also prepare me a lodging, for I hope that through your prayers I will be given to you. 23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, 24 as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow workers. 25 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. (NASB95)
Paul’s epistle to Philemon was regarded by the early church as divinely inspired.
It was universally accepted by the early church as a part of the canon of Scripture.
Philemon was recognized as part of the New Testament canon in Egypt in 367, in Rome 382, in Carthage and Hippo in 395 and 397 and in the Syrian church approximately 500.
This letter to Philemon is written according to the pattern of letter writing found in the ancient world during the first century called the “epistle.’
In Philemon, Paul follows the correct chronological order of a first century letter’s introduction: (1) The author identifies himself first (2) Then he identifies the recipient of the letter (3) Then he gives a greeting.
It follows the usual Pauline letter structure (1) Opening (verses 1-3) (2) (2) Thanksgiving (verses 4-7) (3) Body of letter (verses 8-20) (4) Closing (verses 21-25).
There was a constant exchange of letters in the early first century churches, which was by apostolic command.
A good example of this procedure is found in the letter to the Colossians, which was meant not only to be read by the believers in Colosse but also in Laodicea and in turn the letter to the Laodiceans was meant not only for the believers in Laodicea but was also to be read by the Colossians (Col. 4:16).
Was Philemon simply a private letter or was it to be read publicly in the churches?
In answer to this question, it appears that it was more than a private letter between Paul and Philemon and was in fact to be read publicly in the churches since Paul not only addresses Philemon, Apphia, and Archippus but also the entire congregation meeting in Philemon’s house (see verses 1-2).
They were encouraged to participate in Philemon’s decision.
The Colossians who met in Philemon’s home were to be eyewitnesses of the effects of Paul’s letter since they could testify to Onesimus’ worth.
By addressing all of them together and not just Philemon alone, they are witnesses to all that Paul writes and Philemon will do.
Philemon’s decision and the congregations’ are to be harmony with one another.
Lastly, in support of Philemon being a public letter is that it is included in the canon of Scripture and is to be read and studied in all the churches throughout church history.
Therefore, this letter to Philemon was read publicly to all of the churches located in Colossae and all the churches in the Roman Empire.
The letter was then distributed to other churches in that geographical area.
After being read in Philemon’s home, it was copied and then distributed to the churches in the area and read publicly several times in the various churches.
The letter was sent to other geographical locations and read publicly in these places and then copied as well.
Eventually the letter would be read by each of the churches in Asia and throughout the rest of the Roman Empire and of course, copies of this same letter have come down to us today.
The Pauline authorship of Philemon has never been denied except by the radical critics of the Tübingen School.
Contemporary scholars unanimously accept the Pauline authorship of this epistle.
Paul’s epistle is addressed not only to Philemon but also Apphia, who is quite possibly Philemon’s wife and Archippus.
The city of Rome is favored by many expositors as the place of origin for Paul’s epistle to Philemon.
However, there has been debate among scholars as to where Paul was imprisoned when he wrote Philemon.
Three solutions have been typically advanced: (1) Rome (2) Ephesus (3) Caesarea.
The traditional answer and one that I hold to is that Paul wrote the letter from Rome during his imprisonment there (cf. Acts 28:30).
Philemon 1, 9, 10, and 23 record Paul as a prisoner.
If one compares this epistle to Colossians 4:7-17 and in particular the names, it shows that Philemon was sent from the same place as Colossians.
Tychicus was entrusted with delivering the Philemon epistle and Onesimus was his companion on the journey to Colossae, which was the same Onesimus mentioned in Philemon 12.
There is literary evidence that Philemon was written from Rome since some ancient Greek manuscripts there are several forms of a postscript to Philemon which contain the words “written from Rome.”
Though this postscript is not a part of the original text, this does not mean that this information is incorrect.
If Colossians is Pauline, and most scholars believe so and the evidence points to a Pauline authorship, then Philemon also must have been written at the same place and time because nearly the same coworkers are with Paul when he wrote Colossians and Philemon.
Also, in support of Rome as a place of origin is that Rome was a favorite place of refuge for runaway slaves like Onesimus since they could get lost in the throngs of people that inhabited the capital of the Roman Empire and had a good chance in this city to find work and a benefactor.
They even could find a job as a “emperor slave,” which was prestigious and also they could find refuge in the slums of the city.
It can be determined that Paul wrote Philemon from Rome in approximately 61 or 62 A.D. while awaiting his appeal before Caesar.
A critical factor in a Roman origin of this epistle is that Luke is with Paul during his imprisonment (see Colossians 4:14; Philemon 24), which is supported by Acts since it makes clear since Paul’s Ephesian ministry does not occur in a ‘we’ section of Acts.
The traditional view, that Paul was in Rome when he wrote Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon, is still by far the best view.
Paul had two Roman imprisonments: (1) A.D. 60-62: Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians and Philemon (2) A.D. 68: 2 Timothy, Hebrews.
The apostle Paul wrote Philippians, Ephesians, Colossians and Philemon during his first Roman imprisonment while he was awaiting his appeal before Caesar and he was actually permitted to have his own rented quarters in Rome with a Roman soldier guarding him (See Acts 28).
The contents of the epistle to Philemon make clear that the primary objective of the letter was Paul interceding with Philemon on behalf of the latter’s runaway slave, Onesimus.