Philemon vss 10-14To: Philemon Main MenuTo: Grace Notes Home Page By Dr. Randall E. Radic, Pastor First Congregational Church 100 N. Acacia Avenue Ripon, California 95336 Internet: drradic@sprynet.com Philemon 10"I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains."In verse 10, Paul again uses the verb for 'encourage,' PARAKALEO, and its object is the accusative personal pronoun 'you,' referring to Philemon. In the Greek the object is se,; and the construction isolates Philemon. In other words, Paul is saying, 'I appeal to you or I encourage you," but you are all alone in this decision, Philemon. You must use the spiritual resources that you have in your soul, for I (Paul) will not remove the burden from your soul by using my authority as an apostle to order you to do the right thing. So Philemon stands alone with only his soul. And the spiritual decision revolves around the last word in verse 10, Onesimus, whose name means "profitable." And Paul describes Onesimus as "my son," whom Paul "has fathered. And the phrase does not imply any type of physical relation, but simply a spiritual relation: Paul evangelized and then taught Onesimus the Word of God; thus Paul views Onesimus as his spiritual student. Philemon 11"Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me."In verse 11 Paul utilizes a figure of speech called meiosis, or litotes by the Greeks, and diminutio and extenuatio by the Romans. "By this figure one thing is diminished in order to increase another thing. In meiosis there is an omission therefore, not of words, but of sense. One thing is lowered in order to magnify and intensify something else by way of contrast." [29] And the thing diminished in Philemon 11 is Onesimus' theft and flight as Philemon's slave. And the thing magnified is tripartite:
The acts of theft and flight are diminished because compared to Onesimus' personal salvation, his refreshment to Paul, and Philemon's spiritual growth through testing, the loss of money is inconsequential. And to emphasize this meiosis Paul simultaneously employs a double paronomasia, which is the placement of two words similar in sound or orthography. Paul, in his spirit-filled genius, places two side by side: (1) "formerly useless, now useful," and (2) "both to you and to me." In other words, that which was formerly useless, Onesimus (whose name means 'useful'), is now, by the grace of God and salvation, "useful", just like his name. And he is useful to both Paul and Philemon. The subtlety of this sentence is striking for the meaning of the message is found in the structure of the message itself; Philemon cannot miss it. Philemon 12"I am sending him -- who is my very heart -- back to you."Here, in verse 12, Paul states the matter briefly and passionately; he is sending Onesimus back to Philemon, and Paul tenderly states that 'he dearly loves Onesimus,' when he says "who is my very heart." Philemon 13"I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel."Here, Paul states that he would have liked to keep Onesimus with him in Rome, and that he has viewed Onesimus as having taken Philemon's place at his side, for both are spiritually mature, is the implication. And that Philemon should consider Onesimus as having been 'on loan' to Paul as a surrogate for himself. Here, then, is the suggestion that Onesimus, too, has been a 'ministry of refreshment' to Paul, just as Philemon has been to those in Colossae. Paul is saying, then, that though one is the slave of the other, both have great spiritual status -- spiritual maturity. And again, Paul perceives himself not as chained by Nero, but by the gospel. Jesus Christ controls history, according to Paul. Finally, in verse 13 is found the frugally employed partitive genitive "of the gospel." In this construction, "a noun may be defined by indicating in the genitive the whole of which it is part." [30,31] In other words, the 'whole' to Paul is the 'gospel;' and the parts of the 'whole gospel' are Paul's chains, his imprisonment in Rome, and/or freedom. Both these conditions, imprisonment and freedom, are a 'part' of Paul's ministry, the 'whole' of which is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thus simply arranged:
And the 'whole' is Paul's life serving the Lord in whatever state he finds himself. Thus the partitive genitive imparts a charming spiritual lesson. Inherent in the lesson is the fact that the return of Onesimus is but a 'part' of Philemon's 'whole' as he, too, serves the Lord and is a minister of refreshment. Philemon 14
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