Philemon 1:1-3: Greeting
2022-06-03
The book of Philemon is a Pauline epistle, but it is not one of the Pastoral Epistles. While 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus are written to church planters establishing local churches, this is not the case with Philemon.
Philemon is the shortest Pauline epistle in the Bible. The Pauline epistles are in order of length from the longest to the shortest, except the book of Hebrews.
The central issue of this short letter is a runaway slave Onesimus to his master Philemon. While Onesimus was away, he met Paul and became a Christian. This letter was to persuade Philemon to reconcile with his servant and accept him back as a brother in the Lord. Paul used an interesting combination of friendly encouragement with authority to execute this persuasion.
There is a noticeable similarity between the people mentioned in Philemon as in Paul’s epistle to the Colossians. It seems that Onesimus and Tychicus delivered these two letters at the same time (Colossians 4:7-9).
Philemon 1:1-2
There are five people mentioned in the initial greeting. The senders are listed as Paul and Timothy, and the recipients are Philemon, Apphia, and Archippus. Due to the singular nature of the subject and object of sentences throughout the epistle, it appears that that primary author is Paul, and the primary recipient is Philemon.
Paul is the primary human author of the letter. Paul’s given title is “a prisoner of Jesus Christ.” This word “prisoner” was also used of Barabbas. Paul was a prisoner several times throughout the Bible. He was imprisoned because of the cause of Christ, such as at Philippi and in Jerusalem, where ultimately, he was sent to Rome because of the Gospel. “This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds” (Acts 26:31).
Timothy was a traveling companion and protégé of Paul. We looked at him in depth when talking about 1 Timothy. While he was already a Christian when Paul met him, Timothy’s spiritual development excelled through Paul’s mentorship, and Paul called him his “own son in the faith” (1 Timothy 1:2).
Philemon, Apphia, and Archippus are mentioned as recipients. However, only Archippus is mentioned elsewhere in the Scriptures. “And say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it” (Colossians 4:17). We have every reason to believe this is the same Archippus, because of the matching of many other names in both the books of Colossians and Philemon. He had some significant service he was to do for the Lord, and it was important enough to mention at the end of Colossians. He is considered a “fellowsoldier”; perhaps he was in a very frontline ministry with a lot of spiritual warfare. Epaphroditus is also called this (Philippians 2:25).
Regarding Philemon, the lack of mention of his name in Colossians makes me think that Paul was not as close to him as Archippus. There is no reason to believe they were at odds with each other, though. The bond we saw between Timothy, and somewhat with Titus, does not seem to be there.
Philemon is called “dearly beloved.” Paul does the same with many others, including whole churches as well as Timothy. Philemon is also called a “fellowlabourer,” which is translated elsewhere as “helper.” Priscilla, Aquila, Urbane, Timothy, Titus, Epaphroditus, as well as the men mentioned in Philemon 1:24 are referred to as this word. Paul and other companions were also called “fellowlabourers” with God: “For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building” (1 Corinthians 3:9).
Working together for the cause of the Gospel is a theme throughout the Bible. This is a part of the unity we have in the Lord Jesus. Philemon was an active servant of the Lord; he had a ministry that was important, as we all have (or should have).
Philemon seems to have been a rich person. He had at least one servant, Onesimus, and owned a house that was large enough for a church.
Apphia, a woman, is also not mentioned elsewhere. She may be mentioned because she is Philemon’s wife, but we do not know for sure.
Having three recipients, yet having mainly only one addressee, reminds me of email, where there is a “To” and a “CC” place. The “To” is for the main addressee, but the “CC,” or “carbon copy,” is there for people that need to be “in the know” of the message’s content. Often, if you want action on a matter, you may write “to” someone, but you also “CC” their supervisor to make sure that whatever is required is expedited. This might have been the case with Philemon. Paul appealed to Philemon for Onesimus’ sake, but you get the feeling that he might push back on it a little bit. Paul might have wanted accountability to be sure Philemon makes the right choice.
An additional recipient is “the church in thy house.” In Colosse, the believers are called “saints and faithful brethren” (Colossians 1:2). The church that is in Philemon’s house may only be a subset of the entire body of saints in Colosse. “Church” is used more when dealing with a physical congregation, while “saints” is used more when dealing with Christians in general.
Meeting in houses for church seems to be common throughout the Bible. Priscilla and Aquila had a church in their house (Romans 16:15; 1 Corinthians 16:19). Nymphas had a church in his house in Laodicea (Colossians 4:15). The early church after Pentecost seemed to meet in different homes for worship: “And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart” (Acts 2:46). Paul taught people in Ephesus in people’s homes: “And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house” (Acts 20:20). The “elect lady” in 2 John and “elect sister” are presumably churches that met in homes. They were told concerning false prophets, “receive him not into your house” (2 John 1:10).
Churches, wherever they meet, are real churches, given they have the proper ecclesiastical structure set up with bishops and deacons. Real teaching and fellowship occur in a church. My family and I just getting together for a Bible study does not constitute a church, and neither does just a group of people getting together haphazardly.
The building, or lack of building, does not make a church inferior or superior. In some ways, a house church simplifies things because expenses are less, and you have a more personal environment. However a church decides to meet, the location is not as important as the people that constitute a church.
Philemon 1:3
The greeting in Philemon 1:3 is almost identical to greetings found in every Pauline epistle except Hebrews (if it is one). This standard greeting emphasizes grace and peace coming from the Father and the Son because they are the only source of grace and peace. Grace is that favor He chose to show toward us, while withholding wrath due us because the Son took it upon Himself on our behalf.