Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Vulgate Text: Philemon 1-25
1. Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy, a brother: to Philemon our beloved and fellow laborer, 2. and to Apphia our dearest sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church which is in your house: 3. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 4. I give thanks to my God, always making a remembrance of you in my prayers, 5. hearing of your charity and the faith which you have in the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints: 6. that the communication of your faith may be made evident in the acknowledging of every good work that is in you in Christ Jesus. 7. For I have had great joy and consolation in your charity, because the bowels of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother. 8. Wherefore though I have much confidence in Christ Jesus to command you that which is to the purpose: 9. for charity's sake I rather beseech, whereas you are such a one, as Paul an old man, and now a prisoner also of Jesus Christ. 10. I beseech you for my son, whom I have begotten in my bonds, Onesimus, 11. who has been heretofore unprofitable to you, but now is profitable both to me and you: 12. whom I have sent back to you. And do you receive him as my own bowels. 13. Whom I would have retained with me, that in your stead he might have ministered to me in the bonds of the gospel. 14. But without your counsel I would do nothing: that your good deed might not be as it were of necessity, but voluntary. 15. For perhaps he therefore departed for a season from you, that you might receive him again forever: 16. not now as a servant, but instead of a servant, a most dear brother, especially to me: but how much more to you both in the flesh and in the Lord? 17. If therefore you count me a partner, receive him as myself. 18. And if he has wronged you in any thing or is in your debt, put that to my account. 19. I Paul have written it with my own hand: I will repay it: not to say to you that you owe me your own self also. 20. Yes, brother. May I enjoy you in the Lord. Refresh my bowels in the Lord. 21. Trusting in your obedience, I have written to you: knowing that you will do also more than I say. 22. But withal prepare me also a lodging. For I hope that through your prayers I shall be given to you. 23. There salutes you Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, 24. Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow laborers. 25. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
Verses 1 and 2: Paul, a Prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy a Brother: to Philemon Our Beloved, and to Apphia and Archippus, and to the Church Which Is in Thy House
1. Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy the brother: to Philemon our beloved and fellow helper, 2. and to Apphia our most dear sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the Church which is in thy house. — See with how many titles and names the Apostle here strikes upon the mind of Philemon, that he may receive Onesimus into favor.
First, "I, a prisoner of Christ," he says, ask this of thee; therefore give this consolation and joy to me, Paul a prisoner; nay rather, give this to Christ, for whom I am a prisoner, and have been made as it were a servant like to thy servant Onesimus.
Second, he asks the same from "Timothy the brother" — both thine and mine, in Christ, that is, in Christianity.
Third, thou art to me "beloved and a helper;" therefore give this to our love. Again, thou art accustomed to help not only any wretched and poor persons, but also me with thy resources and labor in the Gospel; help therefore and receive this poor little servant of thine, converted through me.
Fourth, by saluting Apphia and Archippus, he tacitly enlists these same persons, says Theophylact, as intercessors with him on behalf of Onesimus — so great was the charity and solicitude of the Apostle, that he might reconcile one little fugitive man to his lord.
Note secondly: This Apphia was the wife of Philemon, as Chrysostom, Theodoret, and Theophylact teach. He calls her his "sister," namely in Christ. For all Christians, as a token of their extraordinary mutual charity, called all Christian men brothers, and all women sisters, as if they were begotten of the same Father, namely Christ, and the same Mother, namely the Church.
Note thirdly: This Archippus was Bishop and preacher of the Colossians, as Ambrose and Jerome say; whence Paul here calls him his fellow soldier, and at Colossians IV, 17 writes about him: "Say to Archippus: See the ministry which thou hast received from the Lord, that thou fulfill it." Although Primasius would have Archippus to have been only a deacon, but Epaphras to have been Bishop of the Colossians: of whom verse 23 speaks. It seems however that this Archippus dwelt at Colossae, in the house of Philemon. For this reason he salutes him together with Philemon; hence also he adds, in greeting, "and to the Church (that is, the congregation of the faithful) which is in thy house," namely, O Philemon (it is to him he writes, and to him he speaks, not to Archippus), inasmuch as in that house there are many faithful, since Archippus the Bishop dwells there, and therefore Christians gather there as it were to a common church of bishop and faithful for the sake of sacred rites.
Verses 4 and 5: I Give Thanks to My God, Always Making Remembrance of Thee in My Prayers, Hearing of Thy Charity and Faith
4. I give thanks to my God, always making a remembrance of thee in my prayers, 5. hearing of thy charity and faith, which thou hast in the Lord Jesus, and toward all the saints. — In Greek it is not ἐν (in), but εἰς, that is "toward," or "with respect to," the Lord Jesus and all the saints. So Chrysostom and Ambrose.
Note: The faith which we have in the Lord Jesus, the same we have also toward all the Saints: for just as we believe Jesus to be the Messiah and Saviour, and Head of the Church of God, so likewise we believe the Saints of Jesus to be true saints, and to be the true Church of God; and by loving and adhering to the Saints, we love and adhere to Christ, and consequently by doing good to the Saints, we do good to Christ. For the Apostle speaks not of a bare and internal faith, but of that faith which exerts and communicates itself through works, as he himself immediately subjoins.
Hence it follows that he who honors and invokes the Saints takes nothing from Christ; rather, by this very act he honors and invokes Christ. Whence in Exodus XIV, 31, it is said: "They believed the Lord, and Moses His servant." "This is the case," says Jerome, "not only with Moses, but with all His Saints, that whoever believes in God can in no other way receive faith in Him, except he also believe in His Saints: for there is no perfect love and faith toward God which is weakened by hatred and unbelief toward His ministers."
Verse 6: That the Communication of Thy Faith May Be Made Evident, in the Acknowledging of Every Good Work
6. That the communication of thy faith may be made evident, in the acknowledging of every good work that is in you in Christ Jesus. — He calls "communication of faith" the communion of faith; or because thou, O Philemon, sharest in the faith with us, and hast a common and same faith with us, as well as hope.
Secondly and more fully, he calls "communication of faith" the alms and offices of charity toward the Saints, flowing from a living and ardent faith.
Note first: These words are to be referred to what precedes, namely to those: "always making a remembrance of thee in my prayers," as if to say: I pray earnestly and assiduously for thee, that thou mayest continue to show and bring to perfection this communication of good works, to which faith stirs thee; that thy liberality may never cease, but rather that thou mayest pour out whatever thou canst on the needy, especially Christians. So Theophylact.
Note secondly: For "evident," our translator reads in Greek ἐναργής with α; but with Jerome, Chrysostom, and Theophylact, others read with ε ἐνεργής, that is, efficacious, working, and flourishing in works — namely, that thy faith and the communication of thy faith may become so. Notice that the Apostle demands a faith not idle and bare, but efficacious, which produces flowers and fruits of almsgiving and good works. But better does our translator read ἐναργής, that is, evident: for there follows, "In the acknowledging of every good work," as if to say: That thy faith may become evident to all, while they recognize and see thy alms and good works, which thou performest, stirred up by this faith, "and that in Christ Jesus," that is, through the law, doctrine, and grace of Christ Jesus, as if to say: Since thou art of such great charity toward all, show it also toward thy Onesimus, and receive him into favor.
Otherwise Anselm: "in acknowledgment," he says, that is, that thou mayest know practically, that is, love and perform every good. But the former sense is plain and genuine. Finally, the word "work" is not found in Jerome, Chrysostom, Ambrose: yet it is in the Syriac and the Royal Bibles.
Verse 7: For I Have Had Great Joy and Consolation in Thy Charity, Because the Bowels of the Saints Have Been Refreshed by Thee
7. For I have had great joy and consolation in thy charity, because the bowels of the saints have been refreshed through thee, brother. — Note first: For "joy" the Greek has χάριν, that is, grace; but the Apostle takes χάριν for χαράν, that is, joy, both here and II Corinthians I, 15, as Chrysostom and Theophylact teach, and indeed Erasmus, Vatablus and Beza as well.
Note secondly: "They have been refreshed," that is, restored and revived. For just as the empty belly, growling and burning with hunger — so also the gripings of the bowels, and the bowels themselves, are settled and at rest when they are filled and satisfied.
Note thirdly: By "bowels," Vatablus understands the bellies which Philemon filled; but "bowels" signifies more, namely both the most intimate necessities, and the consolation reaching to the inmost recesses of body and soul, and as it were refreshing and restoring the heart itself, as if to say: Thou hast affected the Saints, that is, the Christians, with most intimate consolation, while in their utmost necessity thou didst succor them with such great charity, O Philemon. So Theophylact. For thus conversely the Hebrews give רחמים rachamim, that is, bowels of mercy, to those who are lavish in works of mercy, because forsooth they are touched intimately by the misery of others, and from the inmost bowels show mercy to the wretched, and indeed from this commiseration the bowels themselves, which are the seat of compassion and grief, seem to be moved and twisted in them. "Bowels of mercy" therefore signify visceral, intimate mercy, flowing from the depths of heart and affection. Thus Zechariah sings that God visited us from on high "through the bowels of mercy;" because when He gave us Christ His Son, He poured forth, as it were, His own bowels upon us.
St. Jerome notes the artifice and Christian rhetoric of Paul, by which he so lavishly praises Philemon in the proem, that he may not dare to deny what will afterwards be asked, lest he seem unworthy of his own praises.
Verse 8: Wherefore Having Much Confidence in Christ Jesus to Command Thee That Which Is to the Purpose
8. Wherefore having much confidence (παρρησίαν, that is, liberty) in Christ Jesus (through Christ Jesus) to command thee that which is to the purpose, — τὸ ἀνῆκον, that is, what is becoming, fitting, and a matter of thy duty, namely that thou mayest show thy accustomed charity toward thy penitent servant.
Verse 9: For Charity's Sake I Rather Beseech, Whereas Thou Art Such a One, as Paul an Old Man
9. (Yet) For charity's sake I rather beseech, whereas thou art such a one, as Paul an old man, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ, — as if to say: Since it is free for me, as it were thy spiritual father, on account of Christ to command thee, that thou shouldest receive Onesimus into favor: I prefer however not to use authority, but prayers, and to beseech thee through charity to do this very thing, since thou art an old man as well as I. For old men are not to be rebuked but to be entreated, says Anselm, Jerome, and Theophylact.
Note: For "since thou art an old man" the Greek has τοιοῦτος ὤν, which Jerome, Vatablus and others render "since I am such a one," namely Paul an old man. For the little word "as" inserted is often not a mark of similitude but of truth, signifying "and"; and in this way these Greek words rightly cohere syntactically with παρακαλῶ, that is, "I beseech," as if to say: I beseech thee, since I am such a one, namely Paul an old man: for it belongs to old men, since they are weak and infirm, to pray and beseech. But by a Hebraism our translator with Ambrose better renders, "since thou art an old man," namely thou, O Philemon. For the Hebrews often suppress כי ki, that is, "because," "since," and other similar causal and rational conjunctions, and take a participle for a present indicative or subjunctive which they lack, namely ὤν for "if thou art" or ᾖς; for, as I said, it belongs rather to old men to be entreated than to entreat and beseech.
Note secondly: The phrase "now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ" is to be referred only to "Paul an old man," not to "since thou art such a one." For Philemon was not like Paul in chains, but only in old age: for Paul adds his chains to his old age, that the entreaty may be more efficacious, as if to say: Grant this to my old age; if not, grant this at least to my chains.
Verses 10, 11 and 12: I Beseech Thee for My Son, Whom I Have Begotten in Bonds, Onesimus, Who Was Heretofore Unprofitable but Now Is Profitable
10, 11 and 12. I beseech (I say) thee for my son, whom I have begotten in bonds, Onesimus, who hath been heretofore unprofitable to thee, but now is profitable both to me and to thee, whom I have sent back to thee. — After long insinuations, as if the way had now been prepared, here at last he sets forth his petition, and the name of the servant hateful to Philemon, and makes that name lovely and pleasant to him, by calling him the son of his bonds, and useful both to himself and to him. Here St. Jerome admires the magnanimity of Paul, his mind fervent toward Christ: "He is held," he says, "in prison, bound with chains; he is constrained by the squalor of body, the separation from loved ones, the penal darkness: and he feels not the injury, is not tortured by pain, knows not how to think of anything except the Gospel of Christ; he knew him to be a servant, knew him to be a fugitive, knew him to be a thief," and yet this man in the prison he teaches, catechizes, converts, baptizes, and holds as it were in the place of a son.
Note first: In Greek there is a beautiful antithesis: he who formerly was not onesimus, that is useful, is unprofitable, nay harmful and damaging; now he is onesimus, that is useful; once a Pagan, now a Christian; once a thief, now a faithful servant; once a fugitive, now returned, that he may be to thee a faithful and lasting attendant.
Note thirdly, with St. Jerome, the spirit and efficacy of Paul, by which he so quickly converted Onesimus, and out of one so unprofitable and perverse made him so useful and excellent, that he wishes him for his minister in his bonds: for when he says that he is useful to him, he tacitly demands, says Theophylact, that he be sent back to him; nevertheless he sends him to his master, both that he may appease his wrath, and that he may show that fugitive servants by the law of justice are to be restored to their masters. Hence that same Onesimus, recently converted by him, he calls a most dear and faithful brother, Colossians IV, 9.
Verse 12: And Do Thou Receive Him as My Own Bowels
12. And do thou receive him as my own bowels. — More significantly the Greek has the same: αὐτὸν, τουτέστι τὰ ἐμὰ σπλάγχνα, that is, "him, that is, my bowels, receive"; he calls his son, whom he begot in Christ, his "bowels." For sons seem to be as it were a part of the mother's bowels; which Paul transfers to himself, that he may express his maternal and most tender affection toward Onesimus: for the word "bowels" signifies this more than the word "son."
Verses 13 and 14: Whom I Would Have Retained With Me, That in Thy Stead He Might Have Ministered to Me
13 and 14. Whom I would have retained with me, that in thy stead he might have ministered to me; but without thy counsel I would do nothing, that thy good deed might not be as it were of necessity, but voluntary. — "Good," that is benefit, "thine." For this is what the Hebrew טוב tob, that is "good," signifies. He goads Philemon with a new spur, as if to say: Thou shouldst have served me in my chains; this very thing thy servant Onesimus has performed for thee — therefore to him as thy fugitive thou oughtest rather to give thanks, than to be angry.
Verses 15 and 16: For Perhaps He Therefore Departed for a Season, That Thou Mightest Receive Him Forever, Not Now as a Servant, but as a Most Dear Brother
15 and 16. For perhaps he therefore departed for an hour (that is, for a short time) from thee, that thou mightest receive him forever, not now as a servant, but instead of a servant a most dear brother, especially to me: but how much more to thee both in the flesh and in the Lord? — He calls him "forever" who, now converted, was about faithfully, with a Christian spirit, to cleave to his master, both in this life and in the life to come. So Anselm.
Secondly, our translator renders "instead of a servant," because in the Greek he reads, as does also the Syriac, ὑπὲρ δούλου. But now they read ὑπὲρ δοῦλον, that is, "above a servant," greater and more excellent than a servant — say, a brother, inasmuch as thou wilt receive him now made faithful and Christian, who formerly served thee piously to the eye, but now indeed will serve thee, and will cleave to thee most faithfully, as a brother, out of love and Christian spirit, both in temporal and divine things. So St. Jerome and Theophylact.
Finally Jerome again notes the artifice of Paul: in order to lighten and excuse the flight of the servant, he says it was done by God's providence, for the greater good both of the man himself and of his master. "Sometimes," says Jerome, "evil becomes the occasion of good; and God turns the wicked counsels of men to right. What I say will become clearer by an example. Joseph — his brothers, stirred by the goads of envy, sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver: this was the beginning of all good things for his father and his brothers and all Egypt. Finally he himself afterwards to his brothers: You, he said, thought evil concerning me, but God thought good concerning me. We can understand something similar in Onesimus, that evil beginnings were occasions of a good thing. For if he had not fled his master, he would never have come to Rome, where Paul was a prisoner in jail. If he had not seen Paul in chains, he would not have received faith in Christ. If he had not had the faith of Christ, never having been made Paul's son would he have been sent into the work of the Gospel. By which gradually and by its degrees, with a reciprocal logic, Onesimus has therefore been made a minister of the Gospel, because he fled from his master."
Here is a moral passage on Christian humility: for among Christians servants are brothers of their masters in Christ. See Chrysostom in his moral homily 3, where he likewise teaches that no one should glory in his own humility itself or exalt himself, but rather everyone should humble himself.
Verse 17: If Therefore Thou Count Me a Partner, Receive Him as Myself
If therefore thou have me as partner, — that is, friend, if thou countest me among thy friends.
17. Receive him as myself. — For all things are common to friends. This is the Apostle's reasoning. I am to Onesimus κοινωνός, that is, my communion with him is so great that he is another self: receive him therefore as myself. "Let us consider here," says Jerome, "how greatly Onesimus is praised, and how greatly in so short a time he has progressed under Paul, since he is to be received as the Apostle; and thus his master ought to desire the partnership of him as of Paul."
Verse 18: And If He Hath Wronged Thee in Anything, or Is in Thy Debt, Put That to My Account
18. And if he hath wronged thee in anything, or is in thy debt, put that to my account, — as if to say: Transfer his theft and debt to me.
Verse 19: I Paul Have Written It With My Own Hand: I Will Repay It
19. I Paul have written it with my own hand: I will repay it: not to say to thee, that thou owest me even thine own self. — For thou owest to me Christianity and thy conversion to Christ and thy salvation; therefore if thou and thy possessions are mine, then also Onesimus, who is thine, is mine. So Jerome and Anselm.
Verse 20: Yea, Brother, May I Enjoy Thee in the Lord: Refresh My Bowels in the Lord
20. Yea, brother. — In place of "yea" the Greek has an interjection of asseveration and confirmation, as if to say: Surely, doubt not, I will utterly repay the debt of Onesimus.
Secondly and better, St. Jerome takes ναί as corresponding to the Hebrew אנה ana, which is an interjection of one entreating, as if to say: I beg, I beseech thee, brother, hear my prayers for Onesimus: for thus he wheedles pardon for him. Whence he adds:
May I enjoy thee in the Lord, — as if to say: I will take wondrous delight from thee, when thou shalt have granted me this matter so pious and just in the Lord, that is, in a Lord-related and Christian matter. Whence the Syriac translates אתתניח etteniach, that is, "I shall be revived," or "sweetly rest in thee." The Greek ὀναίμην, that is "may I enjoy," alludes again to the name of Onesimus, as if to say: I shall take from thee the fruit of consolation, if thou receivest Onesimus, that is the fruitful and useful one, into favor.
St. Augustine, Anselm, Bede note, and from them the Master of the Sentences in I, dist. I, that to enjoy properly is permitted only to God as it were as the ultimate end, but to use creatures as means for attaining that end. For "to enjoy" is the same as to set the end, or completion of joy, and consequently beatitude and happiness, in some thing: which happens in no other way than when we cleave most sweetly and perpetually to our last end. The Fathers cited therefore wish that "to enjoy" here is taken by the Apostle abusively, so that it is the same as "to use with delight"; or surely secondly, as the same Augustine, book I On Christian Doctrine, ch. XXXIII, and from him Anselm, as if to say: I will enjoy thee, not in thee but in the Lord, that is, I will enjoy the Lord, and in Him and through Him thee and all others, whom I shall have as companions of my divine enjoyment and vision in heaven; or thirdly, as Jerome, as if to say: I implore for thee, O Philemon, clemency, charity, and the other Lordly virtues, that I may enjoy thee filled with these, that is rejoice, in the Lord. But just as these senses are beside the mind and scope of the Apostle, so this acceptation of the word "enjoy" is more recent. For it began from St. Augustine, from whom the other Fathers and Theologians borrowed it: for to Cicero and the ancient Latins, "to enjoy" properly is to take fruit, utility and pleasure from some thing. For thus we are said to enjoy life, goods, friends, than which nothing is sweeter; and this is what is properly meant — nothing more pleasant could happen. If thou shalt do this for me, thou wilt soothe my heart, and anoint it with wondrous joy. See what was said on verses 7 and 12.
Verse 22: Prepare for Me a Lodging, for I Hope That Through Your Prayers I Shall Be Given Unto You
22. Prepare for me a lodging. — Hear St. Jerome: "I do not think the Apostle was so rich, and occupied with such great burdens, that he needed a lodging prepared, and was not content with one cell, judging the most spacious houses brief by the space of his own body: but in order that, while Philemon awaits his coming to him, he may the more do what he was asked." And shortly after: "A lodging must be prepared rather for the Apostle than for Paul. About to come to a new city, about to preach the Crucified, and to bring unheard-of doctrines, He knew that very many would come together to him. And it was necessary first, that the house should be in a frequented place of the city, to which there might be easy access. Then that it should be free from all unseasonable disturbance, ample, that it might hold very many of his hearers: that it should not be near the places of public spectacles, nor detestable by foul neighborhood. Lastly, that it should be situated rather on the ground floor than in an upper room. For which reason I judge that he abode at Rome two years in a hired lodging. Nor was the dwelling small, I think, to which the crowds of Jews flocked daily." Acts XXVIII, 30. I myself have visited this hired lodging of St. Paul, and indeed I dwell next to it: it has been converted into a church, and is called the Deaconry of St. Mary in Via Lata. Indeed it was very ample and in the most frequented part of the city. Let no one then be surprised, if Religious who have devoted themselves to the salvation of their neighbors seek similar places in the cities: for they consult not their own conveniences, but those of the citizens.
For I hope that through your prayers I shall be given unto you, — that is, that being delivered from chains, I may be restored to you. Two things we learn here, says Theophylact: First, that the power of prayers is immense, since Paul, such and so great, needs their help; and if he does, who does not? Secondly, that we ought to be of humble spirit, since Paul needed the prayers of his disciples; and that it is most useful to seek the prayers of others, especially of the Saints.
Verse 23: Epaphras, My Fellow Prisoner in Christ Jesus, Saluteth Thee
23. Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, saluteth thee, — that is, on account of Christ Jesus. For thus the Hebrew ב bet, that is "in," is often taken. So Theophylact. This Epaphras was Bishop of the Colossians, and at the same time bore the care of the Laodicean and Hierapolitan Churches, as Paul teaches in Colossians IV, 12. But when he was cast into chains at Rome, Archippus seems to have been substituted for him, as Ambrose teaches, and Paul insinuates, as I said on verse 2.
Verse 24: Demas
24. Demas. — This is he, says Theophylact, who afterwards forsook Paul. Of whom I have spoken at II Tim. ch. IV, 9.