The Letter to

PHILEMON

Scot McKnight

William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

2140 Oak Industrial Drive NE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49505

www.eerdmans.com

© 2017 Scot McKnight

All rights reserved

Published 2017

ISBN 978-0-8028-7382-8

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: McKnight, Scot, author.

Title: The Letter to Philemon / Scot McKnight.

Description: Grand Rapids : Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2017. | Series: The New Testament commentary on the New Testament | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017025199 | ISBN 9780802873828 (hardcover : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Bible. Philemon—Commentaries.

Classification: LCC BS2765.53 .M35 2017 | DDC 227/.86077—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017025199

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

The New International Commentary on the New Testament

General Editors

Ned B. Stonehouse

(1946–1962)

F. F. Bruce

(1962–1990)

Gordon D. Fee

(1990–2012)

Joel B. Green

(2013– )

Contents

General Editor’s Preface

Author’s Preface

Abbreviations

Bibliography

INTRODUCTION

I. Slavery in the Roman Empire

A. Status and Slaves

B. On Defining “Slavery”

C. Family Life for the Slave

D. The Pragmatics of Masters and Slaves

E. Slavery, No Matter the Explanation

F. The Options for the Slave

G. The Runaway

H. Manumission

I. Christians and Slaves

II. Philemon in the Crucible of New World Slavery and Slavery Today

III. Authorship and Date

IV. The Social Realities of Philemon: Runaway or Slave in Search of a Mediator?

V. The Events at Work in the Letter to Philemon

VI. Structure, Rhetoric and Clarity of Philemon

TEXT AND COMMENTARY

I. Introduction (vv. 1–3)

A. Authors (v. 1a)

B. Addressees (vv. 1b–2)

C. Salutation (v. 3)

II. Thanksgiving (vv. 4–7)

III. Paul’s Appeal for Onesimus (vv. 8–22)

A. First Appeal in the Sketch of the Scene (vv. 8–11)

B. Second Appeal in the Presentation of Onesimus (vv. 12–16)

C. Third Appeal in their Partnership (vv. 17–21)

D. Final Appeal in a Presence (v. 22)

IV. Conclusion (vv. 23–25)

Index of Subjects

Index of Authors

Index of Scripture and Other Ancient Texts

philemon

“Pastor, what do you think would have happened if a runaway slave in America had carried this letter back to his master?”

James A. Noel

Onesimus Our Brother, 5

General Editor’s Preface

As Acts tells the story, the Lord choreographed an encounter between Philip and an Ethiopian eunuch on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza. This Ethiopian, who had a copy of at least some of the Scriptures, was reading from the prophet Isaiah. Hearing him read, Philip inquired, “Are you really grasping the significance of what you are reading?” The ...