go the extra mile in honoring Paul’s “request” (v. 21), the apostle might also be hinting that Philemon lend Onesimus for ministerial service (v. 13) or perhaps set the slave free altogether. That elsewhere Paul assumes the continuation of slavery in his teaching on Christian relationships might argue against the suggestion that he has the liberation of Onesimus in mind (Eph. 6:5–9; Col. 3:22–4:1; 1 Cor. 7:21–24). Yet the immediacy of the situation with the runaway slave may form the backdrop for