Perrydox.com is devoted to the pursuit of truth, whether plain or paradoxical, whether simple or sublime, or simply absurd yet absolute.
Philemon 19 – I Will Repay
V.19 – I Will Repay
This verse is ironic (if not comical). Paul says he is not going to mention Philemon owes him, and in doing so mentions Philemon owes him. Where our translation reads, “not to mention,” the Greek literally says “that I may not say.” This is a subtle, psychological reminder.
Paul set up this statement in v.18 when he referred to Onesimus and what he might “owe” (opeilo) Philemon. He turns that around and claims Philemon “owes” (prosopheilo) not just some money (or honor), but his “own self“. The master, like the slave, must have also been begotten through the prisoner. Both men are debtors, but Philemon the more. Paul possibly met Philemon in Ephesus and taught him there. Surely Philemon could connect this statement with that in Colossians 2:13,14. No debt was ever unforgivable.
Comments