1. See the Literary Context on vv. 8–16.
2. Also worth noting is the fact that while the previous section is flooded with imperatives, this section begins with a participle (“confident,” πεποιθώς), thus signaling a shift in focus and tone. See also Allen, “The Discourse Structure of Philemon,” 92.
3. Wright, Colossians and Philemon, 178–79; Rupprecht, “Philemon,” 635; Arzt-Grabner, Philemon, 192.
4. In form-critical terms, this has been identified as “apostolic parousia”; cf. Robert Funk, “The Apostolic Parousia: Form and Significance,” in Christian History and Interpretation: Studies Presented to John Knox (ed. W. R. Farmer et. al.; Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1967), 249–68.
5. All four appear also in Colossians with further descriptions (4:10, 14).
6. Bratcher and Nida, Translator’s Handbook, 131.
7. BDAG, 792.
8. This participle is a causal circumstantial participle, as is clear in some translations: “since I am confident” (HCSB; cf. NET).
9. It is also used for Christ’s complete obedience to his Father (Rom 5:19).
10. E.g., Harris, Colossians and Philemon, 277–78 (see also NJB; NAB).
11. Fitzmyer, Letter to Philemon, 121–22.
12. Wilson, Colossians and Philemon, 364.
13. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon, 305; Barth and Blanke, Letter to Philemon, 491.
14. Moo, Letters to the Colossians and to Philemon, 435.
15. Cf. Martin, Colossians and Philemon, 168.
16. Cf. Ps.-Demetrius, Typoi 1; Stanley N. Olson, “Pauline Expressions of Confidence in His Addressees,” CBQ 47 (1985): 289.
17. Noting the shift of tone, Richards (Paul and First-Century Letter Writing, 175) considers this as another example of Paul’s use of a secretary in a letter body. To him, the bold Paul reflected in the letter ending reflects the true Paul.
18. Bratcher and Nida, Translator’s Handbook, 131.
19. Petersen, Rediscovering Paul, 97–98. Those who see manumission behind this phrase include Wright, Colossians and Philemon, 189; Martin, Colossians and Philemon, 168; Stuhlmacher, Der Brief an Philemon, 53–54. Others see a shift from the ethical to the eschatological as “Paul expects Philemon to go on living sub specie theodramatis—‘under the perspective of the theodrama’ ” (Vanhoozer, “Imprisoned or Free?” 87).
20. Lohse, Colossians and Philemon, 206.
21. Barclay, “Paul, Philemon and the Dilemma of Christian Slave Ownership,” 161–86.
22. Thus also O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon, 306; Dunn, Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon, 345; Barth and Blanke, Letter to Philemon, 492.
23. BDAG, 49.
24. As reflected in the paraphrase of Wright, Colossians and Philemon, 190: “oh, and by the way….”
25. BDAG, 683.
26. Osiek, Philippians, Philemon, 142.
27. Petersen, Rediscovering Paul, 267.
28. Wright, Colossians and Philemon, 190.
29. Lightfoot, St. Paul’s Epistles to the Colossians and Philemon, 344; Jeffrey A. D. Weima, Neglected Endings: The Significance of the Pauline Letter Closings (JSNTSup 101; Sheffield: JSOT, 1994), 256. Transcending this debate, some have simply suggested that Paul’s request is “but a deliberately phrased convention, known from epistolary forms in the Graeco-Roman world” (Martin, Colossians and Philemon, 169). Paul is not, however, bound to Greco-Roman epistolary practices.
30. Dunn, Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon, 346.
31. Michael A. G. Haykin, “Praying Together: A Note on Philemon 22,” EvQ 66 (1994): 331–35.
32. Weima, Neglected Endings, 256. Also here one finds the use of the second person plural pronoun (“to you,” ὑμῖν, v. 3).
33. An extended usage can be found in reference to acts of forgiveness (cf. 2 Cor 2:7, 10; 12:13; Eph 4:32; Col 2:13; 3:13).
34. Wright, Colossians and Philemon, 190; Wilson, Colossians and Philemon, 365.
35. See Llewelyn and Kearsley, “Letters in the Early Church,” NewDocs 7: 52.
36. Among the recent proponents of this reading is Lohse, Colossians and Philemon, 207, who argues that the phrase “in Christ Jesus” is never used by Paul elsewhere in his letters.
37. Cf. CEV: “Epaphras is also here in jail” (cf. GNB).
38. Moo, Letters to the Colossians and to Philemon, 438, suggests that they were with Paul in different times during his imprisonment. Those who argue for an Ephesian imprisonment face the same difficulty; cf. Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, “The Greeters in Col 4:10–14 and Phlm 23–24,” RB 114 (2007): 416–26.
39. Thus Moule, Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon, 136–37; Harris, Colossians and Philemon, 280.
40. Cf. LSJ, 45.
41. See esp. Harris, Slave of Christ, 117, who argues that if Paul were referring to his literal fellow prisoners, he would have used συνδεσμώτης.
42. Paul has also identified himself and others as “coworkers of God” (1 Cor 3:9; 1 Thess 3:2).
43. Stanley E. Porter, “A Functional Letter Perspective: Towards a Grammar of Epistolary Form,” in Paul and the Ancient Letter Form (ed. Stanley E. Porter and Sean A. Adams; Pauline Studies; Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2010), 29.
44. Cf. C. Clifton Black, Mark (ANTC; Nashville: Abington, 2011), 52.
45. See comments on Col 4:18.
46. This genitive phrase is best taken as a subjective genitive, where “the Lord Jesus Christ” is the one who grants this “grace” among his people.
47. Some have argued for the translation “with you” since “in English, at least, ‘with your spirit’ carries overtones and implications not present in Paul’s use of the word”; Bratcher and Nida, Translator’s Handbook, 133.
48. Some, such as Gordon Fee, God’s Empowering Presence: The Holy Spirit in the Letters of Paul (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994), 469, suggest that the use of the word in these benedictions reflects significant emotional involvement on the part of Paul. It is unclear, however, if one should consider other benedictions without this “spirit” reference as reflecting the lack of emotional investment.
49. Weima, Neglected Endings, 82.
50. For a characterization of God’s people as a moral community that obeys God and him alone, see Patrick D. Miller, “The Good Neighborhood: Identity and Community through the Commandments,” in Character and Scripture: Moral Formation, Community, and Biblical Interpretation (ed. William P. Brown; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002), 63–65.