Philemon 1-3 Salutation
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Original Context & Exegesis
Passage Boundaries
Salutations are a sub-genre, common among ancient letters. In them the writer and his companions are noted, those addressed by the letter are acknowledge, and a blessing is typically invoked. Philemon 1:1-3 fits this pattern well.
Exegesis of passage
1
The opening of this brief personal letter gives us basic information regarding Paul's situation, he's in prison and with Timothy (verse 25 includes others who are with him). The question of course is where is he in prison? The two most commonly offered solutions are Ephesus (which means an earlier dating for the letter) and Rome (which means a later dating for the letter). But we are not as readers simply drawn into situational type questions by this opening line, Paul's rhetorical strategy with Philemon for Onesimus begins here as well. Paul is not just addressing Philemon as an apostle in chains he is reminding him that his protege Timothy is with him and joins him in the address, which creates further leverage upon Philemon to fulfill Paul's requests regarding Onesimus. Paul also is quick to note Philemon's godly character which he will expand upon in his thanksgiving and prayer in verses 4-7. Philemon is their "beloved fellow worker," no small praise when you consider whom Paul has used this label with elsewhere in his writings.
2
This is the only point in this letter where Paul abandon's his personal address to Philemon to include others, and he is very careful with who he includes. Apphia, Philemon's wife, would have been the one charged with the day-to-day management of the slaves as the woman of the house. By including her here Paul is making very clear his desires to the one who would care for Onesimus upon his return. Archippus, perhaps the pastor of this house church, is honored with the title "fellow soldier" which may or may not imply that he was a Roman soldier. Lastly, Paul says, "and the church in your house." This takes what would have been a largely private matter and makes it an ecclesial concern. The church is to bear witness to Philemon's seemingly free response, though of course the rhetoric Paul has already used shows that it is less than completely free.
3
This is Paul's standard closing in his salutations (Col 1:2). Paul is ever mindful that without the grace and peace of God through his Son working in their midst these local house churches could never experience the relational reconciliations they needed, the corporate godliness that would empower them to be witnesses in their cultural settings, and the outward faced missionally minded posture toward the difficult social issues of their day.
Literary Features
This is a sub-genre, a salutation. No metaphors are implied though some wonder whether or not Archippus the soldier was actually or soldier or not.
Connections to the rest of book
The rhetorical strategy applied by Paul as Onesimus's advocate already begins to develop in our passage as he address key leaders in Philemon's house and expands the greeting to the entire household church meeting there. Paul also intimates the solidarity he feels between his social setting and Onesimus by mentioning his own chains, chains he says are for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Connections to the rest of Scripture
Philemon is one of the captivity letters of Paul, the others include Ephesians Philippians, and Colossians. Paul's chains are as well alluded to or directly spoken throughout the other captivity letters. The ongoing debate in dating and deciding provenance issues for these letters revolves around where Paul was in prison as he composed them and if they were composed in varying prison stays in varying places.
Jesus Christ: The Redemptive-Historical Context
Christ and the Gospel
Christ is the Lord of his Apostle in chains, Paul. Christ's mission to expand the goodness of his Father's Kingdom continues to be examined, this time in the small particular lighting of a social issue within one of his houses in Asia Minor. Christ's universal power to save is also shared in the several names mentioned and addressed in this salutation.
Fulfillment in Christ
As Paul mentioned in Colossians 1:24, he is still filling up what is lacking in the messianic sufferings of Christ, and yet even now Paul recognizes that though he is a prisoner for the Lord it is Christ in him that is giving him strength to suffer. Christ will continue to fill up what is lacking in his messianic sufferings through the sufferings of his bride throughout the Roman Empire. Its significant that latter in time Asia Minor was one of the sites in the empire where the church endured severe persecution.
God’s plan of redemption in Christ
That his children are saved to suffer for Christ together. Or as one pastor has shared, "the cross always comes before the crown."
Current Context
Ourselves, our world, and the human condition
As the lines between virtual and real continue to converge and social networking tools develop the art of greeting is ever growing commodity of communication. Paul patterns for us the way to greet others, often times implying though not here a Trinitarian form where he speaks of and invokes the blessing of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Paul reminds us that even something as little as a hello can be done in and for the Lord, but more than perhaps this Paul cuts against our societies individualistic grains. He always greets with others and to individuals as well as communities. The church in the West has much to learn for Paul's communal self-consciousness.
Modern parallels
Anything from emails, to tweets, to status updates on Facebook. Though they are certainly different, there are similarities.
What is the call/command/invitation of this passage?
No direct call or command or invitation other than to receive the welcome from Paul and his companies, and to recognize the Spirit's universal works throughout the empire.
How does Christ & the Gospel in this passage enable us to see, think, and live differently?
It reminds us that even now there are sisters and brothers in chains for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ, and whether we where them physically or not we are called to bear all things for the sake of Christ our King.
Links/References/Bibliography
Representative sermons on the passage
The Costliness of Redemption by Tony Stiff [1]
Examples and Illustrations
Commentaries on this book
Barth, Markus & Blanke, Hulmut, A Letter to Philemon (Michigan: Eerdmans, 2000)
Bruce, F. F., The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians (Michigan: Eerdmans, 1984)
Caird, G.B., Paul's Letters from Prison (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1976)
Dunn, James D. G., The Epistle to the Colossians and to Philemon (Michigan: Eerdmans, 1996)
Fitzmyer, Joseph A., The Letter to Philemon: A new translation with introduction and commentary (New York: Doubleday, 2000)
Garland, David E., Colossians, Philemon (Michigan: Zondervan, 1998)
Lohse, E., Colossians and Philemon (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1971)
Martin, Ralph P., Colossians and Philemon (London: Marshall, Morgan, and Scott, 1973)
Moo, Douglas J., The Letters to the Colossians and to Philemon (Michigan: Eerdmans, 2008)
O'Brien, P.T., Colossians, Philemon (Waco: Word Books, 1982)
Wright, N.T., Colossians and Philemon: An introduction and commentary (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2008)
Articles on this book or passage or books on issues within this passage
P. Arzi, "The Epistolary introductory Thanksgiving in the Papyri and in Paul" Novum Testamentum 36 (1994)
Aune, David, The New Testament in its literary environment. (Louisville: Westminster Press, 1988)
Meeks, Wayne A., The First Urban Christians (New Haven: Yale, 1983)
Pomeroy, S. B., Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity (New York: Schocken, 1975)
Citations
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