Philemon 1:25

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

Be with your spirit (Galatians 6:18; 2 Timothy 4:22).

See Poole on "". See Poole on "". See Poole on "". See Poole on "". See Poole on "". With your spirit is the same as with you. By the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, he means the Spirit of Christ in all its gracious emanations: we have his meaning fully, : The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen is a particle of praying and affirming, by which he declareth his earnest desire it might be so, and also his faith that it should be so. Nor doth he pray for Philemon alone, (though the Epistle chiefly concerned him), but for all those who at Colosse had with him obtained like precious faith. Written from Rome to Philemon, by Onesimus a servant.

25 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. > Ver. 25. The grace of our Lord] Say the world what it will, a grain of grace is worth a world of wealth. The blessings that come. out of Sion are better than any that come out of heaven and earth, Psalms 134:3; for they outlast the days of heaven, and run parallel with the life of God and line of eternity. Pray for them therefore in the behalf of ourselves and others, as Paul constantly doth for grace, not with graceless Nero, but with the Lord Jesus Christ, one good cast of whose pleased countenance was better to David than his crown and sceptre, Psalms 4:7-8.

Philemon 1:21-25 contain the conclusion of the Epistle—hope to visit Philemon soon, salutation, and blessing. (21) Confidence in thy obedience.—It is curious to notice how, in this conclusion, St. Paul seems to glide, as it were insensibly, out of the tone of entreaty as to an equal, into the authority of a superior. The word “obedience” is found in 2 Corinthians 7:15, there in connection with “fear and trembling.” He preferred to appeal to Philemon’s love; he knew that in any case he could rely on his deference. Do more than I say.—This can hardly refer to anything except the manumission of Onesimus, and possibly his being sent back again to St. Paul. Exactly in this way Christianity was to work out the release of the slave—not by command, but by free and natural inference from its emphatic declaration of his true brotherhood in Christ. (22) A lodging.—The word often signifies “hospitality” generally, which Philemon might naturally offer in his own house, but which St. Paul would not suggest or ask. I shall be given unto you.—Literally, as a favour from supreme authority. Comp. the technical and forensic use of the word in Acts 3:14; Acts 25:11 : for good in one case, in the other for evil. If he was so “granted,” it would be by Cæsar instrumentally, by God’s overruling will ultimately. The passage, like Philippians 2:24, but even more definitely, expresses St. Paul’s expectation of a release which might enable him to visit the East again. It is curious that there is no similar allusion in the Colossian Epistle, sent with this. (23) My fellowprisoner.—Comp. Colossians 4:10, and see Note there. The salutations here correspond exactly in substance (though more condensed in style) with that passage, except that “Jesus, called Justus” (probably unknown to Philemon) is here omitted. (25) The grace . . .—This form of St. Paul’s usual blessing is found also in Galatians 6:18; Philippians 4:23; 2 Timothy 4:22. We notice by the word “your” that, like the opening salutation, it is addressed to all Philemon’s family and “the church in his house.”

Verse 25. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit] By using the plural, νμων, your, the apostle in effect directs or addresses the epistle, not only to Philemon, but to all the Church at his house. Amen.] Is wanting as usual in the best MSS. The subscriptions are also various, as in preceding cases. VERSIONS: The Epistle to Philemon was written at Rome, and sent by the hand of Onesimus. - SYRIAC. Through the help of God the epistle is finished. It was written at Rome by the hand of Onesimus, servant to Philemon. - ARABIC. To the man Philemon. - AETHIOPIC. It was written at Rome, and sent by Onesimus. - COPTIC. VULGATE, nothing. The Epistle to Philemon, Apphia, and Archippus: the end of the Epistle to Philemon and Apphia, the master and mistress of Onesimus; and to Archippus, the deacon of the Church at Colosse: it was written from Rome by Onesimus, a servant. - PHILOXESIAN SYRIAC. MANUSCRIPTS: To Philemon. - To Philemon is finished. - To Philemon, written from Rome by Onesimus - Onesiphorus. - From Paul, by Onesimus, a servant. - From the presence of Paul and Timothy. - The Epistle of Paul the apostle to Philemon. - The common Greek text has, To Philemon, written from Rome by Onesimus, a servant. As some have thought it strange that a private letter, of a particular business and friendship, should have got a place in the sacred canon, others have been industrious to find out the general uses which may be made of it. The following are those which seem to come most naturally from the text: - 1. In a religious point of view, all genuine Christian converts are on a level; Onesimus, the slave, on his conversion becomes the apostle's beloved son, and Philemon's brother. 2. Christianity makes no change in men's civil affairs; even a slave did not become a freeman by Christian baptism. 3. No servant should be either taken or retained from his own master, without the master's consent, Philemon 1:13; Philemon 1:14. 4. We should do good unto all men, and not be above helping the meanest slave when we have the opportunity. 5. Restitution is due where an injury has been done, unless the injured party freely forgive, Philemon 1:18. 6. We should do all in our power to make up quarrels and differences, and reconcile those that are at variance. 7. We should be grateful to our benefactors, and be ready to compensate one good turn with another. 8. We should forgive the penitent who have offended us, and rejoice in the opportunity of being reconciled to them. 9. Authority is not always to be used; a prudent man who is possessed of it will rather use a mild and obliging manner, than have recourse to the authority of his office. 10.

25. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ] So Romans 16:20; Romans 16:24; 1 Corinthians 16:23; 2 Corinthians 13:13; Galatians 6:18 (where the whole formula is verbatim as here); Philippians 4:23; 1 Thessalonians 5:28; 2 Thessalonians 3:18; Revelation 22:21. Cp. 2 Timothy 2:1.“The grace” is in short the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, in His saving presence and power; Himself at once Gift and Giver. So the Epistle closes, as it began, “in Him.”with your spirit] Not “spirits”; as if Philemon and his house had, in Christ, “one spirit,” one inner life.—See further, Appendix N.—The same phrase occurs Galatians 6:18 and (in the true reading) Philippians 4:23; where see our note.Amen] The word is probably to be retained here. So R.V. text. It is properly a Hebrew adverb, meaning “surely;” repeatedly used as here in the O. T. See e.g. Deuteronomy 27:15, &c.; Jeremiah 11:5 (marg. A.V.).The SubscriptionWritten from Rome, &c.] Lit., To Philemon it was written from Rome by means of (i.e., of course, “it was sent by hand of”) (the) domestic Onesimus. Obviously, the statement is true to fact. On the antiquity of this and similar Subscriptions see note on that appended to Colossians.A few mss. (of cent. 8 at earliest) have, (The) Epistle of the holy Apostle Paul to Philemon and Apphia, owners of Onesimus, and to Archippus the (sic) deacon of the Church in Colossæ, was written from Rome by means of (the) domestic Onesimus. N. Dr ON THE LAST WORDS OF THE EPISTLE TO . (Philemon 1:25.)In his excellent Expository Commentary on our two Epistles (3rd Edition, 1889) Dr Alexander Maclaren writes as follows:“The parting benediction ends the letter. At the beginning of the Epistle, Paul invoked grace upon the household ‘from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.’ Now he conceives of it as Christ’s gift. In Him all the stooping, bestowing love of God is gathered, that from Him it may be poured upon the world. That grace is not diffused, like stellar light, through some nebulous heaven, but concentrated in the Sun of Righteousness, who is the light of men. That fire is piled on a hearth, that from it warmth may ray out to all that are in the house.…“The grace of Christ is the best bond of family life. Here it is prayed for on behalf of all the group, the husband, wife, child, and the friends in their home-Church. Like grains of sweet incense sprinkled on an altar-flame, and making fragrant that which was already holy, that grace sprinkled on the household fire will give it an odour of a sweet smell, grateful to men and acceptable to God.“That wish is the purest expression of Christian friendship, of which the whole Letter is so exquisite an example. Written as it is about a common everyday matter, which could have been settled without a single religious reference, it is saturated with Christian thought and feeling. So it becomes an example how to blend Christian sentiment with ordinary affairs, and to carry a Christian atmosphere everywhere.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ ... - Notes, 2 Timothy 4:22. The subscription to the Epistle is of no authority, but in this case is undoubtedly correct. Compare the remarks at the close of 1 Corinthians, and Titus.

25. Your—In the plural, indicating that the benediction included all in the greeting of Phm 1:1-3.