Philemon 1:5

Philemon 1:5

3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philemon’s Love and Faith

4 ^aI thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers,

5 ^ahearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints,

6 that the sharing of your faith may become effective ^aby the acknowledgment of ^bevery good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.

7 For we¹ have great joy and consolation in your love, because the⁴ hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother.

The Plea for Onesimus

8 Therefore, though I might be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting,

9 yet for love’s sake I rather appeal to you—being such a one as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ—

Commentaries:

Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown

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Hearing—the ground of his thanksgiving. It is a delicate mark of authenticity, that he says "hearing" as to churches and persons whom he had not seen or then visited. Now Colosse, Philemon's place of residence, he had never yet seen. Yet Philemon 1:19 here implies that Philemon was his convert. Philemon, doubtless, was converted at Ephesus, or in some other place where he met Paul.

love and faith—The theological order is first faith then love, the fruit of faith. But he purposely puts Philemon's love in the first place, as it is to an act of love that he is exhorting him.

toward . . . toward—different Greek words: "towards" . . . "unto." Towards implies simply direction; unto, to the advantage of.

**Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing Philemon 1:5:**

Ephesians 1:15
Philemon 1:6
Philemon 1:7

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