Epistle to Philemon
- Matthew
- Markus
- Luke
- John
- Roman
- 1 Corinthians
- 2 Corinthians
- Galatians
- Ephesians
- Philippians
- Colossians
- 1 Thessalonians
- 2 Thessalonians
- 1 Timothy
- 2 Timothy
- Titus
- Philemon
- Hebrew
- Epistle of James
- 1 Peter
- 2 Peter
- 1 John
- 2 John
- 3 John
- Judas
The Epistle to Philemon is a book of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Since the early modern period, it is divided into 25 verses. A chapter divisions do not exist because of the brevity of the letter. The Letter to Philemon is the shortest book in the Bible.
The letter was probably written by Paul in Ephesus, where he was around 56 in custody ( house arrest ). In Ephesus, Paul had met the runaway slave Onesimus, whom he now sends this letter to Philemon by Kolossai.
Construction
- Input Greeting (1-3)
- Reconciliation to the letter Corpus ( thanks and joy) (4-7)
- Recommendation of Onesimus ( 8-21 )
- Plan to visit Philemon (22 )
- Transmission of greetings and final greeting (23-25)
Content
Paul urges his fellow brother and employee Philemon that he should take his runaway slave Onesimus friendly and henceforth see him as the beloved brother, because Onesimus was a Christian. In addition, Paul expresses the hope that he would soon be released from captivity and asks Philemon to prepare a lodging for him.
History of interpretation
The prevailing opinion in the history of interpretation of Paul to Philemon but does not require that he should state the slave Onesimus ' Release. This interpretation was related to the recent past as a justification of slavery in the United States. Others read the Letter to Philemon as rhetorically skillful writing of Paul, which is addressed not only to the slave owner Philemon, but to the whole community, and the content makes it impossible Philemon to continue to treat Onesimus as a slave.
In his second encyclical Spe Salvi facti sumus - in hope we are saved (Rom 8,24 EU) - Pope Benedict XVI explained that Christianity did not yield any message of social revolution, but something quite different ( paragraph 4).. He points explicitly to the letter of the Apostle Paul to Philemon out (Philemon 10-16 EU): The people who are facing their civilian status after themselves as masters and slaves are, as members of the one Church have become brothers and sisters.