Editing Epistle to Philemon (section)

{{Short description|Book of the New Testament}}
[[File:Fragmento filemon.jpg|thumb|Philemon 13–15 on [[Papyrus 87]] (''recto''; {{Circa|AD 250}})<ref>{{Cite book |last=Aland |first=Kurt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2pYDsAhUOxAC |title=The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism |last2=Aland |first2=Barbara |publisher=[[William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company|Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.]] |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-8028-4098-1 |edition=2nd |location=Grand Rapids, MI |pages=159 |language=en |translator-last=Rhodes |translator-first=Erroll F. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231005232815/https://books.google.com/books?id=2pYDsAhUOxAC |archive-date=October 5, 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>]]
{{Books of the New Testament}}
{{Paul}}

The '''Epistle to Philemon'''{{Efn|The book is sometimes called the '''Letter of Paul to Philemon''', or simply '''Philemon'''.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HiPouAEACAAJ |title=ESV Pew Bible |publisher=Crossway |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-4335-6343-0 |location=Wheaton, IL |pages=1000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603093159/https://www.google.com/books/edition/ESV_Pew_Bible_Black/HiPouAEACAAJ |archive-date=June 3, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> It is most commonly abbreviated as "Philem."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bible Book Abbreviations |url=https://www.logos.com/bible-book-abbreviations |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220421100743/https://www.logos.com/bible-book-abbreviations |archive-date=April 21, 2022 |access-date=April 21, 2022 |website=Logos Bible Software}}</ref>}} is one of the books of the [[Christianity|Christian]] [[New Testament]]. It is a [[Prison literature|prison letter]], authored by [[Paul the Apostle]] (the opening verse also mentions [[Saint Timothy|Timothy]]), to [[Saint Philemon|Philemon]], a leader in the [[Colossae|Colossian]] church. It deals with the themes of [[forgiveness]] and [[Reconciliation (theology)|reconciliation]]. Paul does not identify himself as an apostle with authority, but as "a prisoner of Jesus Christ", calling Timothy "our brother", and addressing Philemon as "fellow labourer" and "brother" ({{bibleref2|Philemon|1:1; 1:7; 1:20}}). [[Onesimus]], a [[Slavery in ancient Rome|slave]] who had escaped from his master Philemon, was returning with this epistle wherein Paul asked Philemon to receive him as a "brother beloved" ({{bibleref2|Philemon|1:9–17}}).

Philemon was a wealthy Christian, possibly a bishop<ref>[[Apostolic constitution|Const. Apost.]] [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/07157.htm VII, 46]</ref> of the [[house church#Origins|church that met in his home]] ({{bibleref2|Philemon|1:1–2|9|Philemon 1:1–2}}) in [[Colossae]]. This letter is now generally regarded as one of the [[Authorship of the Pauline epistles#undisputed|undisputed works of Paul]]. It is the shortest of Paul's [[Extant literature|extant letters]], consisting of only 335 words in the Greek text.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Patzia|first1=A. G.|editor1-last=Hawthorne|editor1-first=Gerald F. |display-authors=etal |title=Dictionary of Paul and His Letters|date=1994|publisher=InterVarsity Press|isbn=978-0851106519|page=703|chapter=Philemon, Letter To}}</ref>