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Philemon 1:1–3, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Philemon 1:1–3
Paul Addresses a Household Church under Grace and Peace
A prisoner writes a household church, not a private owner’s note
Paul names himself a prisoner of Christ Jesus, with Timothy beside him, and greets Philemon as a beloved coworker, Apphia, Archippus, and the church in Philemon’s house. The appeal that follows will not stay in a side conversation. It is already addressed to a gathered people under the same roof where a man named Onesimus has been held. Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ stand over the room before anyone is asked to move.
A church meeting in a slaveholder’s house is the setting of this letter, not a blessing on the institution. Ancient household slavery is the world Paul writes into. The greeting does not baptize chattel slavery, American slavery, or modern trafficking, and it does not treat the house as Philemon’s private court. The whole church is named because the way this household receives a person will be a public act of grace, or a public refusal of it.
How this should shape us
When a hard word about someone you have power over is coming, do not hide it in a private thread. Bring it into the gathered people under grace and peace. A modern home group, workplace circle, or household that can name everyone except the person who has been used is not yet hearing this greeting.
Teach it back
Explain Philemon 1:1–3 in your own words. Include its place in the appeal, one explicit textual observation, one important uncertainty, and one conclusion the passage does not permit.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: Direct Pauline authorship is very widely accepted because the short situational letter fits the undisputed Pauline correspondence and includes a personal handwritten commitment. The text names Paul and Timothy, but its first-person singular argument makes Paul the principal voice. Proposed prison settings include Ephesus in the mid-50s, Caesarea in the late 50s, and Rome in the early 60s; none is named in the letter.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: The exact KJV wording and immediate English context for Philemon 1:1–3.
eBible/CrossWire eng-kjv2006 USFM, source files dated 2026-08-19, Philemon 1:1–3; archive and normalized-corpus SHA-256 values are recorded in the library policy.
Supports: The critically edited Greek wording, pronoun number, connective structure, and relevant lexical forms.
Official SBLGNT repository, data/sblgnt/text/Phlm.txt, Phlm 1:1–3.
Supports: Material translation choices, difficult syntax, and textual variants checked at the cited verses.
NET Bible, Philemon 1, translator, study, and textual notes attached to verses 1–3.
Supports: Modern historical and verse-level checks on authorship, setting, slavery, rhetoric, reconstruction limits, and interpretive alternatives.
Barbara Geller, Philemon introduction and annotations in The Jewish Annotated New Testament, 2nd ed., print pp. 401–403.
Supports: Greek syntax, historical parallels, older interpretive options, and commentary checked selectively against primary evidence and newer scholarship.
J. B. Lightfoot, Saint Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon, 8th ed., introduction pp. 303–317 and commentary pp. 332–334.
Supports: A morphology and lexical-range cross-check for the reader-facing original-language notes.
STEP Bible Data repository, TAGNT and Greek lexical records, Philemon 1:1–3.
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: The exact KJV wording and immediate English context for Philemon 1:1–3.
Exact location: eBible/CrossWire eng-kjv2006 USFM, source files dated 2026-08-19, Philemon 1:1–3; archive and normalized-corpus SHA-256 values are recorded in the library policy.
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: The critically edited Greek wording, pronoun number, connective structure, and relevant lexical forms.
Exact location: Official SBLGNT repository, data/sblgnt/text/Phlm.txt, Phlm 1:1–3.
Open the Philemon Greek text file ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — Philemon with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, digital edition accessed 2026
Supports: Material translation choices, difficult syntax, and textual variants checked at the cited verses.
Exact location: NET Bible, Philemon 1, translator, study, and textual notes attached to verses 1–3.
Open NET Philemon 1 ↗modern annotated new testament
Philemon introduction and annotations in The Jewish Annotated New Testament, second edition
Barbara Geller; edited by Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler
Oxford University Press, 2017
Supports: Modern historical and verse-level checks on authorship, setting, slavery, rhetoric, reconstruction limits, and interpretive alternatives.
Exact location: Barbara Geller, Philemon introduction and annotations in The Jewish Annotated New Testament, 2nd ed., print pp. 401–403.
Open source ↗public domain critical commentary
Saint Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon, eighth edition
J. B. Lightfoot
Macmillan, 1886
Supports: Greek syntax, historical parallels, older interpretive options, and commentary checked selectively against primary evidence and newer scholarship.
Exact location: J. B. Lightfoot, Saint Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon, 8th ed., introduction pp. 303–317 and commentary pp. 332–334.
Open source ↗Lexical and grammatical evidence
STEP Bible Data
Tyndale House Cambridge
Tyndale House Cambridge, repository snapshot verified 2026
Supports: A morphology and lexical-range cross-check for the reader-facing original-language notes.
Exact location: STEP Bible Data repository, TAGNT and Greek lexical records, Philemon 1:1–3.
Open source ↗