Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Philemon 1:22 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 22. 22But withal prepare me also a lodging: for I trust that through your prayers I shall be given unto you.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Paul requests lodging and hopes the recipients' plural prayers will lead to his release and return, but the visit remains an unrealized hope in the letter.
Read It With
- Philemon 1:21–22
Read Philemon 1:21–22 as a complete movement. Verse 21 states confidence, obedience, and an unspecified 'more'; verse 22 adds a lodging request and prayerful hope for release and a visit.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The lodging request moves from the expected response toward a hoped-for visit, adding future accountability without proving the visit occurred.
Read Philemon 1:21–22 together
Why these verses belong together: Confidence in Philemon's response and the hoped-for visit together close the direct appeal with expectation and future accountability.
Verse 21. 21 Having confidence in thy obedience I wrote unto thee, knowing that thou wilt also do more than I say.
Verse 22. 22 But withal prepare me also a lodging: for I trust that through your prayers I shall be given unto you.
Follow the Context
- Paul calls the expected response obedience and states confidence in Philemon.
- He says Philemon will do more than Paul says without naming the additional act.
- At the same time, Paul requests a guest room.
- He hopes the plural recipients' prayers will result in his being restored to them.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“prepare me also a lodging”
In plain language: Paul asks Philemon to prepare guest accommodation.
The request anticipates a possible visit and brings future personal accountability into view.
Why it matters: It recognizes rhetorical force without turning travel hope into a threat.
How certain? strong“through your prayers I shall be given unto you”
In plain language: Paul hopes the plural recipients' prayers will lead to his release and return.
The passive hope depends on God and community prayer; the letter never confirms the release or visit.
Why it matters: It keeps confidence distinct from completed history.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
This verse does not prove Paul was released, that the visit occurred, or that anticipated presence should function as surveillance or threat.
What Remains True
Paul's requested lodging joins prayerful hope for restored presence with the accountability and pressure a possible visit may bring.
How It Can Shape Life
- Make follow-up accountable and transparent without turning your future presence into surveillance, threat, or proof that a hoped-for outcome already occurred.
Teach It Back
Explain Philemon 1:22's exact contribution to Philemon 1:21–22. Include the surrounding movement, the material power relation where relevant, one uncertainty, and what this verse does not say.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Philemon 1:21–22 — Confidence, More Than Stated, and Hope for a VisitSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The letter records hope for release and a visit, not their fulfillment. The request may add accountability and pressure, but it is not phrased as a threat.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
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 1:21–22.
Exact location: eBible/CrossWire eng-kjv2006 USFM, source files dated 2026-08-19, Philemon 1:21–22; 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 1:21–22.
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 21–22.
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 p. 405.
Open source ↗peer reviewed article abstract
‘Thanks, but no Thanks’: Tact, Persuasion, and the Negotiation of Power in Paul's Letter to Philemon
Scott S. Elliott
New Testament Studies 57.1, 2011
Supports: Only the abstract's stated concern with tact, apparent voluntariness, coercive force, negotiated power, and Onesimus's limited agency.
Exact location: Scott S. Elliott, ‘Thanks, but no Thanks,’ New Testament Studies 57.1 (2011), official Cambridge abstract only.
Open source ↗