Philemon 2-4

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Philemon 1:2 sn Apphia is thought to be the wife of Philemon.
2. Philemon 1:2 tc Most witnesses (D² Ψ 1241 1505 M) here read τῇ ἀγαπητῇ (tē agapētē, “beloved, dear”), a reading that appears to have been motivated by the masculine form of the same adjective in v. 1. Further, the earliest and best witnesses, along with a few others (א A D* F G I P 048 0278 33 81 104 1739 1881), have ἀδελφῇ (adelphē, “sister”). Thus on internal and external grounds, ἀδελφῇ is the strongly preferred reading.
3. Philemon 1:2 tn Though the word “our” does not appear in the Greek text it is inserted to bring out the sense of the passage.
4. Philemon 1:3 tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”
5. Philemon 1:4 sn I always thank my God. An offer of thanksgiving (εὐχαριστῶ, eucharistō) to God is a customary formula for Paul in many of his epistles (cf. Rom 1:8, 1 Cor 1:4, Eph 1:16, Col 1:3, 1 Thess 1:2, 2 Thess 1:3). The content of the thanksgiving typically points to the work of God in the salvation of the believers to whom he [Paul] writes.
6. Philemon 1:4 tn Grk “making remembrance (or “mention”) of you in my prayers.”