HOMILY I.] HOMILIES ON PHILEMON. 547 HOMILY I. PHILEMON i. 1-3. " Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fel low-laborer, And to our beloved Apphia, and Archip- pus our fellow-soldier, and to the Church in thy house : Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." THESE things are said to a master in behalf of a servant. Immediately at the outset, he has pulled down his spirit, and not suffered him to be ashamed, he has quenched his anger ; calling himself a prisoner, he strikes him with compunc tion, and makes him collect himself, and makes it appear that present things are nothing. For if a chain for Christ s sake is not a shame but a boast, much more is slavery not to be considered a reproach. And this he says, not exalting him-, self, but for a good purpose doing this, showing thence that he was worthy of credit ; and this he does not for his own sake, but that he may more readily obtain the favor. As if he had said, " It is on your account that I am invested with this chain." As he also has said elsewhere, there indeed showing his concern, but here his trustworthiness. Nothing is greater than this boast, to be called "the stigmatized 1 of Christ." "For I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." (Gal. vi. 17.) "The prisoner of the Lord." For he had been bound on His account. Who would not be struck with awe, who would not be humbled when he hears of the chains of Christ? Who would not be ready to give up even his own life, much less one domestic ? "And Timothy our brother." He joins another also with himself, that he, being entreated by many, may the more readily yield and grant the favor. " Unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fel low-laborer." If " beloved," then his confidence is not bold ness nor forwardness, but a proof ofmuch affec tion. If a " fellow-laborer," then not only may he be instructed in such a matter, but he ought to acknowledge it as a favor. For he is gratify ing himself, he is building up the same work. So that apart from any request, he says, thou hast another necessity for granting the favor. For if he is profitable to the Gospel, and thou art anxious to promote the Gospel, then ought- est thou not to be entreated, but to entreat. Ver. 2. "And to our beloved Apphia." 1 o-rtyMaTias. Literally, " branded slave." It seems to me that she was his partner in life. Observe the humility of Paul ; he both joins Timothy with him in his request, and asks not only the husband, but the wife also, and some one else, perhaps a friend. " And Archippus," he says, " our fellow-sol dier." Not wishing to effect such things by com mand, and not taking it ill, if he did not imme diately comply with his request ; but he begs them to do what a stranger might have done ~ to aid his request. For not only the being re quested by many, but the petition being urged to many, contributes to its being granted. And on this account he says, " And Archippus our fellow-soldier." If thou art a fellow-soldier, thou oughtest also to take a concern in these things. But this is the Archippus, about whom he says in his Epistle to the Colossians, " Say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfill it." (Col. iv. 17.) It seems to me too, that he, whom he joins with him in this request, was also one of the Clergy. "And he calls him his fellow- soldier, that he may by all means cooperate with him. " And to the Church in thy house." Here he has not omitted even the slaves. For he knew that often even the words of slaves have power to overthrow their master ; and more especially when his request was in behalf of a slave. And perhaps it was they particularly who exasperated him. He does not suffer them therefore to fall into envy,3 having honored them by including them in a salutation with their masters. And neither does he allow the master to take offense. For if he had made mention of them by name, perhaps he would have been angry. And if he had not mentioned them at all, he 4 might have been displeased. Observe therefore how prudently he has found a way by his manner of mentioning them, both to honor them by his mention of them, and not to wound him. For the name of the " Church " does not suffer masters to be angry, even though they are reckoned together with their servants. For the Church knows not the distinction of master and servant. By good actions and by sins she de fines the one and the other. If then it is a 2 He may mean a stranger to Onestmus. 3 i.e. of Onesimits. 4 Some suggest the plural, " they," but there is no MS. authority for it. The last editor defends the singular, as the expression used would please Philemon.