Philemon 1:10 I beseech you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds: Ignatius mentions an as Bishop of Ephesus at the time of his journey to his martyrdom at Rome, and though we must allow an interval of forty-four years between that time and the date of this Epistle, it is at least possible that the converted slave may have risen to that high position. It is suggestive that Ignatius speaks of him in the highest terms as a man of "inexpressible love," and exhorts all the members of the church to love and honour him, and that he reproduces St. Paul's allusion to the meaning of his name. "May I," he says, after naming Onesimus, "have joy or profit of you, if indeed I be worthy of it." Another Onesimus appears half a century later, as writing to Melito, bishop of Sardis, to urge on him the compilation of a volume of extracts from the Scriptures; and it may, perhaps, be inferred from its occurrence there and elsewhere, in the regions of Asia Minor, that the memory of the Colossian slave had invested the name with a special popularity. (Dean Plumptre.) Parallel Verses KJV: I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds:WEB: I beg you for my child, whom I have become the father of in my chains, Onesimus, |
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