(affection)
A love letter from a mediator reflecting the heart of God in grace’s concern for a prodigal slave. Even though burdened with the care of all assemblies, the aged apostle in prison evangelized this prisoner and then in practical righteousness, brotherly love, and the spirit of Christ, sends him back as the bearer of this touching appeal to Philemon to secure a kind welcome for his “son” and “brother beloved.”
Paul does not demand that the slave be freed, (as Christianity did not come to set the world right) but Philemon may have done so, verse 21.
Written about A.D. 62.