Philemon 1:13
Whom I would have retained with me, that in thy stead he might have ministered to me in the bands of the gospel:
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- Vulgate (Clementine)
- quem ego volueram mecum detinere, ut pro te mihi ministraret in vinculis Evangelii :
- Greek New Testament (SBLGNT)
- ὃν ἐγὼ ἐβουλόμην πρὸς ἐμαυτὸν κατέχειν, ἵνα ὑπὲρ σοῦ μοι διακονῇ ἐν τοῖς δεσμοῖς τοῦ εὐαγγελίου,
Haydock's commentary
On verses 12 to 15
Do thou receive him as my own bowels. That is, as myself. Perhaps by the permission of God's providence (who never permits evil, but for some greater good) he departed from thee for a little while,6 that thou mightest receive him for ever, being now after his conversion in a way of being made partaker with thee of the same eternal happiness. (Witham)
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
St Augustine A Treatise Concerning Man’s Perfection in Righteousness, The Ninth Passage
“This passage, too,” says he, “is quoted by them: ‘It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.’” And he observes that the answer to be given to them is derived from the same apostle’s words in another passage: “Let him do what he will.” And he adds another passage from the Epistle to Philemon, where, speaking of Onesimus, [St. Paul says]: “‘Whom I would have retained with me, that in thy stead he might have ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel. But without thy mind would I do nothing; that thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity, but willingly.’ Likewise, in Deuteronomy: ‘Life and death hath He set before thee, and good and evil: . . …
St John Chrysostom An Exhortation to Theodore After His Fall, Letter I
18. Moreover also the blessed Paul not only welcomes Onesimus the unprofitable runaway thief, because he was converted, but also asks his master to treat him who had repented, on equal terms of honour with his teacher, thus saying: “I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds, who was aforetime unprofitable to thee, but now is profitable to thee and to me, whom I have sent back to thee; thou therefore receive him, that is my very heart, whom I would fain have kept with me, that in thy behalf he might minister unto me in the bonds of the Gospel; but without thy mind I would do nothing that thy goodness should not be as of necessity, but of free will. …
St John Chrysostom The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians, Colossians 4:5,6
Onesimus is the one about whom, writing to Philemon, he said, “Whom I would fain have kept with me, that in thy behalf he might minister unto me in the bonds of the Gospel: but without thy mind I would do nothing.” ( Philem. 13, 14 .) And he adds too the praise of their city, that they might not only not be ashamed, but even pride themselves on him. “Who is one of you,” he saith. “They shall make known unto you all things that are done here.”
St John Chrysostom The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Timothy, Titus, and Philemon, Argument
But it is useful for you to learn that this Epistle was sent upon necessary matters. Observe therefore how many things are rectified thereby. We have this one thing first, that in all things it becomes one to be earnest. For if Paul bestows so much concern upon a runaway, a thief, and a robber, and does not refuse nor is ashamed to send him back with such commendations; much more does it become us not to be negligent in such matters. Secondly, that we ought not to abandon the race of slaves, even if they have proceeded to extreme wickedness. For if a thief and a runaway become so virtuous that Paul was willing to make him a companion, and says in this Epistle, “that in thy stead he might have ministered unto me” ( v. 13 .), much more ought we not to abandon the free. Thirdly, that we ought not to withdraw slaves from the service of their masters. …
St John Chrysostom The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Timothy, Titus, and Philemon, Philemon 1:4-6
Ver. 13 . “Whom I would have retained with me, that in thy stead he might have ministered unto me in the bonds of the Gospel.” Dost thou see after how much previous preparation, he has at length brought him honorably before his master, and observe with how much wisdom he has done this. See for how much he makes him answerable, and how much he honors the other. Thou hast found, he says, a way by which thou mayest through him repay thy service to me. Here he shows that he has considered his advantage more than that of his slave, and that he respects him exceedingly.