Whom I would have retained with me, that in thy stead he might have ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel:
The bonds of the gospel are Paul's imprisonment as a prisoner brought to Italy, bound by a chain to his soldier guard, whose sufferings endeared him to the Italian Christians who had eagerly expected his promised visit since his letter to Rome and welcomed him on his way from Puteoli to Rome. The verse belongs to a letter dealing with the effect of the gospel on the relationship between master and servant in Roman society, where slavery was widespread and often enforced by severe laws and cruelty that degraded enslaved people and left them vulnerable to their owners' power. The one Paul would have retained is Onesimus, a pagan slave of Philemon in Colosse who had wronged his master and escaped to Rome. In Rome Paul relieved Onesimus in his poverty and distress, shed light into his darkened mind, and led him to listen, confess his sins, and be converted to Christ as a repentant believer.
Onesimus endeared himself to Paul by piety and sincerity, by tender care for Paul's comfort, and by zeal in promoting the gospel, showing traits of character that would make him a useful helper in missionary labor. Paul desired to keep Onesimus with him in Rome during his imprisonment for the gospel, that Onesimus might minister to him in Philemon's place by doing what Philemon himself would have done.
Paul would not keep Onesimus for this service unless Philemon of his own accord freely agreed to set him free. Even while wanting his services, Paul counseled Onesimus to return without delay to Philemon to beg forgiveness and plan for the future. Philemon was to receive Onesimus as his own child, not now as a servant but as a beloved brother, and to show him such affection that he would choose to dwell with his former master.
The bonds of the gospel are Paul's imprisonment as a prisoner brought to Italy, bound by a chain to his soldier guard, whose sufferings endeared him to the Italian Christians who had eagerly expected his promised visit since his letter to Rome and welcomed him on his way from Puteoli to Rome. The verse belongs to a letter dealing with the effect of the gospel on the relationship between master and servant in Roman society, where slavery was widespread and often enforced by severe laws and cruelty that degraded enslaved people and left them vulnerable to their owners' power. The one Paul would have retained is Onesimus, a pagan slave of Philemon in Colosse who had wronged his master and escaped to Rome. In Rome Paul relieved Onesimus in his poverty and distress, shed light into his darkened mind, and led him to listen, confess his sins, and be converted to Christ as a repentant believer.
Onesimus endeared himself to Paul by piety and sincerity, by tender care for Paul's comfort, and by zeal in promoting the gospel, showing traits of character that would make him a useful helper in missionary labor. Paul desired to keep Onesimus with him in Rome during his imprisonment for the gospel, that Onesimus might minister to him in Philemon's place by doing what Philemon himself would have done.
Paul would not keep Onesimus for this service unless Philemon of his own accord freely agreed to set him free. Even while wanting his services, Paul counseled Onesimus to return without delay to Philemon to beg forgiveness and plan for the future. Philemon was to receive Onesimus as his own child, not now as a servant but as a beloved brother, and to show him such affection that he would choose to dwell with his former master.