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General Information:
Three times Paul identifies himself as the author of this letter. Evidently Timothy was with him and probably wrote the words down as Paul said them. Paul greets others who meet for church at Philemon's house.
General Information:
All instances of "I," "me," and "my" refer to Paul. Philemon is the main person to whom this letter is written. All instances of "you" and "your" refer to him and are singular unless otherwise noted. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-you)
Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and the brother Timothy to Philemon
Your language may have a particular way of introducing the authors of a letter. AT: "I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy, our brother, are writing this letter to Philemon" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-exclusive)
a prisoner of Christ Jesus
"a prisoner for the sake of Christ Jesus." People who opposed Paul's preaching had punished him by putting him into prison.
brother
Here this means a fellow Christian.
Philemon, our dear friend ... Apphia our sister ... Archippus our fellow soldier
The word "our" here refers to Paul and those with him but not to the reader. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-exclusive)
and fellow worker
"who, like us, works to spread the gospel"
Apphia our sister
Here "sister" means she was a believer, and not a relative. AT: "Apphia our fellow believer" or "Apphia our spiritual sister" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/translate-names)
Archippus
This is the name of a man in the church with Philemon. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/translate-names)
our fellow soldier
Paul speaks here of Archippus as if they were both soldiers in an army. He means that Archippus works hard, as Paul himself works hard, to spread the gospel. AT: "our fellow spiritual warrior" or "who also fights the spiritual battle with us" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor)
May grace be to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
"May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace." This is a blessing.
God our Father
The word "our" here refers to Paul, those with him, and the reader. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-inclusive)
our Father
This is an important title for God. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/guidelines-sonofgodprinciples)
translationWords
- rc://en/tw/dict/bible/names/paul
- rc://en/tw/dict/bible/other/prison
- rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/jesus
- rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/brother
- rc://en/tw/dict/bible/names/timothy
- rc://en/tw/dict/bible/other/sister
- rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/church
- rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/grace
- rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/god
- rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/godthefather
- rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/lord