The Letter to PhilemonWm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2000 - 588 pages Although sometimes regarded as trivial because of its brevity or its treatment of issues distant from the modern world, the letter to Philemon remains valuable both for its insight into the social setting of the New Testament and for its reiteration of a central component of the gospel-brotherly love. This superb new commentary in the ECC series is unique for its exhaustive study of the ancient world at the time Philemon was written. The volume examines the institution of slavery in Paul's day, drawing on secular sources from Greece and Rome and from Christian writers of the time. The references to slavery found in Ephesians, Colossians, and 1 Timothy are also compared and contrasted with Paul's words in Philemon. In addition, the verse-by-verse commentary focuses on important themes in Pauline theology, including love, faith and faithfulness, church unity, providence, free will, and human responsibility. Markus Barth makes his exposition even more useful by surveying the history of the interpretation of Philemon, from the patristic age to modern liberation theologians. The product of Barth's lifelong research and completed by Helmut Blanke, this volume will become the standard work on Philemon. |
Contents
Abbreviations | 10 |
The Slaves Daily Life and Legal Position | 27 |
Fugitive Slaves 26 | 44 |
The Consolation of Philosophy 33 | 51 |
Manumission A Legal Way out of Slavery 41 | 59 |
Old Testament and Later Jewish Traditions 53 | 71 |
A The Loss of Freedom 56 | 74 |
B The Legal Position and the Treatment of Slaves 59 | 77 |
LITERARY BIOGRAPHICAL AND CONTEXTUAL ISSUES | 121 |
Attestation and Canonization 104 | 122 |
Textual Integrity and Criticism 106 | 124 |
Vocabulary Language and Style 108 | 126 |
B Types and Families of Words and Styles 109 | 127 |
A Private orand Official Letter? 112 | 130 |
Rhetorical Devices 115 | 133 |
Dramatis Personae 128 | 146 |
The Theological Foundation 65 | 83 |
The Casuistry of Performance 72 | 90 |
E The Essenes 78 | 96 |
F The Uniqueness of Jewish Legislation and Practice 80 | 98 |
Slave Names and Designations 83 | 101 |
A First Look at Slavery in Israel 84 | 102 |
Crucifixion and Other Modes of Execution 85 | 103 |
Plinys and Other Letters of Intercession 5 A Warrant of Arrest 86 87 | 106 |
Three Phases of Stoicism 92 | 110 |
Seneca on Slavery 93 | 111 |
State and Private Secular and Sacral Slaves 94 | 112 |
Judaism and Abolitionism 96 | 114 |
Developments in Jewish Slave Laws and Customs 97 | 115 |
Human Rights Established by God 98 | 116 |
Circumcision and Covenant Membership 99 | 117 |
Philo on the Sabbath and Slave Liberation 100 | 118 |
Renounced Manumission 101 | 119 |
Parallels and Divergencies in Pauline Literature 150 | 168 |
History and Issues of Interpretation 200 | 218 |
Annotations | 243 |
Union through Baptism? 10 Corporate Personality? 233 235 | 254 |
The Address vv 13 243 | 261 |
Intervention for a Slave vv 814 306 | 324 |
vii | 325 |
The Cost of Brotherhood vv 1520 394 | 412 |
Brother 423 | 441 |
Conclusion vv 2125 487 | 505 |
Pauls Visits and Personal Travel Plans 493 | 511 |
Bibliography 499 | 517 |
537 | |
543 | |
550 | |
Other editions - View all
The Letter to Philemon: A New Translation with Notes and Commentary Markus Barth,Helmut Blanke No preview available - 2000 |
Common terms and phrases
according Acts ancient and/or apostle apostle’s Apphia Archippus Aristotle baptism Bible brother brotherhood called captivity Christians church circumcision Colossae Colossians command commentaries congregation contradict described Deut earthly emancipation Epaphras Ephesians Ephesus Epictetus epistles eschatological ethics Exod father flesh formula freedom fugitive Gentiles gift given God’s gospel grace Greek Haustafeln heart Hebrew house church human interpretation Israel J. B. Lightfoot Jesus Christ Jewish Jews liberation live Lohmeyer Lord Luke manumission manumitted master Matt means mentioned Messiah noun obedience Onesimus Onesimus’s Pastoral Epistles Paul Paul’s Pauline letters person Phil Philem 16 prisoner reference reveals Roman Rome servant slave slave owner slavery social soul speaks specific Spirit Stoic Stuhlmacher Talmud TDNT Testament Theodore of Mopsuestia theology Thess tion Titus translation Tychicus verb verse words