Philemon 1:17 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

If thou count me therefore a partner Κοινωνον, a companion, one having fellowship with thee in Christ, or a sharer with thee in the blessings of the gospel, the dearest bond of friendship; receive him as myself Even as thou wouldest receive me, if I could have the satisfaction of paying thee a visit in person. If he hath wronged thee Ει τι ηδικησε, if he hath injured thee in any thing; or oweth thee aught We cannot infer from this that Onesimus had robbed his master: it seems to be no more than a soft way of expressing the loss which Philemon had sustained by being deprived of his slave's service; put that on my account Charge it to me. I have written this with my own hand And do thereby, as it were, give thee legal security for it; I will repay it If thou requirest it; albeit I do not say, &c. That is, not to say to thee, that as I was the instrument of thy conversion to Christ; thou owest unto me even thine own self besides Besides pardoning Onesimus, thou owest to me, under God, thy very existence as a Christian, or the present and everlasting salvation of thy soul. What an immense obligation! Yet rather than be constrained to solicit Onesimus's pardon on account of that obligation, he would himself pay to Philemon every thing Onesimus owed him. How ungrateful would Philemon have showed himself if he had refused to grant the apostle's desire. Yea, brother Let me prevail upon thee in this request; let me have joy of thee in the Lord Let me obtain this kindness from thee for the Lord's sake, which will much rejoice me. Refresh my bowels Give me the most exquisite and Christian pleasure; in the Lord In a matter so agreeable to the will of Christ. The word αναπαυσον, rendered refresh, “is very emphatical. It literally signifies, to appease, or quiet, which strongly intimates the commotion he felt through the ardour of his concern for Onesimus; and seems to represent the eagerness of his desire for his re-establishment in Philemon's family, by the appetite of hunger.” Doddridge.