Philemon Chapter 1 verse 13 Holy Bible
whom I would fain have kept with me, that in thy behalf he might minister unto me in the bonds of the gospel:
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Though my desire was to keep him with me, to be my servant in the chains of the good news, in your place:
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whom *I* was desirous of keeping with myself, that for thee he might minister to me in the bonds of the glad tidings;
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Whom I would have retained with me, that in thy stead he might have ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel:
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whom I desired to keep with me, that on your behalf he might serve me in my chains for the Gospel.
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whom I did wish to retain to myself, that in thy behalf he might minister to me in the bonds of the good news,
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Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 13. - I was wishing; I would fain have kept (Revised Version). The story tells itself if we read between the lines. What steadfast adherence to principle on the part of the apostle, when the help of Onesimus would have been so welcome to him in his weak health, and his position as a prisoner! Philemon could hardly fail to think more favorably of Onesimus, when he saw how much importance the apostle attached to his services. In the bonds of the gospel. "Which I am enduring for the sake of the gospel" (see Ver. 9) - a variation of phrase from Ver. 9 (and of our Lord's words, Mark 8:35; Mark 10:29).
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(13) Whom I would have retained.--In the original we have here a graceful distinction in two points between the two clauses. The verb in the first clause is "to wish;" in the second "to will." The tense in the first clause is the imperfect: "I was wishing," or "prepared to wish" (just as in Acts 25:22; and, in the case of a cognate verb, Romans 9:3), implying, perhaps, a suppressed condition; in the second it is the past definite: "I willed," or "determined" finally.In thy stead.--Here, again, there is a certain delicacy of suggestion. A slave was his master's property; he could act only on his master's behalf and by his consent. St. Paul is sure that Philemon's love for him would have gladly given that consent, and so made Onesimus an instrument of willing service to St. Paul.
