Section 189
87Gk. πϱoσλαμβάνoμαɩ (middle, as always in the NT); with πϱoσλαβoῦ here cf. πϱoσλαμβάνεσθε . . . πϱoσελάβετo in Rom. 15:7 (as also in Rom. 14:1, 3). LSJ cite various instances of both active and middle in the sense “take on as a helper or partner,” including Aristotle, Politics 5.8.19.1312b, πϱoσλαβὼν τòν δῆμoν (“having got the populace on to his side”) and papyrus instances of the middle, of which P. Fay. 12.10 (πϱoσλαβóμενoς συνεϱγóν), c. 103 B.C., and P. Amh. 100.4 (πϱoσελάβετo . . . ϰoɩνωνóν), c. A.D. 200, are especially apposite to the present context.
88If Paul means this, he means it playfully; only if Onesimus were emancipated would he be either solvent or insolvent. J. Knox (Philemon among the Letters, p. 24, n. 13) refers to P. Oxy. 1209.19, where a slave is described in a contract of sale as “free from external claim” (ἐϰτòς ὄντα . . . ἐπαφῆς).
89Gk. εὶ δέ τɩ ὴδίϰησέν σε. J. Knox (Philemon among the Letters, pp. 31-33) sees a link between this and ὁ γὰϱ ἀδɩϰῶν ϰτλ in Col. 3:25, which he takes to be inexplicable unless “it is . . . Onesimus who must pay for the wrong he has done, and no exception will be made. Paul has assumed his obligations, but that does not mean that he will not have to make them good.” It is unlikely that the church of Colossae would read so minutely between the lines of the letter sent to it by Paul.