John Paul Heil, «The Chiastic Structure and Meaning of Paul’s Letter to Philemon», Vol. 82 (2001) 178-206

This article proposes a new chiastic structure for Paul’s letter to Philemon based on rigorous criteria and methodology. The center and pivot of the chiasm, ‘but without your consent I resolved to do nothing, so that your good might not be as under compulsion but rather under benevolence’ (v. 14), is a key to explicating the letter’s supposedly unclear purpose. Paul wants Philemon to give his former slave Onesimus back to Paul as a beloved brother and fellow worker for the gospel of Jesus Christ, because of Philemon’s response to the grace of God evident in his faithful love for the holy ones as a beloved brother and fellow worker of Paul.

second half. Now that Paul has subtly but pointedly established what he wants from Philemon and why he wants it, he will clarify and bolster his argument by way of inversely parallel developments of the previous units of the letter.

D'. Paul wants Philemon to welcome Onesimus as a beloved brother and partner (vv. 15-17).

        The word ‘without’ (xwri_j in v. 14; e)xwri/sqh in v. 15) and the conjunction i#na (v. 14 and v. 15) serve as catch-words connecting the D' to the E unit. The purpose clause, ‘so that (i#na) you might have him (au)to_n)’ — the ‘him’ (au)to/n) Paul is sending back to Philemon as ‘my heart’ (v. 12) — ‘back forever’ (v. 15) corresponds to the purpose clause in the pivot of the chiasm, ‘so that (i#na) your good...’ (v. 14), and begins the inverse parallelism between the D and D' units, ‘so that (i#na) he might serve...’ (v. 13). Paul suggests that Onesimus was purposefully ‘separated’ from Philemon by God (divine passive) for awhile, so that he can have him back ‘forever’ (v. 15), that is, in a new, deeper, and paradoxical sense⁴⁹. Philemon can have Onesimus back forever by benevolently doing the good (v. 14) of allowing him to serve Paul in place of Philemon for the gospel (v. 13). In other words, Philemon paradoxically can ‘have back’ (a)pe/xh|j, v. 15) Onesimus ‘forever’ by giving him to Paul, who wants ‘to keep’ (kate/xein, v. 13) him for missionary work.

        That Philemon can have Onesimus back forever ‘no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother (a)delfo_n a)gaphto/n)’ (v. 16), appeals to Philemon to relate to Onesimus in the same way that Paul relates to Philemon, that is, as a beloved (a)gaphtw=|) fellow worker (v. 1) and brother (a)delfe/, v. 7)⁵⁰. As a ‘beloved brother’,