ACC ~ Philemon 1 v10

A SPIRITUAL CHILD OF AFFLICTION. CHRYSOSTOM: For I would not have called him my son, Paul says, if he were not of great use and importance to me. What I called Timothy, that I also call Onesimus. Paul repeatedly shows his affection for Onesimus, reminding Philemon of Onesimus’s recent birth in Christ. “I have begotten him in my bonds,” he says, so that also on this account Onesimus was worthy to obtain much honor, because he was begotten in Paul’s very conflicts, in his trials in the cause of Christ. HOMILIES ON PHILEMON 2.

CHRYSOSTOM: And note, on the other hand, also Paul’s fervency. He preached the gospel bound and scourged. Oh, that blessed chain, with what great effort did it labor that night, and what children did it birth! Yes, of them, too, may he say, “Whom I have begotten in my bonds.” Observe how Paul glories. He will have the children born this way considered even more illustrious! Observe how transcendent is the glory of those bonds, in that they give luster not only to him that wore them but also to those who were on that occasion begotten by him. HOMILIES ON EPHESIANS 8.

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: Now Paul uses the name of Onesimus, but only after signaling the profound change that has occurred [i.e., Onesimus’s conversion]. COMMENTARY ON Philemon.

Philem