Philemon 1:11

in time past In the Greek, simply, once.

unprofitable A gentle "play" on "Helpful's" name; an allusion, and no more (for no more was needed), to his delinquencies. To Onesimus himself Paul had no doubt spoken, with urgent faithfulness, of his sinagainst his master. What the sin had been we can only guess, beyond the evident fact that he had run away. Philemon 1:18-19, suggest that he had robbed Philemon before his flight, though the language does not imply more than petty crime of that kind.

Perhaps Philemon would recall the "unprofitable bondservant" of the Lord's parable, a parable recorded for us by "the beloved physician" now at Paul's side (Luke 17:10).

and to me "An after-thought … According to common Greek usage the first person would naturally precede the second" (Lightfoot). The words are a loving testimony to Onesimus" devotion.