Philemon 1:2

Ἀπφίᾳ τῇ ἀδελφῆ : A Phrygian name, often occurring on Phrygian inscriptions. It is most natural to suppose that she was the wife of Philemon: but she must have occupied also, most likely, a quasi-official position in the Church; τῆ ἀδελφῇ, coming between συνεργῷ and συνστρατιώτῃ, suggests this, especially when one remembers the important part the ministry of women played in the early Church, cf. the labours, e.g., of Mary, Tryphaena and Tryphosa, Persis, in connexion with whom the semi-technical term κοπιᾶν is used (see 1 Thessalonians 5:12; 1 Timothy 5:17, for the use of this word), and Prisca; on the whole subject see Harnack, The Mission and Expansion of Christianity, i., pp. 122 f., 161 f., 363 f. (1908). Ἀρχίππῳ : there is nothing to show that he was the son of Philemon, rather the contrary, for why should the son be addressed in a letter which dealt with one of his father's slaves? The inclusion of his name must be due to the fact that he occupied an important position in the local church (cf. the words which follow in the text), which was thus, in a certain sense, included in the responsibility with regard to Onesimus. Archippus occupied, apparently, a more important position than Philemon (see Colossians 4:17, βλέπε τὴν διακονίαν ἤν παρέλαβες ἐν Κυρίῳ, ἵνα αὐτὴν πληροῖς, if Philemon had occupied any such official position mention would certainly have been made of it), but this would be most unlikely to have been the case if the latter had been the father of the former. It is more natural to regard him as the head of the local Church, who lived in the house where the members met for worship (cf. Theodoret's words, quoted by Lightfoot: ὁ δὲ Ἄρχιππος τὴν διδασκαλίαν αὐτῶν ἐπεπίστευτο). συνστρατιώτῃ : only elsewhere in N.T., Philippians 2:25, but for the metaphor cf. 2 Corinthians 10:3-4; 1 Timothy 1:18; 2 Timothy 2:3-4, καὶ τῇ κατʼ οἶκον …: Cf. Acts 12:12; Romans 16:5; 1 Corinthians 16:19; Colossians 4:15. Up to the third century we have no certain evidence of the existence of church buildings for the purposes of worship; all references point to private houses for this. In Rome several of the oldest churches appear to have been built on the sites of houses used for Christian worship; see Sanday and Headlam, Romans, p. 421, who quote this interesting passage from the Acta Justini Martyris, § 2 (Ruinart): “Quaesivit Praefectus, quem in locum Christiani convenient. Cui respondit Justinus, eo unumquemque convenire quo vellet ac posset. An, inquit, existimas omnes nos in eundem locum convenire solitos? Minime res ita se habet … Tunc Praefectus: Age, inquit, dicas, quem in locum conveniatis, et discipulos tuos congreges. Respondit Justinus: Ego prope domum Martini cuiusdam, ad balneum cognomento Timiotinum, hactenus mansi.”