Dec 8, 2025
Toward the close of his short letter to Philemon, Paul offers to
pay any debt Onesimus may owe Philemon, and adds (ESV), “I, Paul,
write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your
owing me even your own self.” The last words are often viewed as
heavy-handed, but are better understood as an instance of
paralipsis in which Paul “brings up something without bringing it
up.” He is employing a tactful approach to mention a delicate
matter. Dr Seth Ehorn, an alum of the MA in
Biblical Exegesis program at Wheaton Graduate School, is
Assistant Professor of Classics and Biblical Languages at Houston
Christian University. Among other things, he has
published 2
Maccabees 1-7: A Handbook on the Greek
Text and 2
Maccabees 8-15: A Handbook on the Greek Text, both in the
Baylor Handbook on the Septuagint Series. He is currently working
on a commentary on Paul’s Letter to Philemon. He has contributed
several previous episodes to Exegetically Speaking.
Check out related programs at Wheaton College:
B.A. in Classical Languages (Greek, Latin,
Hebrew): https://bit.ly/3Mzqp9f
M.A. in Biblical Exegesis: https://bit.ly/4rQPwU5