RT Article
T1 The Chiastic Structure and Meaning of Paul’s Letter to Philemon
JF Biblica
VO 82
IS 2
SP 178
OP 206
A1 Heil, John Paul 1947-
LA English
YR 2001
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/182342001X
AB 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.