Philemon 1:4

4 Every time your name comes up in my prayers, I say, "Oh, thank you, God!"

Philemon 1:4 Meaning and Commentary

Philemon 1:4

I thank my God
Meaning on account, of Philemon, for the grace bestowed upon him, thereafter mentioned; (See Gill on Romans 1:8) making other saints, ( Romans 1:9 ) ( Ephesians 1:16 ) ( Philippians 1:3 Philippians 1:4 ) ( Colossians 1:3 ) ( 1 Thessalonians 1:2 ) , the apostle was a man much in prayer, frequent at the throne of grace; and he prayed not for himself only, but for all the saints, for all the churches and ministers of the Gospel; whom he not only bore upon his mind and heart, but made mention of them, it may be by name; however, he remembered them, and put up petitions, with thanksgivings, for them; and so he did for Philemon; and which he takes notice of with the same view as before: the word, "always", is so placed in the original text, as to be put either to his thanks to God, or his prayers, and may be true of both; the Syriac and Arabic versions join it to the former; and the Vulgate Latin and the Ethiopic versions place it to the latter.

Philemon 1:4 In-Context

2 also to our sister Apphia, to Archippus, a real trooper, and to the church that meets in your house.
3 God's best to you! Christ's blessings on you!
4 Every time your name comes up in my prayers, I say, "Oh, thank you, God!"
5 I keep hearing of the love and faith you have for the Master Jesus, which brims over to other Christians.
6 And I keep praying that this faith we hold in common keeps showing up in the good things we do, and that people recognize Christ in all of it.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.