Philemon 1:4

4 I always thank my God when I pray for you, Philemon,

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 and to our sister Apphia, and to our fellow soldier Archippus, and to the church that meets in your house.
3 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
4 I always thank my God when I pray for you, Philemon,
5 because I keep hearing about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God’s people.
6 And I am praying that you will put into action the generosity that comes from your faith as you understand and experience all the good things we have in Christ.
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