Philemon is Paul’s shortest letter.¹ But its modest size is no reflection on its importance. Instead, Philemon’s brevity makes it an extraordinarily dense distillation of and entry point to “Paul, his worldview and his theology.”²

So, it should perhaps be no surprise to find not a few references to Philemon among the earliest writers after Paul. For a list of texts where early Christian writers refer to Philemon, the best current source is BiblIndex.³

Early Christian Writings and Their Translations

For the Ancient Christian Study Bible, work is starting from standard English translations of early Christian works (where these are available). So, for works where I’ve identified a corresponding English text, I’ve noted that translation below.

Things change, however, and new translations appear. So, for instance, in 2004, David Hunter could lament how “there is currently no ET of any significant portion of Ambrosiaster’s work.”⁴ And by the end of 2009, English translations of all of Ambrosiaster’s commentaries on the Pauline letters could be available.⁵

So, feel free to reach out on Mastodon if you notice an update that’s needed in these lists. Comments are particularly welcome if you know of

1. an English translation that’s available but isn’t listed or
2. a better or more recent English translation that’s now available to replace an older translation.

Commentaries or Homilies on Philemon

For commentaries or homilies specifically on Paul’s letter to Philemon, there survive those by

1. Ambrosiaster, In epistula ad Philemonem. Gerald Bray has translated this commentary into English in Commentaries on Galatians–Philemon, Ancient Christian Texts (affiliate disclosure; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press Academic, 2009).
2. Chrysostom, John. Homiliae in epistulam ad Philemonem. Philip Schaff has revised these homilies Oxford translation in NPNF 1/13 (affiliate disclosure). This volume is also openly available online, as indexed in my online library guide.
3. Jerome, Commentariorum in Epistulam ad Philemonem liber. Thomas Scheck has translated this commentary into English in St. Jerome’s Commentaries on Galatians, Titus, and Philemon (affiliate disclosure; Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2010).⁶
4. Theodoret of Cyr, Interpretatio Epistolae ad Philemonem. Robert Hill has translated this commentary into English in vol. 2 of Commentary on the Letters of St. Paul (affiliate disclosure; Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 2001).

Other Works

Besides commentaries or series of homilies, numerous other works from a wide variety of authors engage Philemon more or less substantively. Among these are works by

• John Chrysostom,
• Jerome, and
• other authors that I’ll be working through soon.

John Chrysostom

Works Available in English

1. Ad populum Antiochenum de statuis (1×). W. R. W. Stephens has translated this work into English in NPNF 1/9 (affiliate disclosure), see esp. 445–47.
2. Ad Theodorum lapsum (1×). Stephens has translated this work into English in NPNF 1/9 (see esp. 109).
3. De laudibus sancti Pauli apostoli (1×). Thomas Halton has translated this work into English as In Praise of Saint Paul (affiliate disclosure; Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2016).
4. De Lazaro (3×). Catharine Roth has translated this work into English as On Wealth and Poverty, Popular Patristics Series (affiliate disclosure; New York: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2021). Before her, F. Allen translated it under the title Four Discourses of Chrysostom, Chiefly on the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (London: Longmans, Green, Reader & Dyer, 1869). Allen’s translation appears to remain in print only on-demand from various sources with which I’m not familiar.
5. Expositiones in Psalmos (2×). Robert Hill has translated this work into English as St. John Chrysostom: Commentary on the Psalms, 2 vols. (Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 1998) (see esp. 1:253, 2:82–113).
6. Homiliae in Acta apostolorum (1×). George Stevens revised the translation of J. Walker, J. Sheppard, and H. Brown in NPNF 1/11 (affiliate disclosure), see esp. 133.
7. Homiliae in epistulam ad Colossenses (4×). John Broadus has revised this work’s Oxford translation in NPNF 1/13 (see esp. 257, 310).
8. Homiliae in epistulam ad Ephesios (2×). Gross Alexander has revised this work’s Oxford translation in NPNF 1/13 (see esp. 85, 89).
9. Homiliae in epistulam ad Romanos (2×).⁷ George Stevens has revised the translation of J. B. Morris and W. H. Simcox in NPNF 1/11 (see esp. 336, 550, 556).
10. Homiliae in epistulam ad Titum (1×). Philip Schaff has revised this work’s Oxford translation in NPNF 1/13 (see esp. 521).
11. Homiliae in epistulam ii ad Corinthios (2×). Talbot Cambers has revised this work’s Oxford translation in NPNF 1/12 (affiliate disclosure), see esp. 343, 375.
12. Homiliae in Matthaeum (1×). George Prevost has translated this work into English in NPNF 1/10 (affiliate disclosure), see esp. 278. But the reference to Onesimus has no associated note with a textual reference (cf. Col 4:9).

Works Openly Available in English

Of these works,

• NPNF 1/9–13,
• Allen’s translation of De Lazaro, and
• Halton’s translation of De laudibus sancti Pauli apostoli

are all openly available online. You can find direct links to each of these volumes in my online library guide.

Notes on Expositiones in Psalmos

Hill doesn’t index any references to Philemon in vol. 2 (see p. 397). But the key phrase is Chrysostom’s mention of Παῦλος δέσμιος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ (PG 55:327; “Paul, a prisoner of Messiah Jesus”; translation mine).

In the NA²⁸’s text of the Pauline corpus (affiliate disclosure), this phrase doesn’t appear. The closest parallels are

• Παῦλος ὁ δέσμιος τοῦ Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ (Eph 3:1),
• Παῦλος δέσμιος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ (Phlm 1), and
• Παῦλος … δέσμιος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ (Phlm 9).

Ephesians 3:1 is what Migne cites for the corresponding Latin text (Paulus vinctius Jesu Christi). But in this case, Chrysostom’s Greek text differs by dropping two articles and inverting Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ (“of Messiah Jesus”).

This latter change is common enough, although the NA²⁸ doesn’t index any particular cases in these three texts. This change in order is also the only way in which Chrysostom’s quotation differs from the NA²⁸’s text of Phlm 1 and 9. In addition, Paul uses this description twice in his comparatively short letter to Philemon. So, in principle, Philemon is likely to be the more prominent referent for this description.

In addition, Eph 3:1 and Phlm 1 regularly read as the NA²⁸ has them.⁸ But for Phlm 9, the Majority Text has Παῦλος … δέσμιος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, the same order as does Migne’s text of Chrysostom.⁹ This confluence makes it still more likely that Chrysostom does refer to Philemon in this additional place in his exposition of the Psalms.

Chrysostom’s following sentence seemingly alludes to both Eph 6:20 and Col 4:3 (Καὶ πάλιν, Ὑπὲρ οὗ καὶ δέδεμαι ἐν ἀλύσει; PG 55:372). The elements aligning with Ephesians (e.g., ἀλύσει) could suggest the prior quotation is more likely to adapt Eph 3:1. The elements aligning with Col 4:3 (e.g., δέδεμαι) could suggest that it is more likely to adapt Philemon, given that Paul directly names Onesimus in Col 4:9. So, on balance, the greater verbal similarity with Philemon seems to make ti more likely that Chrysostom is referring to that text when he quotes Paul’s self-description as δέσμιος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ.¹⁰

Works Unavailable in English

1. De mutatione nominum (2×). This homily seems to be distinct from the general series on Acts, although it’s based on Acts 9:1.¹¹ A Greek text and Latin translation are available in PG 51:113–56 (see esp. col. 149, line 12).
2. In illud: Messis quidem multa (1×). This homily seems to be distinct from the general series on Matthew, although it’s based on Matt 9:37.¹² A Greek text and Latin translation are availabile in PG 63:515–24 (see esp. col. 517, line 31). More recently, M. Aubineau has produced a critical edition under the title “Publication des Undecim novae homiliae de saint Jean Chrysostome (Patrologia Graeca (Migne) 63, 461–530): édition critique, comblement des lacunes, addition de deux inédits,” in Cappadocian Fathers, Chrysostom and His Greek Contemporaries, Augustine, Donatism and Pelagianism, ed. Elizabeth A. Livingstone, StPatr 22 (affiliate disclosure; Leuven: Peeters, 1989), 83–88.

Patrologia Graeca 51 and 63 are openly available online, and my online library guide can point you to how to access them.

Jerome

Works Available in English

1. Commentariorum in Epistulam ad Galatas (1×). Scheck’s volume that contains Jerome’s commentary on Philemon also contains the commentary on Galatians. In addition, David Hunter (ed.) and Andrew Cain (trans.) have provided the Commentary on Galatians in Fathers of the Church 121 (affiliate disclosure; Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2010), see esp. 65–66.
2. Epistulae (1×). W. H. Fremantle, G. Lewis, and W. G.Martley translated Jerome’s letters in NPNF 2/6 (affiliate disclosure), see esp 172.

NPNF 2/6 is openly available online with a direct link available in my online library guide.

Works Unavailable in English

1. Commentariorum in Isaiam (1×). Thomas Scheck has provided a translation of homilies 1–9 of the Commentary on Isaiah in Ancient Christian Writers 68 (New York: Newman, 2015). But the pertinent reference to Philemon comes in homily 18 (65.23). And that homily seems not yet to have an English translation. A Latin text is available in PL 24:9–678 (see esp. 648–51).
2. De nominibus hebraicis (7×). A Latin text is available in PL 23:771–934.

Patrologia Latina 23 and 24 are openly available online, and my online library guide can point you to how to access them.

When using Patrologia Latina, you should always try to work with volumes published in 1865 or earlier. Beginning in 1868, a new edition of Patrologia Latina began to be issued. But this edition was based on new plates after the originals were destroyed and is unfortunately problematic in many respects.

Summary

Dozens of other references to Philemon appear in other literature from the first few Christian centuries. I’ll be working on digesting these too. But already, it’s clear these major works on Philemon are going to provide a lot of rich, fascinating material.