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Philippians and Philemon: Prison Epistles, Part 2

  1. Lesson One
    Overview of Philippians (Philippians 1–4)
    22 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  2. Lesson Two
    Philippians: Suffering and Community (Philippians Review)
    22 Activities
  3. Lesson Three
    Overview of Philemon
    22 Activities
  4. Lesson Four
    Paul and Slavery (Philemon, Romans 6 Review)
    17 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  5. Lesson Five
    Social Impact
    9 Activities
    |
    4 Assessments
  6. Course Wrap-Up
    Course Completion
    1 Activity
    |
    1 Assessment

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Philemon opens with a prayer that anticipates a number of key themes in the letter. Following a typical prescript with an introduction, address and greetings, we read Paul’s prayer for Philemon. The content of this prayer is a clue to what he’s going to say in the rest of the letter. (See the chart below showing key words in the opening prayer matched with its reoccurrence in the body of the letter.)

Opening PrayerBody of the Letter
Prayers422
Love5, 79, 16
Partnership617
Good 614
Hearts712, 20
Refreshed720
Brother 720

Table adapted from: Ernest D. Martin, Colossians, Philemon, 1993, p. 256.