but if he have wronged thee anything or owe anything [to thee], put this to my account.
Paul has just asked Philemon to take back Onesimus, a runaway slave, as he would welcome Paul himself. Now he turns to the money, and puts the whole loss on his own books.
Paul does not pretend nothing happened. He also does not force the word "theft" on his friend.
Onesimus had probably confessed his theft to Paul. Again Paul chooses his words with great care for this delicate matter. He does not call it "theft" outright. He writes "if he has wronged you," and then softens even that to "or owes you anything." Then he declares himself ready to make good the loss. He takes on the debt in place of the slave Onesimus — "charge that to my account." These same five words are translated in Romans 5:13 by the word "impute."
Conversion did not rewrite the past.
There is a hint that Onesimus had wronged Philemon. He had robbed or stolen, and then run away from his master. Could God justify dishonesty and fraud? No; for no unrighteous person shall inherit the kingdom of God. The dishonesty of Onesimus led him to Rome, led him to Paul, led him to hear the gospel. But that did not make it any less wrong.
Two different words lie behind this language of accounts. Paul chose the sharper one.
The word "imputed" here is not the general word for "imputing righteousness." It means putting a specific item to someone's account, which the other word does not. The same word appears in Philemon 18.
So Paul is using a bookkeeping term. One named amount moves from one column to another.
There is a difference between excusing a debt and paying it.
Probably he had defrauded his master. Paul does not overlook this. He does not tell Philemon to just accept the loss, whatever it was. Instead, he freely makes himself the guarantor for its payment, if Philemon should ask for it.
Paul does not leave the promise spoken. He puts it in writing, then adds one line that tips the balance.
The damage done is to go to Paul's account. He writes a promissory note in his own hand — "I will repay it." But what a master-stroke are the words that follow: "though I say nothing about your owing me even your own self besides"!
Commentators read this sentence as a small model of what happened at the cross.
Paul stands between Philemon and Onesimus. That is a faint picture of what Christ has done. Can we not almost hear the blessed Saviour speaking that way? On the cross He charged Himself with our sins and took up the judgment we deserved. Shall we not bless Him for ever that He said to God, about everything our sins deserved, "Charge that to My account."
The parallel runs further than payment.
Christ has "repaid" what we owed to God — and how much more! He charged Himself with the whole of our responsibility. And He has given us, together with Himself, His own place and relationship with the Father, so that we are received as Himself. How blessed is the likeness between the servant and his Master!
If Christ covered our debt at that cost, pressing a brother for his own looks strange.
If anything is due to us from a brother, let us not demand it. The Lord has written it with His own hand, and He will repay. "Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?" No one loses by giving something up for the Lord's sake. We owe Him ourselves and all we have, yet He is gracious enough to repay any loss we accept for His name's sake.
Does this verse tell Christians to guarantee other people's debts?
We do not think Philemon 18, 19 gives any warrant at all for what is commonly called going security.
- Debt named. Paul softens the wording, but he never denies the loss. Grace does not pretend the wrong never happened.
- Debt transferred. "Charge that to my account" is a bookkeeping word. It moves one named item onto someone else's page, and it is the word translated "impute" in Romans 5:13.
- Debt signed for. Paul puts his own name behind the debt, in his own handwriting. Then he notes that Philemon owes him his very self.
- Debt repaid. At the cross Christ said the same thing to God about our sins, and then gave us His own place, so we are received as Himself.
- Debt released. Anyone carried like that will not press claims against a brother. Nothing given up for the Lord's sake is ever lost.
*I* Paul have written [it] with mine own hand; *I* will repay [it] that I say not to thee that thou owest even thine own self also to me.
Paul has just asked Philemon to charge any loss caused by Onesimus, a runaway servant, to his own account. In verse 19 he signs that promise in his own handwriting. He takes on a debt that was never his, then reminds Philemon of a far larger debt running the other way.
Paul rarely held the pen himself.
It was Paul's custom to employ someone to write his letters for him (see Romans 16:22; Galatians he wrote himself, Galatians 6:11). But at the end he wrote a few words with his own hand, or, we suppose, signed his name. He did this so that it would be a token to them that the letter was genuine.
The signature does a second job. It makes Paul the one who pays:
The damage done goes to Paul's account, and he writes with his own hand a promissory note — "I will repay it." But what a master-stroke are the words that follow: "to say nothing of your owing me even your own self"!
Paul does not ask Philemon to swallow the loss. He treats the wrong as a real debt, then settles it himself.
The apostle does not ignore the past and neither does God, who calls the past to account. Restitution must be made. The debtor has nothing to pay with. But the apostle pledges with his own signature to restore what he did not take away. "I Paul … I will repay …" Paul wants to remove all obstacles for Philemon and his household. But Paul gently, graciously reminds Philemon of his own debt to Paul. In this way the two accounts cancel each other out and settle the matter.
Charging one person's debt to someone else's account has a name, and it points past Philemon's ledger:
Onesimus seems to have robbed his master before running away. Confirming that he stands as guarantor, Paul adds: "I will repay it." This reminds us of the doctrine of imputation, although it is put before us as an illustration and not given as direct teaching.
Paul steps into the debtor's place. Writers have long seen the gospel acted out in that move.
Notice how fully Paul identifies himself with his convert — "receive him," he says, "that is, my very heart." … Christ has "repaid" (and how much more!) what we owed to God, for He charged Himself with the whole of our responsibility. And He has given us, in association with Himself, His own place and relationship with the Father, so that we are received as Himself.
The last clause is the gentlest possible pressure. Paul mentions the counter-debt by saying he will not mention it.
How without effort the apostle breathes and speaks nothing but grace, and grace reigning through righteousness!… Paul stands forth with repeated personal emphasis in the spirit of loving substitution: "I Paul write with my own hand, I will repay." But even here he will not let Philemon go without one gracious arrow, effective as it is: "to say nothing of your owing me even your own self." Here was a debt Philemon would be the last to forget or play down… What in comparison was any bad debt on the score of the poor slave? Philemon owed, gladly owed, himself to Paul.
Set the two debts side by side in a ledger:
So Philemon himself had been converted through Paul; and if he opened in his ledger an account with Paul's name at the head and debited him with the money lost through Onesimus, he would have to credit him with the value of that devoted service. That service had brought him, through terrific opposition and suffering, life and salvation to eternal days.
Paul could have pressed his claim. He does not, and that sets the pattern for debts owed to us.
If anything is due to us from a brother, let us not demand it. He has written it with His own hand, He will repay. "Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?" No one is a loser by giving up anything for the Lord's sake… What a double obligation of grace lay on Philemon! He was a debtor to the grace of the Lord and a debtor to the grace of the servant.
Commentators differ on how far to press this. One warns against reading it as a rule for guaranteeing other people's debts:
We do not think Philemon 18, 19, affords any warrant whatever for what is commonly called going security.
- Debt — Onesimus owed a real sum he could not pay. Paul does not shrink the wrong; he covers it.
- Signature — Paul's own handwriting turns the sentence into a signed promissory note, his usual proof that a letter is his.
- Substitution — "Put it to my account" is the language of charging a debt to another. It pictures what Christ has repaid for us, as an illustration rather than direct teaching.
- Counter-debt — Philemon owed Paul his own self. Set beside that, the slave's theft was small, and the accounts balance.
- Grace passed on — owing so much himself, Philemon is free to forgive rather than forced. Commentators warn against making the verse a rule for guaranteeing debts.