I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it — to say nothing of your owing me even your own self.
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.
The Handwritten Signature
Paul rarely held the pen himself.
The Bible TreasuryIt 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:
F. B. HoleThe 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"!
Real Restitution
Paul does not ask Philemon to swallow the loss. He treats the wrong as a real debt, then settles it himself.
Truth & TestimonyThe 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:
Arthur E. GoodwinOnesimus 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.
A Picture of Christ
Paul steps into the debtor's place. Writers have long seen the gospel acted out in that move.
The Christian's FriendNotice 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 Debt Philemon Could Never Repay
The last clause is the gentlest possible pressure. Paul mentions the counter-debt by saying he will not mention it.
William KellyHow 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:
F. B. HoleSo 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.
What It Asks of Us
Paul could have pressed his claim. He does not, and that sets the pattern for debts owed to us.
The Bible TreasuryIf 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:
C. H. MackintoshWe do not think Philemon 18, 19, affords any warrant whatever for what is commonly called going security.
Summary
- 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.