IV. 18]
[← ] 18Ὁ ἀσπασμὸς τῇ ἐμῇ χειρὶ Παύλου. Μνημονεύετέ μου τῶν δεσμῶν. Ἡ χάρις μεθ’ ὑμῶν. [ →]
18. ‘I add this salutation with my own hand, signing it with my name Paul. Be mindful of my bonds. God’s grace be with you.’
Ὁ ἀσπασμὸς κ.τ.λ.] The letter was evidently written by an amanuensis (comp. Rom. xvi. 22). The final salutation alone, with the accompanying sentence μνημονεύετε κ.τ.λ., was in the Apostle’s own handwriting. This seems to have been the Apostle’s general practice, even where he does not call attention to his own signature. In 2 Thess. iii. 17 sq., 1 Cor. xvi. 21, as here, he directs his readers’ notice to the fact, but in other epistles he is silent. In some cases however he writes much more than the final sentence. Thus the whole letter to Philemon is apparently in his own handwriting (see ver. 19), and in the Epistle to the Galatians he writes a long paragraph at the close (see the note on vi. 11).
τῇ ἐμῇ χειρὶ Παύλου] The same phrase occurs in 2 Thess. iii. 17, 1 Cor. xvi. 21. For the construction comp. e.g. Philo Leg. ad Cai. 8 (II. p. 554) ἐμόν ἐστι τοῦ Μάκρωνος ἐργον Γάϊος, and see Kühner § 406 (II. p. 242), Jelf § 467.
τῶν δεσμῶν] His bonds establish an additional claim to a hearing. He who is suffering for Christ has a right to speak on behalf of Christ. The appeal is similar in Ephes. iii. 1 τούτου χάριν ἐγὼ Παῦλος ὁ δέσμιος τοῦ Χ. Ἰ., which is resumed again (after a long digression) in iv. 1 παρακαλῶ οὖν ὑμᾶς ἐγὼ ὁ δέσμιος ἐν Κυρίῳ ἀξίως περιπατῆσαι κ.τ.λ. (comp. vi. 20 ὑπὲρ ὁῦ πρεσβεύω ἐν ἁλύσει). So too Philem. 9 τοιοῦτος ὢν ὡς Παῦλος ... δέσμιος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ. These passages seem to show that the appeal here is not for himself, but for his teaching—not for sympathy with his sufferings but for obedience to the Gospel. His bonds were not his own; they were τὰ δεσμὰ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου (Philem. 13). In Heb. x. 34 the right reading is not τοῖς δεσμοῖς μου, but τοῖς δεσμίοις συνεπαθήσατε (comp. xiii. 3). Somewhat similar is the appeal to his στίγματα in Gal. vi. 17, ‘Henceforth let no man trouble me.’ See the notes on Philem. 10, 13.
Ἡ χάρις κ.τ.λ.] This very short form of the final benediction appears only here and in 1 Tim. vi. 21, 2 Tim. iv. 22. In Tit. iii. 15 πάντων is inserted, and so in Heb. xiii. 25. In Ephes. vi. 24 the form so far agrees with the examples quoted, that ἡ χάρις is used absolutely, though the end is lengthened out. In all the earlier epistles ἡ χάρις is defined by the addition of τοῦ Κυρίου [ἡμῶν] Ἰησοῦ [Χριστοῦ]; 1 Thess. v. 28, 2 Thess. iii. 18, 1 Cor. xvi. 23, 2 Cor. xiii. 13, Gal. vi. 18, Rom. xvi. 20, [24], Phil. iv. 23. Thus the absolute ἡ χάρις in the final benediction may be taken as a chronological note. A similar phenomenon has been already observed (τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ, ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις) in the opening addresses: see the note on [i. 2].
On some Various Readings in the Epistle[[535]].
Harmonistic readings.