With Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They shall make known unto you all things which are done here.
All Commentaries on Colossians 4:9 Go To Colossians 4
John Chrysostom
AD 407
Holy, indeed, are all Paul’s letters. But those he writes behind bars are especially advantageous for the reader. Those include, for instance, the letters to the Ephesians and Philemon, that to Timothy, that to the Philippians and the one before us. For Colossians was written while Paul was imprisoned, since he writes in it: “for which I am also in bonds: that I may make it manifest as I ought to speak.” But this epistle appears to have been written after that to the Romans. For he wrote to the Romans before he had seen them, but this letter later, near upon the close of his preaching. And it is evident from this that in the epistle to Philemon he says, “Being such a one as Paul the aged,” and makes request for Onesimus. But in the Colossian letter Paul sends Onesimus himself, as he says, “With Onesimus the faithful and beloved brother.”
