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9. διὰ τὴν ἀγάπην. Probably Philemon’s. After expressly saying σοῦ τὴν ἀγάπην (Phm 1:5) and ἐπὶ τῇ ἀγάπῃ σου (Phm 1:7) it was not necessary for St Paul to repeat the personal pronoun once more. The love that Philemon has shown warrants St Paul in not commanding but in making request. Other interpretations are (a) St Paul’s love; (b) “our love,” i.e. the reciprocal love of St Paul and Philemon; (c) “love” absolutely, “Christian love in abstracto, conceived of as a power, 1 Corinthians 13.” (Meyer).
μᾶλλον, Phm 1:16, i.e. rather than command; cf. 1Ti 6:2.
παρακαλῶ, “appeal.” Hardly absolute here because it is taken up again in Phm 1:10, παρακαλῶ σε. It is used of appealing to God in 2Co 12:8, and in the Gospels of appeals made to the Lord Jesus for help, Mat 8:5; Mat 14:36 al. In Php 4:2 St Paul probably rather “appeals to” than “exhorts” the two ladies.
τοιοῦτος ὤν ὡς. The regular correlatives of τοιοῦτος are οἷος (2Co 10:11 al.), ὁποῖος (Act 26:29†), ὅστις (1Co 5:1†), and, as it seems, ὡς is never undoubtedly employed as its correlative, though ὥσπερ is found, e.g. Alexis (Meineke, Fragm. Com. III. p. 399), τοιοῦτο τὸ ζῆν ἐστιν ὥσπερ οἱ κύβοι (quoted in Lightfoot). Hence Meyer and many others join τοιοῦτος ὤν to the preceding clause, and ὡς Παῦλος κ.τ.λ. closely to Phm 1:10, παρακαλῶ σε.
But besides the ensuing strangeness of τοιοῦτος ὤν (for such an ending to a clause can hardly be Pauline) this separation is not really necessary, τοιοῦτος has summed up the description of him (cf. οἱ τοιοῦτος, 2Co 10:11) and ὡς ratifies it; “being such a man as may be described by the terms Παῦλος πρεσβ.” So in the passage of Alexis, “Life may be described as a game of dice.” “All the Greek commentators without a single exception connect the words τοιοῦτος ὤν ὡς Παῦλος together” (Lightfoot).
On the question whether the phrase τοιοῦτος ὤν ὡς κ.τ.λ. adds an argument in the appeal (παρακαλῶ, Phm 1:9-10) or supplements παρρησίαν ἔχων κ.τ.λ. (Phm 1:8), see below.
πρεσβύτης. There is, as it seems, no various reading in this passage, but Lightfoot has shown by abundant evidence that the words πρεσβύτης (old man), πρεσβευτής (ambassador) were often confused by copyists, e.g. 1Ma 14:22, where for πρεσβευταὶ Ἰουδαίων the Sinaitic and Venetus read πρεσβύται. Hence it is possible that St Paul or his amanuensis (if he employed one for this letter) originally wrote πρεσβυτης (sic), intending it to have the meaning of πρεσβευτής, or, preferably, that πρεσβευτής was the original and was altered by a very early copyist to πρεσβύτης (cf. W.H. Appendix).
In itself either meaning gives excellent sense.
(1) In favour of “Paul (the) old man” (Luk 1:18; Tit 2:2†; cf. Tit 2:3) is the important fact that, with the possible exception of Theophylact in the eleventh century τοιοῦτος ὤν, φησι, πρεσβευτής, καὶ οὔτως ἄξιος ἀκούεσθαι (in Lightfoot), all writers accepted this rendering, until (as it seems) Bentley. So Chrysostom continues the words quoted in the last note ἀπὸ τῆς ἡλικίς, ὅτι πρεσβύτης. If this be right the sentence τοιοῦτος … Ἰησοῦ must almost certainly be taken with παρακαλῶ, “I appeal to you, and remember that I am old and also a prisoner”; or possibly “I appeal, for it is not so fitting for an old man and a prisoner to command.”
(2) But it must be confessed that “ambassador” makes a far stronger sentence. The words τοιοῦτος … Ἰησοῦ then go closely with παρρ. ἔχων ἐπιτάσσειν, expanding the thought of his power to command. He is an ambassador (probably “Christ’s ambassador” (see below)), even though in bonds (for the thought cf. the contemporary Eph 6:20), and yet he does not use his power. Observe however that, after all, this strengthens his appeal and therefore is rightly placed by St Paul after παρακαλῶ.
νυνὶ δὲ, “but as the case stands now,” νυνί (not νῦν). Its argumentative force (Col 1:21 note) is felt more if “ambassador” be right.
καὶ δέσμιος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ, Phm 1:1, notes. Χρ. Ἰησ. is probably to be joined also with πρεσβύτης if this has the meaning of “ambassador.”