Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ.

ναὶ ἀδελφέ, ἐγώ σου ὀναίμην ἐν κυρίῳ· ἀνάπαυσόν μου τὰ σπλάγχνα ἐν Χριστῷ.

Early Fathers

John Chrysostom (349-407)

Homilies on Philemon

Ver. 20. Yea, brother.

What is, Yea, brother? Receive him, he says. For this we must understand though unexpressed. For dismissing all pleasantry, he again pursues his former considerations, that is, serious ones. And yet even these are serious. For the things that proceed from Saints are of themselves serious, even when they are pleasantry.

Yea, brother, let me have joy of you in the Lord, refresh my heart in Christ.

That is, you grant the favor to the Lord, not to me. My heart, that is, toward yourself.

[For moral, see Phm 1:25]

Later Commentaries

George Leo Haydock (1774-1849)

Haydock Catholic Bible Commentary: Philemon

Yea, brother: may I enjoy thee in the Lord, enjoy the fruits of thy friendship and love for me, and rejoice with thee. In this refresh my bowels in the Lord, grant me this satisfaction. I have written freely, and with confidence in thy obedience; that is, ready compliance, in giving him and me more than I ask, to wit, his freedom. After this, he was made a deacon, and, as some say, a bishop and a martyr. See S. Jerom, and Tillemont in his art. 45. on S. Paul, and his notes 70, 71. Wi.