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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
21-25 Personal Remarks and Greetings. Paul concludes the letter by indicating that he plans to travel to Colossae (vv. 21-22) and by extending greetings from various coworkers in Rome (vv. 23-25).
21 Some think that even more could suggest freeing Onesimus. Others think Paul was hinting that Philemon should send Onesimus back to minister to Paul (cf. vv. 13-14). Paul may have deliberately not given specific instructions to Philemon, giving him the freedom to decide which course of action would be best.
22 prepare a guest room for me. Paul expects to be released from prison and come to Colossae for a visit. It is uncertain if this indicates that Paul has abandoned (or at least delayed) his previous plans to go further west to Spain.
23 Epaphras is one of Philemon's fellow Colossians, whom God had used to plant the church in that city (Col. 1:7; 4:12). He is now in Rome as Paul's fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus. The circumstances of his arrest are unknown.
24 Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke are also named in Col. 4:10, 14. For Mark, see Acts 12:12. For Aristarchus, see Acts 19:29. Luke is almost certainly the one who authored the Gospel of Luke as well as Acts (see also Col. 4:14; 2 Tim. 4:11). Luke was apparently with Paul throughout his imprisonment in Caesarea and then in his Roman imprisonment. Lamentably, Demas later followed worldly pursuits and deserted Paul (2 Tim. 4:10).
