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Philemon 1 · a question people ask

"but also a prisoner of Jesus Christ" (1:9). Where was the letter's I held?

In the text

The letter doesn't say. It opens, "Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus" (1:1). Its I speaks of being "also a prisoner of Jesus Christ" (1:9), and of "my chains" (1:10, 1:13). It doesn't say where the I was held, or for how long, and these notes say nothing about it beyond the letter's own words.

The verses

“Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon, our beloved fellow worker,”
Philemon 1:1 · World English Bible
“yet for love’s sake I rather appeal to you, being such a one as Paul, the aged, but also a prisoner of Jesus Christ. I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whom I have become the father of in my chains,”
Philemon 1:9-10 · World English Bible
“whom I desired to keep with me, that on your behalf he might serve me in my chains for the Good News.”
Philemon 1:13 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Philemon 1

Philemon 1: For love’s sake

Philemon opens with two names, Paul and Timothy, then goes on as I. Though that I has "all boldness in Christ to command" (1:8), it says, "for love’s sake I rather appeal to you" (1:9). And the letter's heart words in 1:7, 1:12 and 1:20 stand on one Greek noun, which Strong's gives, figuratively, as "pity or sympathy".

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Last reviewed October 8, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions