“But without thy mind would I do nothing; that thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity, but willingly.”
But I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord — the deferral to Philemon's autonomous choice (gnōmē sou) is theologically significant: grace coerced is no grace. Paul invokes the principle of willing generosity over forced obligation — Paul wants Philemon to give not hyp' anankan (under constraint) but hekousios (willingly). The good deed (agathos sou) performed freely reflects a transfigured will, true conversion.
Church Fathers on Philemon 1:14
“But without your mind,” he says, “would I do nothing; that your benefit should not be, as it were, of necessity, but willingly.” This particularly flatters the person asked, when the thing being profitable in itself, it is brought out with his concurrence. For two good effects are produced thence, the one person gains, and the other is rendered more secure. And he has not said, That it should not be of necessity, but “as it were of necessity.” For I knew, he says, that not…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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