Toward the close of his short letter to Philemon, Paul offers to pay any debt Onesimus may owe Philemon, and adds (ESV), "I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self." The last words are often viewed as heavy-handed, but are better understood as an instance of paralipsis in which Paul "brings up something without bringing it up." He is employing a tactful approach to mention a delicate matter. Dr Seth Ehorn , an alum of the MA in Biblical Exegesis program at Wheaton Graduate School , is Assistant Professor of Classics and Biblical Languages at Houston Christian University. Among other things, he has published 2 Maccabees 1-7: A Handbook on the Greek Text and 2 Maccabees 8-15: A Handbook on the Greek Text , both in the Baylor Handbook on the Septuagint Series. He is currently working on a commentary on Paul's Letter to Philemon. He has contributed several previous episodes to Exegetically Speaking.
