Commands And Binding

Quapropter multam fiduciam habens in Christo imperandi tibi, quod ad rem pertinet, propter charitaem tamen magis deprecor, cum sis talis, ut Paulus senex, nunc autem et vinctus Christi Jesu. Quantum ratio exigebat, dignum erat imperare discipulo magistrum ex fiducia apostolicae auctoritatis; sed quia vir bonus erat philemon, per affectum illum provocat obaudire, quasi coaevum aetatis, et vinctum Christi Jesu, id est, obligtum negotiis Dominicis, vel propter nomen ejus subjectum vinculis, sicut erant et ipsi apostoli. Tales enim fuerunt Judas et Silas, qui, cum ex plebe essent, primores inter fratres, obligaverant semetipsos Dominicis actibus; ut una cum apostolicis coagonizarent propter fidem Dei. Unde Silas particeps laborum invenitur Apostoli. Ambrosiaster, In Epistolam Beati Pauli Ad Philomenem Source: Migne PL 17.505b

Whence by the possession of great faith in Christ I can command you to act in this affair, yet because of love I rather beg you, who are such as I, an old man, and now even a prisoner for Jesus Christ. 1 Weighty reason demanded that on account of Apostolic authority the master was fit to command the pupil, but because Philemon was a good man, he calls on him to obey out of affection, as men of the same age, and a captive of Jesus Christ, that is, one bound to the affairs of the Lord, indeed on account on His name subject to chains, as the Apostles were. For such were Judas and Silas, 2 who from the common people, first among brothers, bound themselves to the deeds of the Lord, so that they suffered with the Apostles on account of the faith of God. Whence Silas is found to participate in the trials of the Apostle. Ambrosiaster, Commentary On The Epistle of Saint Paul To Philemon 1 Philemon 8-9 2 Acts 15.22-