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. Check out related programs at Wheaton College:

B.A. in Classical Languages (Greek, Latin, Hebrew): https://bit.ly/3Mzqp9f M.A. in Biblical Exegesis: https://bit.ly/4rQPwU5