J. B. Lightfoot on Philemon 1:12-14

^{13}ὃν ἐγὼ ἐβουλόμην πρὸς ἐμαυτὸν κατέεχειν, ἵνα ὑπὲρ σοῦ μοι διακονῇ ἐν τοῖς δεσμοῖς τοῦ εὐαγγελίου· ^{14}χωρὶς 13. ἐβουλόμην] ‘_I was of a mind_’, distinguished from ἠθέλησα, which follows, in two respects; (1) While βούλεσθαι involves the idea of ‘purpose, deliberation, desire, mind’, θέλειν denotes simply ‘will’; Epictet. i. 12. 13 βουλόμαι γράφειν, ὡς θέλω, τὸ Δίωνος ὄνομα; οὔ ἀλλὰ διδάσκομαι θέλειν ὡς δεῖ γράφεσθαι, iii. 24, 54 τοῦτον θέλε ὁρᾷν, καὶ ὃν βούλει ὄψει. (2) The change of tenses is significant. The imperfect implies a tentative, inchoate process; while the aorist describes a definite and complete act. The will stepped in and put an end to the inclinations of the mind. Indeed the imperfect of this and similar verbs are not infrequently used where the wish is stopped at the outset by some antecedent consideration which renders it impossible, and thus practically it is not entertained at all: e.g. Arist. _Ran._ 866 ἐβουλόμην μὲν οὐκ ἐρίζειν ἐνθάδε, Antiph. _de Herod. cæd._ I (p. 129) ἐβουλόμην μὲν ... νῦν δὲ κ.τ.λ.; Isæus _de Arist. hær._ I (p. 79) ἐβουλόμην μὲν ... νῦν δὲ οὐκ ἐξ ἴσου κ.τ.λ., Æsch. _c. Ctes._ 2 (p. 53) ἐβουλόμην μὲν οὖν, ὦ )Αθηναῖοι ... ἐπειδὴ δὲ πάντα κ.τ.λ., Lucian _Abd._ I ἐβουλόμην μὲν οὖν τὴν ἰατρικὴν κ.τ.λ. ... νυνὶ δὲ κ.τ.λ.; see Kühner § 392 _b_ (II. p. 177). So Acts xxv. 22 ἐβουλόμην καὶ αὐτὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἀκοῦσαι, not ‘I should wish’ (as Winer § xli. p. 353) but ‘I could have wished’, i.e. ‘if it had not been too much to ask’. Similarly ἤθελον Gal. iv. 20, ηὐχόμην Rom. ix. 3. See _Revision of the English New Testament_ p. 96. So here a not improbable meaning would be not ‘I was desirous’, but ‘I could have desired’. κατέχειν] ‘_to detain_’ or ‘_retain_’, opposed to the following ἀπέχῃς, ver. 15. ὑπὲρ σοῦ κ.τ.λ.] Comp. Phil. ii. 30 ἵνα ἀναπληρώσῃ τὸ ὑμῶν ὑστέρημα τῆς πρὸς μὲ λειτουργίας, 1 Cor. xvi. 17 τὸ ὑμέτερον ὑστέρημα αὐτοὶ ἀνεπλήρωσαν. See the note on Col. i. 7. With a delicate tact the Apostle assumes that Philemon would have wished to perform these friendly offices in person, if it had been possible. ἐν τοῖς δεσμοῖς] An indirect appeal to his compassion: see vv. 1, 9, 10. In this instance however (as in ver. 9) the appeal assumes a tone of authority, by reference to the occasion of his bonds. For the genitive τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, describing the origin, comp. Col. i. 23 τῆς ἐλπίδος τοῦ εὐαγγελίου. They were not shackles which self had riveted, but a chain with which Christ had invested him. Thus they were as a badge of office or a decoration of honour. In this respect, as in others, the language of St Paul is echoed in the epistles of St Ignatius. Here too entreaty and triumph alternate; the saint’s bonds are at once a ground for appeal and a theme of thanksgiving: _Trall._ 12 παρακαλεῖ ὑμᾶς τὰ δεσμά μου, _Philad._ 7 μάρτυς δὲ μοι ἐν ᾧ δέδεμαι, _Ephes._ 11 ἐν ᾧ (i.e. Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ) τὰ δεσμὰ περιφέρω, τους πνευματικοὺς μαργαρίτας, _Smyrn._ 10 ἀντίψυχον ὑμῶν τὸ πνεῦμά μου καὶ τὰ δεσμά μου, _Magn._ 1 ἐν οἷς περιφέρω δεσμοῖς ᾄδω τὰς ἐκκλησίας; see also _Ephes._ 1, 3, 21, _Magn._ 12, _Trall._ 1, 5, 10, _Smyrn._ 4, 11, _Polyc._ 2, _Rom._ 1, 4, 5, _Philad._ 5. 14. χωρὶς κ.τ.λ.] ‘_without thy approval, consent_’; Polyb. ii. 21. 1, 3, χωρὶς τῆς σφετέρας γνώμης, χωρὶς της αὐτοῦ γνώμης: similarly ἄνευ [τῆς] γνώμης, e.g. Polyb. xxi. 8. 7, Ign. _Polyc._ 4.