Semantic Analysis

Semantic Analysis: Philemon (Koine Greek → Korean)

Book Overview

Philemon is Paul’s shortest extant letter, a personal appeal to Philemon, a wealthy Colossian house-church host, on behalf of Onesimus, Philemon’s runaway (and likely thieving, cf. v18) slave whom Paul has converted and now sends back “no longer as a slave but… a beloved brother” (v16). The letter is theologically dense despite its brevity: it enacts forgiveness and reconciliation, models intercession/appeal, and stages a direct confrontation between the Greco-Roman/Confucian-resonant social order of master and slave and the gospel’s claim that both master and slave are equally “in the Lord.” Because the entire book is one chapter, full-book coverage is achieved by treating the core passage (vv8-21) verse-by-verse and the remainder of the chapter (vv1-7, vv22-25) as two additional chapter-sections below.

CORE PASSAGE: Philemon 1:8-21 (Verse-by-Verse)

Verse 8

“Διό, πολλὴν ἐν Χριστῷ παρρησίαν ἔχων ἐπιτάσσειν σοι τὸ ἀνῆκον”

παρρησία (parrēsia)

Literal meaning: freedom/boldness of speech; frankness
Semantic range: outspokenness, confidence, openness before a person or before God
English variants: boldness, confidence, freedom (to speak)
Contextual theological meaning: Paul has apostolic standing/confidence in Christ that would justify a direct command, which he deliberately sets aside in favor of appeal — the confidence itself flows from union with Christ, not personal authority.
Korean rendering: 담대함 (damdaeham) — [NEW TERM]
Risk tier: Medium. 담대함 is a standard Christian term (used of prayer boldness, e.g. Hebrews 4:16 contexts) but can drift toward a secular “self-confidence” reading if not anchored to “ἐν Χριστῷ” (그리스도 안에서). Must retain the “in Christ” qualifier explicitly in the Korean clause.

ἐπιτάσσειν (epitassein)

Literal meaning: to command, order, direct with authority
Semantic range: military/administrative command; used of Jesus commanding unclean spirits (Mark 1:27) and here of apostolic authority
English variants: command, order, direct
Contextual theological meaning: the very authority Paul possesses but chooses not to exercise — the rhetorical pivot of the whole letter.
Korean rendering: 명하다 (myeonghada) — [NEW TERM]
Risk tier: Low. Standard command-verb; no significant collision.

ἀνῆκον (anēkon)

Literal meaning: that which is fitting, proper, one’s due
Semantic range: moral/social propriety, obligation
English variants: what is proper, your duty, what is fitting
Contextual theological meaning: Paul could invoke social/apostolic obligation but instead appeals to love — sets up the “obligation vs. voluntary” contrast completed in v14.
Korean rendering: 마땅한 일 (ttattanghan il) — [NEW TERM]
Risk tier: Low.

Verse 9

“διὰ τὴν ἀγάπην μᾶλλον παρακαλῶ, τοιοῦτος ὢν ὡς Παῦλος πρεσβύτης, νυνὶ δὲ καὶ δέσμιος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ”

ἀγάπη (agapē)

Literal meaning: selfless, willing love
Semantic range: God’s love for humanity, Christian love for one another, the basis of ethical appeal here rather than command
English variants: love, charity
Contextual theological meaning: the ground of Paul’s appeal — love, not rank, is what motivates the request. Directly feeds the Grace-Motivated Obedience doctrine.
Korean rendering: 사랑 (sarang) — [NEW TERM, general vocabulary]
Risk tier: Medium. Korean 사랑 is broad (romantic, familial, general affection); Korean 정 (jeong, a culturally distinct notion of accumulated relational attachment) is sometimes substituted colloquially for warmth — translators must ensure 사랑 here carries the self-giving, others-oriented sense of ἀγάπη, not merely 정.

παρακαλῶ (parakalō)

Literal meaning: to call alongside, to urge, appeal, exhort, comfort
Semantic range: appeal/request (softer than command), exhortation, comfort
English variants: appeal, urge, beseech, exhort
Contextual theological meaning: Paul deliberately reframes his authoritative position as an appeal grounded in love — modeling gospel-shaped, non-coercive persuasion.
Korean rendering: 간청하다 / 권하다 (gancheonghada / gwonhada) — related to [BASELINE REUSE: “exhort” 권면하다 gwonmyeonhada]
Risk tier: Medium. Distinguish from the baseline “exhort” (권면하다, general mutual encouragement) — here it is a personal, urgent appeal on behalf of a third party. Recommend 간청하다 (“to earnestly request/plead”) to capture the pleading register distinct from generic exhortation.

πρεσβύτης (presbytēs)

Literal meaning: an old/aged man; some manuscripts read πρεσβευτής (“ambassador/envoy”)
Semantic range: elder statesman, aged person, OR (textual variant) authorized representative/emissary
English variants: “Paul, an old man” / “Paul, an ambassador”
Contextual theological meaning: either reading strengthens the appeal — an aged apostle’s plea, or an ambassador’s dignity voluntarily set aside for love. Textual ambiguity must be flagged.
Korean rendering: 나이 많은 자 (nai maneun ja, “aged one”) with translator footnote noting the ambassador variant 사신/대사 (sasin/daesa) — [NEW TERM]
Risk tier: Medium. Requires a translator note flagging the textual variant; do not silently pick one without footnoting the alternative given its rhetorical significance.

δέσμιος (desmios)

Literal meaning: a bound one, a prisoner
Semantic range: literal imprisonment; used by Paul repeatedly as a badge of honor (“prisoner of Christ Jesus,” not of Rome)
English variants: prisoner, one who is bound
Contextual theological meaning: Paul’s imprisonment is reframed as belonging to Christ, not to Roman injustice — his suffering is in service of the gospel he is now using to appeal for Onesimus.
Korean rendering: 갇힌 자 (gachin ja) — [NEW TERM; to be used consistently for δέσμιος throughout the letter]
Risk tier: Medium. Must retain “of Christ Jesus” (그리스도 예수의) attached, so it is not misread as ordinary criminal imprisonment.

Verse 10

“παρακαλῶ σε περὶ τοῦ ἐμοῦ τέκνου, ὃν ἐγέννησα ἐν τοῖς δεσμοῖς, Ὀνήσιμον”

τέκνον (teknon)

Literal meaning: child, offspring
Semantic range: biological child; spiritual child (a convert brought to faith through one’s ministry, e.g. 1 Cor 4:15, 1 Tim 1:2)
English variants: child, son
Contextual theological meaning: Paul claims spiritual fatherhood over Onesimus, established through the gospel, not blood or legal adoption.
Korean rendering: 내 아들 (nae adeul, “my son/child”) — [NEW TERM]
Risk tier: Medium-High. Must be clearly distinguished from the baseline “adoption” doctrine term (양자, yangja, Romans 8) — this is a spiritual-fatherhood metaphor of conversion, not the formal doctrine of adoption into God’s family. Also distinguish from Korea’s strong Confucian blood-lineage/ancestral-line consciousness (대를 잇다, “continuing the family line”); Paul’s spiritual fatherhood is not about lineage continuation but new spiritual birth.

ἐγέννησα (egennēsa)

Literal meaning: I begot, I fathered, I gave birth to
Semantic range: literal begetting; spiritual metaphor for bringing someone to faith
English variants: I have begotten, I became father to, I led to faith
Contextual theological meaning: Onesimus’s conversion under Paul’s imprisonment ministry — a vivid, personal claim of spiritual paternity.
Korean rendering: 낳다 (nota, “to give birth to/beget”) — [NEW TERM]
Risk tier: Medium-High. Given Korea’s intense cultural emphasis on family lineage and filial continuity, ensure the metaphor is taught as a spiritual-birth image (new life in Christ) and not conflated with continuing an ancestral line or family name — a theme with resonance to the baseline’s jesa (제사) cautions under “Father.”

Ὀνήσιμος (Onēsimos)

Literal meaning: proper name meaning “useful, profitable, beneficial”
Semantic range: a common slave name in the period, chosen for its favorable connotation
English variants: Onesimus (transliterated)
Contextual theological meaning: sets up the wordplay carried through vv11 and v20 — Onesimus, once “useless,” has become truly “useful,” and Paul hopes to “profit” (ὀναίμην) from him.
Korean rendering: 오네시모 (Onesimo) — [NEW TERM, proper name transliteration]
Risk tier: Low-Medium. The name’s meaning-based wordplay is entirely lost in a bare transliteration; a translator footnote explaining the name’s meaning is required wherever the wordplay recurs (vv11, 20).

Verse 11

“τόν ποτέ σοι ἄχρηστον νυνὶ δὲ [καὶ] σοὶ καὶ ἐμοὶ εὔχρηστον”

ἄχρηστος (achrēstos)

Literal meaning: useless, unprofitable, good-for-nothing
Semantic range: describes a slave who ran away and/or defrauded his master (implied v18)
English variants: useless, worthless, unprofitable
Korean rendering: 쓸모없는 자 (sseulmoeomneun ja) — [NEW TERM]
Risk tier: Medium. Carries the wordplay with Onesimus’s name; without a footnote, the Korean reader will not perceive Paul’s ironic pun.

εὔχρηστος (euchrēstos)

Literal meaning: useful, serviceable, profitable
Semantic range: describes Onesimus’s transformed usefulness “to you and to me” — a gospel-wrought change of character and status
English variants: useful, profitable, serviceable
Contextual theological meaning: illustrates the Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power doctrine directly — conversion changes Onesimus’s actual character and relational value, not merely his legal status.
Korean rendering: 유익한 자 (yuikhan ja) — [NEW TERM]
Risk tier: Medium.

Verse 12

“ὃν ἀνέπεμψά σοι, αὐτόν, τοῦτ’ ἔστιν τὰ ἐμὰ σπλάγχνα”

ἀναπέμπω (anapempō)

Literal meaning: to send back, to send up (to a higher authority)
Semantic range: sending a person back to their proper location/authority
English variants: I am sending back, I have sent
Contextual theological meaning: Paul voluntarily returns Onesimus to Philemon rather than keeping him — a costly act of integrity even while making his appeal.
Korean rendering: 돌려보내다 (dollyeobonaeda) — [NEW TERM]
Risk tier: Low.

σπλάγχνα (splanchna)

Literal meaning: inward parts, entrails, bowels
Semantic range: (metaphorical, as in most NT usage) the seat of deep emotion, affection, or compassion — “my very heart”
English variants: my heart, my very self, my own dear son
Contextual theological meaning: Paul identifies Onesimus so closely with himself that sending him is like sending part of his own body/heart — extraordinarily strong relational language for a slave.
Korean rendering: 내 마음 (nae maeum, “my heart”) in vv12, 20; note existing KRV tradition of rendering this 심복 (simbok, “trusted confidant/one’s very heart”) — [NEW TERM]
Risk tier: High. 심복 (simbok) in ordinary Korean usage denotes a lord’s most trusted retainer/right-hand man, a term saturated with Confucian hierarchical-loyalty connotation (echoing the baseline’s 의리 loyalty-ethics collision flagged under “righteousness”). If 심복 is used, it risks reframing Paul’s affection for Onesimus as hierarchical loyalty-service rather than intimate familial affection. 내 마음 (“my [very own] heart”) is the safer default rendering; if 심복 is retained for KRV-register consistency, a translator note distinguishing it from Confucian loyalty-retainer connotations is mandatory.

Verse 13

“ὃν ἐγὼ ἐβουλόμην πρὸς ἐμαυτὸν κατέχειν, ἵνα ὑπὲρ σοῦ μοι διακονῇ ἐν τοῖς δεσμοῖς τοῦ εὐαγγελίου”

βούλομαι (boulomai)

Literal meaning: to wish, want, intend (a deliberate, weighed wish, stronger than θέλω in some contexts)
Korean rendering: 원하다 (wonhada) — [NEW TERM]
Risk tier: Low.

κατέχειν (katechein)

Literal meaning: to hold down, hold fast, keep, retain
Semantic range: detaining a person, restraining, retaining possession
Korean rendering: 붙들어 두다 (butdeureo duda) — [NEW TERM]
Risk tier: Low.

διακονέω (diakoneō)

Literal meaning: to serve, wait upon, minister to
Semantic range: general service; also the root of the later technical office “deacon” (διάκονος) elsewhere in the NT
English variants: serve, minister to, help
Contextual theological meaning: Onesimus’s potential gospel-service to Paul on Philemon’s behalf — service reframed from slavery to willing ministry.
Korean rendering: 섬기다 (seomgida) — [NEW TERM]
Risk tier: Medium. Ensure consistency in later curriculum documents where διάκονος appears in its technical “deacon” office sense (e.g., other epistles in this pipeline); here it is the general verb “to serve,” not an ecclesial office.

δεσμοὶ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου (desmoi tou euangeliou)

Literal meaning: “bonds/chains of the gospel”
Contextual theological meaning: Paul’s imprisonment exists for the sake of, and is subordinate to, [BASELINE REUSE: gospel 복음]‘s advance.
Korean rendering: 복음을 위해 갇힘 (bogeum-eul wihae gachim) — reusing [BASELINE: 복음]
Risk tier: Medium, inheriting the baseline’s 복음/기복신앙 root-collision caution — must not be read as suffering “earning” fortune or favor.

Verse 14

“χωρὶς δὲ τῆς σῆς γνώμης οὐδὲν ἠθέλησα ποιῆσαι, ἵνα μὴ ὡς κατὰ ἀνάγκην τὸ ἀγαθόν σου ᾖ ἀλλὰ κατὰ ἑκούσιον”

γνώμη (gnōmē)

Literal meaning: mind, opinion, judgment, consent
Korean rendering: 동의 (dong-ui, “consent”) — [NEW TERM]
Risk tier: Low.

ἀνάγκη (anankē)

Literal meaning: necessity, compulsion, constraint
Semantic range: external force, obligation imposed against the will
English variants: compulsion, necessity, by force
Contextual theological meaning: Paul explicitly refuses to let Philemon’s good act be one of compulsion — directly establishing the Grace-Motivated Obedience doctrine’s key contrast.
Korean rendering: 억지로 (eokjiro, “by compulsion/forcedly”) — [NEW TERM]
Risk tier: High. This verse is the doctrinal center of “Grace-Motivated Obedience.” Must be carefully distinguished from two Korean religious-cultural patterns: (1) 기복신앙-style transactional/obligatory religious performance (baseline’s central grace-collision risk) and (2) Confucian duty-compulsion (도리, 의무) that performs correct action regardless of inner willingness. Philemon’s obedience must be taught as free and grace-produced, not compelled by either pattern.

ἀγαθόν (agathon)

Literal meaning: the good, a good deed
Korean rendering: 선한 일 (seonhan il) — [NEW TERM]
Risk tier: Low.

ἑκούσιον (hekousion)

Literal meaning: voluntary, willing, of one’s own accord
Contextual theological meaning: the positive pole of the v14 contrast — Philemon’s forgiveness/reception of Onesimus must arise from a free, Spirit-produced willingness.
Korean rendering: 자원하는 마음으로 (jawonhaneun maeumeuro, “with a willing/voluntary heart”) — [NEW TERM]
Risk tier: High. Paired directly with ἀνάγκη above; central to the Grace-Motivated Obedience doctrine and requires theologian review wherever it recurs.

Verse 15

“τάχα γὰρ διὰ τοῦτο ἐχωρίσθη πρὸς ὥραν ἵνα αἰώνιον αὐτὸν ἀπέχῃς”

χωρίζω (chōrizō)

Literal meaning: to separate, part, divide
Korean rendering: 떠나다/헤어지다 (tteonada) — [NEW TERM]
Risk tier: Low.

αἰώνιος (aiōnios)

Literal meaning: age-long, eternal, without end
Semantic range: ranges from “a long time” to the full theological sense of “eternal” (eternal life, etc.)
Contextual theological meaning: Paul reframes Onesimus’s temporary absence (a runaway episode) as providentially serving a permanent, restored relationship — a play between a brief “hour” and a lasting “forever.”
Korean rendering: 영원히 (yeongwonhi) — [NEW TERM]
Risk tier: Medium. Ensure consistency with future curriculum documents using αἰώνιος in its fuller eschatological sense (e.g., “eternal life”); here the referent is the permanence of a restored earthly/spiritual relationship, not eschatological duration per se, though the two senses meaningfully overlap (the relationship is now eternal because both are “in the Lord”).

ἀπέχω (apechō)

Literal meaning: to have in full, to possess fully, to have back
Korean rendering: 온전히 얻다/도로 얻다 (onjeonhi eotda) — [NEW TERM]
Risk tier: Low.

Verse 16

“οὐκέτι ὡς δοῦλον ἀλλ’ ὑπὲρ δοῦλον, ἀδελφὸν ἀγαπητόν, μάλιστα ἐμοί, πόσῳ δὲ μᾶλλον σοὶ καὶ ἐν σαρκὶ καὶ ἐν κυρίῳ”

δοῦλος (doulos)

Literal meaning: slave, bondservant, one who belongs to and serves a master with no legal autonomy
Semantic range: a legal-social status of chattel slavery in the Greco-Roman world (distinct from, but sometimes loosely rendered as, “servant”)
English variants: slave, bondservant, servant, bondslave
Contextual theological meaning: the load-bearing term of this entire letter and of the curriculum’s “Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power” doctrine. Paul does not deny the social-legal fact that Onesimus is (or was) Philemon’s slave; he transforms the relationship’s meaning while it may remain, in some outward respects, socially unchanged (“in the flesh”).
Korean rendering: 종 (jong) — [NEW TERM]
Risk tier: Critical. Korea maintained its own hereditary chattel-slavery system, 노비 (nobi), for most of its recorded history, only formally abolished in 1894–1897 (late Joseon/Gabo Reform period) — a documented, comparatively recent national memory of a hereditary master-slave social order structurally analogous to Roman δουλεία. Two opposite mistranslation risks must both be guarded against: (1) softening 종 toward a generic “servant/employee” reading that erases the real social-status stakes Paul is addressing, and (2) failing to make clear that the gospel does not merely rename the relationship but genuinely transforms it (“no longer as a slave but… a brother”), which could otherwise read as a hollow verbal politeness laid over an unchanged hierarchical reality — a pattern Korean readers may recognize uncomfortably from surviving status-conscious social reflexes. This term requires mandatory human theologian review in every occurrence.

ἀδελφὸς ἀγαπητός (adelphos agapētos)

Literal meaning: “beloved brother”
Contextual theological meaning: the positive term replacing δοῦλος — full family membership and equal standing in Christ, regardless of ongoing social/legal status. This is the doctrinal center of “Christian Brotherhood across Social Status.”
Korean rendering: 사랑받는 형제 (sarangbatneun hyeongje) — [NEW TERM]
Risk tier: High. Korea’s historic status-consciousness (the yangban/commoner class distinction, alongside the 노비 slave class noted above) means “brother” language crossing a master-slave boundary is genuinely countercultural and must be translated with its full relational force intact, not softened into a merely polite fictive-kinship address common in modern Korean social speech (e.g., using “형/형제” loosely as a friendly title without real status implications).

ἐν σαρκὶ καὶ ἐν κυρίῳ (en sarki kai en kyriō)

Literal meaning: “in the flesh and in the Lord”
Contextual theological meaning: a deliberate double-register statement — Philemon remains, in ordinary earthly/social terms (“in the flesh”), Onesimus’s master, yet both men stand as equals under the one [BASELINE REUSE: Lord 주님]. This wordplay (Philemon is Onesimus’s κύριος “in the flesh,” but Christ is κύριος over them both) is the letter’s central theological move.
Korean rendering: 육신으로도 주 안에서도 (yuksin-euro-do ju an-eseo-do)
Risk tier: High. Must preserve both halves of the phrase; omitting “in the flesh” erases the letter’s acknowledgment of ongoing social reality, while omitting “in the Lord” erases the transforming gospel claim.

Verse 17

“εἰ οὖν με ἔχεις κοινωνόν, προσλαβοῦ αὐτὸν ὡς ἐμέ”

κοινωνός (koinōnos)

Literal meaning: partner, sharer, one who holds something in common with another
Semantic range: business partner, ministry partner; shares the κοινων- root with [BASELINE REUSE: fellowship 교제, koinōnia]
English variants: partner, partaker, associate
Contextual theological meaning: Paul asks Philemon to receive Onesimus exactly as he would receive Paul himself — full identification, not mere tolerance.
Korean rendering: 동역자 (dongyeokja, “partner/co-worker”) — [NEW TERM]
Risk tier: Medium. Overlaps in Korean gloss with συνεργός (“fellow worker,” v1, v24); the Greek roots differ (κοινων- “shared participation” vs. συν-εργ- “co-labor”), and translators should note this distinction even though both may render to 동역자 in context, to avoid flattening the fellowship-nuance into a purely functional “co-worker” sense.

προσλαμβάνω (proslambanō)

Literal meaning: to take to oneself, receive, welcome
Semantic range: used elsewhere of receiving fellow believers in full acceptance (Romans 14:1, 3; 15:7)
Korean rendering: 영접하다 (yeongjeophada, “to receive/welcome”) — [NEW TERM]
Risk tier: Medium. Must carry the weight of full relational acceptance (as used of receiving fellow believers elsewhere in Paul), not merely polite hospitality toward a guest.

Verse 18

“εἰ δέ τι ἠδίκησέν σε ἢ ὀφείλει, τοῦτο ἐμοὶ ἐλλόγα”

ἀδικέω (adikeō)

Literal meaning: to do wrong, to wrong someone, to act unjustly toward
Semantic range: shares the δικ- root with [BASELINE REUSE: righteousness 의, dikaiosynē]
Contextual theological meaning: acknowledges Onesimus’s real wrongdoing (likely theft and/or flight) without minimizing it — forgiveness in this letter does not pretend no wrong occurred.
Korean rendering: 불의를 행하다 (buruireul haenghada, “to do unrighteousness/wrong”)
Risk tier: Medium. Shares a root with the baseline’s Critical-risk “righteousness” (의) term; flag the connection for teaching purposes (interpersonal wrongdoing vs. forensic unrighteousness before God) without conflating the two doctrinal registers.

ὀφείλω (opheilō)

Literal meaning: to owe, be indebted
Korean rendering: 빚지다 (bitjida) — [NEW TERM]
Risk tier: Low.

ἐλλογέω (ellogeō)

Literal meaning: to charge to one’s account, to reckon/credit (an accounting/commercial term)
Semantic range: a legal-financial metaphor for imputing a debt to a person’s ledger
Contextual theological meaning: Paul offers to have Onesimus’s debt legally/financially imputed to himself — a vivid enacted parable of substitutionary imputation, though the Greek root (ἐλλογέω) differs from λογίζομαι, the verb used in Romans 4 for imputed righteousness.
Korean rendering: 내 앞으로 계산하라 (nae apeuro gyesanhara, “charge/reckon it to my account”) — [NEW TERM]
Risk tier: High. A theologically rich teaching parallel to [BASELINE REUSE: imputed righteousness 의로 여기심]; teachers should draw the connection explicitly (Paul enacting a substitutionary principle) while noting the distinct Greek vocabulary so that students do not assume ἐλλογέω is the technical justification term itself.

Verse 19

“ἐγὼ Παῦλος ἔγραψα τῇ ἐμῇ χειρί, ἐγὼ ἀποτίσω· ἵνα μὴ λέγω σοι ὅτι καὶ σεαυτόν μοι προσοφείλεις”

ἀποτίνω (apotinō)

Literal meaning: to pay back in full, repay
Korean rendering: 갚다 (gapda) — [NEW TERM]
Risk tier: Low.

προσοφείλω (prosopheilō)

Literal meaning: to owe besides, to owe in addition
Contextual theological meaning: Paul notes that Philemon, having been converted through Paul’s ministry, owes Paul a debt far greater than Onesimus’s — his very self/salvation.
Korean rendering: 그 위에 (네 자신을) 빚지다 (geu wie ne jasin-eul bitjida, “you owe, on top of that, your very self”) — [NEW TERM]
Risk tier: Medium.

Verse 20

“ναί, ἀδελφέ, ἐγώ σου ὀναίμην ἐν κυρίῳ· ἀνάπαυσόν μου τὰ σπλάγχνα ἐν Χριστῷ”

ὀνίναμαι (oninamai)

Literal meaning: to profit, benefit, derive joy/advantage from
Semantic range: a direct wordplay on Ὀνήσιμος (“useful/profitable”) — “let me have profit/benefit from you”
English variants: let me benefit, let me have joy of you
Korean rendering: 내가 너로 인해 유익을 얻게 하라 (naega neoro inhae yuigeul eotge hara) — [NEW TERM]
Risk tier: Medium. Wordplay with Onesimus’s name is lost in Korean without a translator footnote; recommend flagging alongside vv10-11.

ἀναπαύω (anapauō)

Literal meaning: to give rest, refresh, relieve
Semantic range: matches ἀναπέπαυται in v7 (the saints’ hearts “refreshed” through Philemon) — Paul now asks the same refreshment for himself.
Korean rendering: 내 마음을 시원하게 하다 (nae maeumeul siwonhage hada) — [NEW TERM]
Risk tier: Medium, inheriting the σπλάγχνα risk noted at v12.

Verse 21

“πεποιθὼς τῇ ὑπακοῇ σου ἔγραψά σοι, εἰδὼς ὅτι καὶ ὑπὲρ ἃ λέγω ποιήσεις”

πεποιθώς (pepoithōs, perfect participle of πείθω)

Literal meaning: having been persuaded/trusting; a settled state of confidence
Korean rendering: 확신하다 (hwaksinhada) — [NEW TERM]
Risk tier: Low.

ὑπακοή (hypakoē)

Literal meaning: obedience, compliance, submission to what is heard
Semantic range: [BASELINE REUSE: root shared with “obedience of faith” 믿음의 순종, Romans 1:5, 16:26] — here, however, ὑπακοή refers specifically to Philemon’s expected compliance with Paul’s personal appeal, not the technical doctrinal phrase “obedience of faith.”
English variants: obedience, compliance
Contextual theological meaning: the letter’s climactic term for the doctrine of Grace-Motivated Obedience — Paul expects Philemon to do even “more than I say,” an obedience that must flow from love and grace (vv9, 14), not compulsion.
Korean rendering: 순종 (sunjong) — reuses [BASELINE: 순종 root]
Risk tier: High. Directly inherits the baseline’s caution on 순종/obedience: Korea’s historically rigorous Confucian hierarchical-obedience ethics (including the rejected “three obediences” doctrine) risk reducing this to hierarchical social-status compliance (a master’s household expecting compliance) rather than a free, grace-produced response flowing from Philemon’s own faith and love. Must be taught in explicit continuity with, yet distinction from, the doctrinal compound 믿음의 순종.

CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER STUDY OF THE WHOLE BOOK

Philemon is a single 25-verse chapter. Full-book coverage is completed by the following two chapter-sections, covering all load-bearing terms outside the core passage (vv8-21) treated above.

Chapter 1, vv1-7 (Salutation, Thanksgiving, and Prayer)

δέσμιος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ (desmios Christou Iēsou) — “prisoner of Christ Jesus”

Literal/contextual meaning: Paul identifies his imprisonment as belonging to Christ’s service, not Roman injustice, from the letter’s opening word — establishing his voice of appeal rather than authority from the very first verse.
Korean rendering: 그리스도 예수의 갇힌 자 (reuses [NEW TERM: 갇힌 자] established at v9 above)
Risk tier: Medium.

ἀδελφός / ἀδελφή (adelphos / adelphē) — “brother” (Timothy, v1) / “sister” (Apphia, v2)

Korean rendering: 형제 (hyeongje) / 자매 (jamae)
Risk tier: Low-Medium. Establishes the familial-in-Christ register used throughout the letter, reaching its doctrinal climax at v16.

ἀγαπητός (agapētos) — “beloved”

Korean rendering: 사랑하는 (saranghaneun)
Risk tier: Low.

συνεργός (synergos) — “fellow worker” (of Philemon, v1; also Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, v24)

Korean rendering: 동역자 (dongyeokja)
Risk tier: Low-Medium; note overlap with κοινωνός (v17) discussed above.

συστρατιώτης (systratiōtēs) — “fellow soldier” (of Archippus, v2)

Korean rendering: 함께 병사 된 자 / 전우 (hamkke byeongsa doen ja / jeonu)
Risk tier: Medium. Military metaphor; Korea’s near-universal male conscription culture (군복무) may make this image unusually vivid and resonant, a translation asset rather than a risk, though care should be taken not to let it collapse into a nationalistic military-service register foreign to Paul’s spiritual-warfare sense.

κατ’ οἶκόν… ἐκκλησία (kat’ oikon… ekklēsia) — “the church in your house”

Korean rendering: 네 집에 있는 교회 (reuses [BASELINE: 교회])
Risk tier: Medium. Clarify this denotes the gathered assembly of believers meeting in a home, not a building — relevant given modern Korean Christianity’s strong association of 교회 with a dedicated church building/institution.

χάρις (charis) / εἰρήνη (eirēnē) — “grace… and peace” (v3)

Korean rendering: 은혜 / 화평 (reuses [BASELINE: 은혜 Critical; 화평 Medium] exactly)
Risk tier: Critical / Medium (per baseline).

εὐχαριστῶ (eucharistō) — “I give thanks” (v4)

Korean rendering: 감사하다 (reuses [BASELINE: 감사, thanksgiving])
Risk tier: Low.

μνεία (mneia) — “mention, remembrance” (v4)

Korean rendering: 기억함 (gieokham)
Risk tier: Low.

προσευχή (proseuchē) — “prayer” (v4, v22)

Korean rendering: 기도 (gido)
Risk tier: Low.

ἀγάπη (agapē) / πίστις (pistis) — “love… and faith” (v5)

Korean rendering: 사랑 / 믿음 (reuses [BASELINE: 믿음, High risk] exactly)
Risk tier: Medium / High (per baseline for πίστις).

κοινωνία τῆς πίστεώς σου (koinōnia tēs pisteōs sou) — “the fellowship/sharing of your faith” (v6)

Korean rendering: 네 믿음의 교제 (reuses [BASELINE: 교제])
Risk tier: Low-Medium.

ἐνεργής (energēs) — “effective, active” (v6)

Korean rendering: 효력이 있는 / 역사하는 (hyoryeogi inneun)
Risk tier: Low.

ἐπίγνωσις (epignōsis) — “full knowledge” (v6)

Korean rendering: 알게 됨 / 온전한 지식 (algye doem)
Risk tier: Medium. Distinguish from esoteric “special knowledge” claims made by some heterodox Korean new-religious groups; ἐπίγνωσις here is ordinary maturing Christian understanding of the good God has given, not privileged secret revelation.

ἀγαθόν (agathon) — “every good thing” (v6) — same term as v14; see above.

χαρά (chara) / παράκλησις (paraklēsis) — “joy… and comfort/encouragement” (v7)

Korean rendering: 기쁨 / 위로 (gippeum / wiro)
Risk tier: Low-Medium; note παράκλησις’s shared root with [BASELINE: exhort 권면하다].

σπλάγχνα τῶν ἁγίων (splanchna tōn hagiōn) — “the hearts of the saints” (v7)

Korean rendering: 성도들의 마음 (reuses [BASELINE: 성도, High risk] and [NEW TERM: 마음 for σπλάγχνα])
Risk tier: High, inheriting both the 성도 baseline risk and the σπλάγχνα risk discussed at v12.

ἀναπέπαυται (anapepautai) — “have been refreshed” (v7); same root as ἀναπαύω, v20.

Korean rendering: 평안하게 되었다 / 시원하게 되었다
Risk tier: Low-Medium.

Chapter 1, vv22-25 (Closing Requests and Greetings)

ξενία (xenia) — “guest room, lodging” (v22)

Korean rendering: 처소 / 숙소 (cheoso)
Risk tier: Low.

χαρισθήσομαι (charisthēsomai) — “I will be granted/restored [to you as a gift]” (v22)

Literal meaning: passive future of χαρίζομαι, “to give freely, grant as a favor” — shares its root directly with [BASELINE REUSE: grace 은혜, charis]
Contextual theological meaning: Paul frames his own hoped-for release and reunion with the Colossian believers as itself an act of grace, obtained through their prayers — reinforcing that grace, not merit or effort, governs even Paul’s own circumstances.
Korean rendering: 은혜로 너희에게 허락되다 (eunhyero neohuiege heollakdoeda, “graciously granted/restored to you”) — [NEW TERM, deliberately preserving the χαρις-root echo]
Risk tier: High. Wherever possible, preserve the visible connection to 은혜 in the Korean clause so that the wordplay reinforcing the letter’s grace-theme is not lost; flag for native-speaker/theologian review given the direct root-link to the Critical-risk grace doctrine.

συναιχμάλωτος (synaichmalōtos) — “fellow prisoner-of-war/fellow captive” (v23, of Epaphras)

Literal meaning: distinct from δέσμιος (general “one who is bound”); αἰχμάλωτος specifically evokes a war-captive taken by an enemy
Korean rendering: 나와 함께 사로잡힌 자 (nawa hamkke sarojabin ja)
Risk tier: Medium. Note the distinction from δέσμιος (used of Paul’s own imprisonment throughout the letter) for translation consistency across documents in this curriculum.

πνεῦμα (pneuma) — “your spirit” (v25, closing benediction)

Literal meaning: here, the recipients’ own human spirit (inner being), not the divine Person
Korean rendering: 너희 영/심령 (neohui yeong/simnyeong)
Risk tier: High. Must be clearly disambiguated in context from [BASELINE REUSE: Holy Spirit 성령, Critical risk] — a confused rendering could imply the human “spirit” is itself the Holy Spirit or a generic “spirit-being,” echoing the baseline’s shamanistic spirit-world caution (신령/신). Recommend explicit possessive phrasing (“너희의 영/심령,” “your own spirit”) to keep the referent unambiguous.

χάρις (charis) — final benediction (v25) — same term as v3; see above. Reuses [BASELINE: 은혜] exactly.

Proper names — Ἐπαφρᾶς (에바브라, Epabeura), Μᾶρκος (마가, Maga), Ἀρίσταρχος (아리스다고, Aristadago), Δημᾶς (데마, Dema), Λουκᾶς (누가, Nuga) — established Korean Revised Version transliterations reused from parallel occurrences elsewhere in the NT (Colossians, Acts). Risk tier: Low.

Summary of Full-Book Coverage

Core passage (vv8-21): treated verse-by-verse above — every load-bearing term analyzed.
vv1-7: treated as chapter-section above — every load-bearing term analyzed; no verses skipped.
vv22-25: treated as chapter-section above — every load-bearing term analyzed; no verses skipped.
Philemon contains no additional chapters. Full-book coverage of this single-chapter letter is therefore complete.

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