16May the Lord grant
mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me; he was not
ashamed of my chains,
The refreshment must be
understood as being of two kinds. Onesiphorus refreshed him by looking after
his needs when he was in detention, and he also supplied whatever needs he or
others had. Because of the hope of the things which were promised, he was not
ashamed to go and ask for a man who was being held in prison. On the other
hand, those whom he mentions above deserted the apostle in his need, because
they were ashamed of the cross of Christ.
17but when he arrived
in Rome he searched for me eagerly and found me—18may the Lord grant
him to find mercy from the Lord on that Day—and you well know all the service
he rendered at Ephesus.
Paul went to Rome because he had
appealed to Caesar and was being held prisoner by soldiers. It was there that
Onesiphorus found the man he was looking for after searching diligently for him
because of his love and obedience to his master. The apostle was so pleased
with his visits that he commended him to God, praying that he would receive
mercy from God on the day of judgment. Just as the apostle found mercy when he
asked for it, so someone else who sought mercy would obtain it from the judge.
Paul therefore prays that God the Father of heaven and earth would show favor
to Onesiphorus and that he would obtain grace from the Lord of the human race,
that is to say, from the Son. This is just the same as what we find in Genesis:
And the Lord rained sulfur and fire on
Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord out of heaven.3
You well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus. Since some
people prefer to serve particular individuals rather than causes, because they
want to look good to their superiors, Paul shows that Onesiphorus was good to
everybody. In that way, it would not appear that by ministering to the apostle
he was ingratiating himself with a particular person when it was clear that he
had been generous to everyone. (Ambrosiaster, Commentaries on
Galatians-Philemon [trans. Gerald L. Bray; Ancient Christian Texts; Downers
Grove, Ill.: IVP Academic, 2009], 144-45)