“ It is interesting to observe that, apart from the letter of commendation for Phoebe (Rom. xvi) , this is the only letter in the New Testament addressed, even in part, to a woman, unless the second epistle of John be taken as meant for an individual. ”

“ The brevity of the note and its lack of doctrinal significance prevented it from gaining frequent quotation in the early Christian literature. but it appears in Marcion’s canon as well as in the Muratorian, whilst Tertullian mentions, and Origen expressly quotes it. During the 19th century, the hesitation about Colossians led to the rejection of Philemon by some critics as a pseudonymous little pamphlet on the slave question—an aberration of literary criticism (reproduced in Ency. Bib, 3693 seq) which needs simply to be chronicled. ”