Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Philemon 1:18

"But if he hath wronged the at all, or oweth [thee] aught, put that to mine account;" — Philemon 1:18 (ASV)

The wonderfully gracious offer to assume the financial obligation of Onesimus is an altogether astonishing statement. We can only speculate how Paul came to have such warm feelings toward him. Yet we cannot be certain the slave had robbed his master, though this was a common act of runaway slaves. The loss may have been the result of the departure of a highly skilled slave from whose activities Philemon derived great income. In fact, slave prices in the Greco-Roman world were directly proportional to the skill and economic value of the slave. A common drudge brought only 500 denarii (a denarius was a laborer’s ordinary daily wage), but skilled teachers, physicians, and actors were purchased for a hundred times as much.

Paul uses another accountant’s word (“charge”; GK 1823) to maintain the business imagery. Observe Paul’s tact in not saying that Onesimus had stolen, but he leaves that possibility open by his use of “if he has done you any wrong and owes you anything.”