Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Philemon 1:9

"yet for love`s sake I rather beseech, being such a one as Paul the aged, and now a prisoner also of Christ Jesus:" — Philemon 1:9 (ASV)

Part of Paul’s appeal is based on his being an “old man” (GK 4566), which usually implied authority (in antiquity, wisdom and authority were assumed to go with old age). Here, however, the stress is on the apostle’s aged and feeble condition.