A PRISONER, one in bonds — from desmos, 'a chain, a fetter'. ⚠ It is the self-title Paul chooses in Philemon, where he might have written 'apostle': 'Paul, a PRISONER of Christ Jesus' (Philemon 1, 9), repeated with 'my chains' (vv10, 13) so that the whole appeal is made from below, in fetters, to the free man he is asking a favour of. Note the genitive — a prisoner OF Christ Jesus, not of Rome: Paul reads his imprisonment as Christ's doing and Christ's service (so too Ephesians 3:1, 'the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles'). The word disarms; a man in chains asking is harder to refuse than an apostle commanding. → first discussed at Philemon 1:1