Onesiphorus Was Not Ashamed
15 This you know, that all who are in Asia turned away from me, of whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16 May the Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain, 17 but when he was in Rome, he sought me diligently and found me 18 (the Lord grant to him to find the Lord’s mercy in that day); and in how many things he served at Ephesus, you know very well.
Against a province that turned away stands one man who went looking through Rome until he found the prison.
All who are in Asia turned away from me. The sentence is bleak and unqualified, and two names are attached to it — Phygelus and Hermogenes — men otherwise unknown, preserved in Scripture for this.
Against that, Onesiphorus. The description is exact and cumulative: he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain. The verb for refreshed is the one Paul uses of Philemon reviving the hearts of the saints Philemon 1:7, and not ashamed is now the third occurrence of the theme in this chapter 2 Timothy 1:8 2 Timothy 1:12.
Verse 17 makes it concrete. In Rome he sought Paul diligently and found him — which took time, persistence, and a willingness to be recorded asking after a man awaiting execution.
Paul's response is a prayer twice over — mercy on his household now, and mercy for him from the Lord in that day. He can no longer repay anyone, and the only currency left to him is intercession. Verse 18 adds that Timothy already knows how much this man did at Ephesus.
settled What this mark means