Philema denotes a kiss, most often the shared greeting exchanged among fellow believers, but also a kiss in personal encounter.

The attested use is chiefly a kiss exchanged as a mutual greeting among believers, qualified in several verses as holy and once as marked by love. In two personal scenes, it occurs in a question about handing over the Son of Man and in the absence of a kiss contrasted with a woman's continuing action at Jesus' feet.

1. A mutual greeting among believers · dominant

   The dative singular form occurs in instructions to greet fellow believers: in 1 Corinthians 16:20 the APB renders, “Greet one another with a holy kiss,” and 1 Thessalonians 5:26 directs the greeting of all the brothers. The same mutual-greeting setting appears in 2 Corinthians 13:12 and Romans 16:16, while 1 Peter 5:14 calls it “a kiss of love.”

   1 Corinthians 16:201 Thessalonians 5:262 Corinthians 13:12Romans 16:161 Peter 5:14
2. A kiss within a personal encounter · occasional

   In Luke 22:48, the dative singular form is part of Jesus' question to Judas about delivering the Son of Man “with a kiss.” In Luke 7:45, the accusative singular form occurs in the contrast between no kiss being given to Jesus and the woman's unceasing action at his feet.

   Luke 22:48Luke 7:45

In the Anselm Project Bible: Across the greeting instructions, the APB repeatedly uses “holy kiss” and once “a kiss of love.” In the personal scenes it uses “with a kiss” and “no kiss”; these are translation renderings of whole clauses.