the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
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THE MESSAGE
Philemon 1:11
Bible Study Resources
Dictionaries:
- TheDevotionals:
- EveryParallel Translations
Once he was useless to you, but now he is useful both to you and to me.
Which in time past was to thee vnprofitable: but now profitable to thee and to me:
Which in time past was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me:
(Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.)
who previously was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me.
In the past he was useless to you, but now he has become useful for both you and me.
who formerly was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me.
who formerly was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me.
Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.
Before this, he was useless to you, but now he is useful both to you and to me.
His name means "useful," and although he was once useless to you, he has now become most useful — not only to you but also to me;
once unserviceable to thee, but now serviceable to thee and to me:
In the past he was useless to you. But now he has become useful for both you and me.
Which in times past was to thee vnprofitable, but nowe profitable both to thee and to me,
But of whom in the past you could not make use, but now he is very useful both to you and to me.
At one time he was of no use to you, but now he is useful both to you and to me.
Once he was useless to you, but now he is useful to you and to me,
the one once worthless to you, but now useful to you and to me; whom I sent back to you.
Once he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you as well as to me.
who once was unprofitable to thee, but now is profitable to thee and to me:
Who in the past was of no profit to you, but now is of profit to you and to me:
who once was useless to you, but now is useful to you and to me;
Once he was useless to you, but now he is very useful[fn] both to you and to me.
who once was of no use to thee, but (who will) now to thee, as also to me, be greatly useful;
from whom formerly thou hadst no profit, but now very profitable will he be both to thee and to me; and whom I have sent to thee.
Which in tyme passed, was to thee vnprofitable, but nowe profitable to thee and to me.
who was aforetime unprofitable to thee, but now is profitable to thee and to me:
who once was useless to you, but now is useful to you and to me;
but now profitable to thee and me, Whom I have sent again:
Formerly he was useless to you, but now--true to his name--he is of great use to you and to me.
which sumtyme was vnprofitable to thee, but now profitable bothe to thee and to me; whom Y sente ayen to thee.
who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable both to you and to me:
Who in time past was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me:
who was formerly useless to you, but is now useful to you and me.
who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me.
Onesimus hasn't been of much use to you in the past, but now he is very useful to both of us.
At one time he was of no use to you. But now he is of use to you and to me.
Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you and to me.
Him who, at one time, was, unto thee, unserviceable, but, now, unto thee and unto me, serviceable;
Who hath been heretofore unprofitable to thee but now is profitable both to me and thee:
(Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.)
which in tyme passed was to the vnproffetable: but now proffetable bothe to the and also to me
who once was to thee unprofitable, and now is profitable to me and to thee,
which in tyme past was to the vnprofitable, but now profitable both to the and me.
'tis true he was formerly useless to you, but now he will be useful to us both:
Onesimus has been of little value to you in the past, but now he has become something great for the both of us.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
unprofitable: Job 30:1, Job 30:2, Matthew 25:30, Luke 17:10, Romans 3:12, 1 Peter 2:10
profitable: Luke 15:24, Luke 15:32, 2 Timothy 4:11
Reciprocal: Genesis 49:8 - thy hand Jeremiah 13:7 - it was Luke 6:42 - cast Titus 3:8 - good
Cross-References
God spoke: "Separate! Water-beneath-Heaven, gather into one place; Land, appear!" And there it was. God named the land Earth. He named the pooled water Ocean. God saw that it was good.
God spoke: "Lights! Come out! Shine in Heaven's sky! Separate Day from Night. Mark seasons and days and years, Lights in Heaven's sky to give light to Earth." And there it was.
God made two big lights, the larger to take charge of Day, The smaller to be in charge of Night; and he made the stars. God placed them in the heavenly sky to light up Earth And oversee Day and Night, to separate light and dark. God saw that it was good. It was evening, it was morning— Day Four.
God spoke: "Swarm, Ocean, with fish and all sea life! Birds, fly through the sky over Earth!" God created the huge whales, all the swarm of life in the waters, And every kind and species of flying birds. God saw that it was good. God blessed them: "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Ocean! Birds, reproduce on Earth!" It was evening, it was morning— Day Five.
Then God said, "I've given you every sort of seed-bearing plant on Earth And every kind of fruit-bearing tree, given them to you for food. To all animals and all birds, everything that moves and breathes, I give whatever grows out of the ground for food." And there it was.
At the time God made Earth and Heaven, before any grasses or shrubs had sprouted from the ground— God hadn't yet sent rain on Earth, nor was there anyone around to work the ground (the whole Earth was watered by underground springs)— God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive—a living soul!
God commanded the Man, "You can eat from any tree in the garden, except from the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil. Don't eat from it. The moment you eat from that tree, you're dead."
"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
When You Open Your Mouth Don't be in any rush to become a teacher, my friends. Teaching is highly responsible work. Teachers are held to the strictest standards. And none of us is perfectly qualified. We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you'd have a perfect person, in perfect control of life. A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it! It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell. This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can't tame a tongue—it's never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth! My friends, this can't go on. A spring doesn't gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it? Apple trees don't bear strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don't bear apples, do they? You're not going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you?
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Which in time past was to thee unprofitable,.... Yea, injurious and hurtful; one that was an eye servant, that loitered away his time, and set an ill example to fellow servants; and not only so, but embezzled his master's goods, and robbed him, and run away from him. So every man, in his state of unregeneracy, is an unprofitable man, Romans 3:12 unprofitable to God, to men, and to themselves; their sins will not profit them, though they may promise them liberty and pleasure; nor will their riches, should they lose their own souls: nor their own righteousness, in the business of justification and salvation; nor even an outward profession of religion: yea, they are not only said to be unprofitable, but are represented as good for nothing; hence they are compared to dishonourable and unserviceable vessels; to briers and thorns, and the earth which brings them; to the salt that has lost its savour, and is fit neither for the land, nor for the dunghill; to rotten figs, to chaff, and dross of metals: yea, they are hurtful and injurious to themselves, on whom they bring ruin and destruction; to others, to wicked men, whom they more and more corrupt, and harden in sin; and to good men, whom they grieve; and also to the interest and glory of God, whose laws they transgress, and against whom they sin, affront his justice, and provoke the eyes of his glory.
But now profitable to thee and to me; that is, he was now likely to be so, to be profitable to Philemon, as a servant, and to the apostle as a ministering brother. Some think there is in this an allusion to his name Onesimus, which signifies "profitable"; before he did not answer to his name, but now he was a true Onesimus, really a profitable person; grace, of an unprofitable man, makes a profitable one. Such an one is profitable to himself; his godliness is gain unto him, it having both the promise of this life, and of that which is to come; and he is profitable to others, if he has gifts qualifying him for the public work of the ministry, as Onesimus seems to have had; then he is made and becomes very useful to many for conviction, conversion, comfort, and edification; and if only a private believer, he is often profitable to others, by relating the work of God upon his soul; he is serviceable to the interest of Christ, for the support of the ministry, and supply of the poor; he is useful by his good examples, and prayers, in the neighbourhood, town, city, or nation, in which he dwells. This argument from profit, the apostle knew would be an engaging one.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Which in time past was to thee unprofitable - Either because he was indolent; because he had wronged him (compare the notes at Philemon 1:18), or because he had run away from him. It is possible that there may be an allusion here to the meaning of the name “Onesimus,” which denotes “profitable” (from ὀνίνημι oninēmi, future ὀνήσω onēsō, to be useful, to be profitable, to help), and that Paul means to say that he had hitherto not well answered to the meaning of his own name, but that now he would be found to do so.
But now profitable to thee - The Greek here is εὔχρηστον euchrēston, but the meaning is about the same as that of the word Onesimus. It denotes very useful. In 2 Timothy 2:21, it is rendered “meet for use;” in 2 Timothy 4:11, and here, profitable. It does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament.
And to me - Paul had doubtless found him useful to him as Christian brother in his bonds, and it is easy to conceive that, in his circumstances, he would greatly desire to retain him with him.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Philemon 1:11. Was to thee unprofitable — Alluding to the meaning of Onesimus's name, as has been already noted; though the apostle uses a different Greek word to express the same idea.
