the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
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New Living Translation
Philemon 1:12
Bible Study Resources
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I am sending him back to you—I am sending my very own heart.
Whom I haue sent againe: thou therfore receiue him, that is mine owne bowels.
Whom I have sent again: thou therefore receive him, that is, mine own bowels:
I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart.
I have sent him back to you in person, that is, sending my very heart,
I am sending him back to you, and with him I am sending my own heart.
I have sent him back to you in person, that is, sending my very heart,
I have sent him back to you in person, that is, my very heart,
I am sending back to you him who is my very heart.
Sending Onesimus back to you makes me very sad.
so that in returning him to you I am sending a part of my very heart.
whom I have sent back to thee: [but do *thou* receive] him, that is, *my* bowels:
I am sending him back to you, but it's as hard as losing part of myself.
Whome I haue sent againe: thou therefore receiue him, that is mine owne bowels,
I send him to you again: welcome him as my own boy:
I am sending him back to you now, and with him goes my heart.
whom I have sent back to you himself, that is, my heart,
Even receive him, that is, my heart;
I have sent him back to you in person, that is, like sending my very heart.
whom I have sent back to thee in his own person, that is, my very heart:
Whom I have sent back to you, him who is my very heart:
I am sending him back. You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart,
I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you.
and I have sent him to thee. But thou, as (one) who is my offspring, so receive him.
And receive thou him, as one begotten by me.
Whom I haue sent agayne: Thou therefore receaue hym, that is, myne owne bowels,
whom I have sent back to thee in his own person, that is, my very heart:
I am sending him back. You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart,
thou therefore receive him, that is my own bowels:
I am sending him back to you, though in so doing I send part of myself.
And resseyue thou hym as myn entrailis;
whom I have sent back to you in his own person, that is, my very heart:
Whom I have sent again: thou therefore receive him, that is, my own bowels:
I have sent him (who is my very heart) back to you.
I am sending him back. [fn] You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart,
I am sending him back to you. It is like sending you my own heart.
I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you.
Whom I have sent back unto thee - him, that is, my own, tender affections! -
Whom I have sent back to thee. And do thou receive him as my own bowels.
I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart.
whom I have sent home agayne. Thou therfore receave him that is to saye myne awne bowels
whom I did send again, and thou him (that is, my own bowels) receive,
Whom I haue sent agayne: but receaue thou him (that is) euen myne awne hert.
I have sent him back, therefore receive him as one that I tenderly love.
I'm sending him back to you and my heart comes with him.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
thou: Matthew 6:14, Matthew 6:15, Matthew 18:21-35, Mark 11:25, Ephesians 4:32
mine: Deuteronomy 13:6, 2 Samuel 16:11, Jeremiah 31:20, Luke 15:20
Reciprocal: Genesis 15:4 - shall come Micah 6:7 - body Romans 11:14 - my Romans 16:2 - ye receive 2 Corinthians 7:2 - Receive Philippians 1:8 - in Philemon 1:17 - receive Philemon 1:20 - refresh
Cross-References
God called the dry ground "land" and the waters "seas." And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, "Let the land sprout with vegetation—every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came." And that is what happened.
Then God said, "Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind—livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals." And that is what happened.
Then God said, "Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground."
The Sovereign Lord will show his justice to the nations of the world. Everyone will praise him! His righteousness will be like a garden in early spring, with plants springing up everywhere.
The earth produces the crops on its own. First a leaf blade pushes through, then the heads of wheat are formed, and finally the grain ripens.
A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thornbushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes.
For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.
Don't be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Whom I have sent again,.... From Rome to Colosse, or to Philemon, wherever he was, along with this epistle:
thou therefore receive him, that is, mine own bowels; meaning his son, who, in a spiritual sense, came out of his bowels, to whom he stood in the relation of a spiritual father; so the Syriac version renders it, as my son, so receive him; see Genesis 15:4 and for whom he had a most strong affection, and tender regard; his bowels yearned for him, and he suggests by this expression, that should he reject him, it would give him the utmost pain and uneasiness; and he should be obliged to cry out as the Prophet Jeremy did, "my bowels, my bowels, I am pained at the very heart"; Jeremiah 4:19 wherefore he entreats him to receive him again into his house and family, into his service, and into his heart and affections, where the apostle had received him.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Whom I have sent again - That is, to Philemon. This was, doubtless, at his own request, for:
(1) There is not the slightest evidence that he compelled him, or even urged him to go. The language is just such as would have been used on the supposition either that he requested him to go and bear a letter to Colosse, or that Onesimus desired to go, and that Paul sent him agreeably to his request; compare Philippians 2:25. âYet I suppose it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother, and companion in labor,â etc.; Colossians 4:7-8. âAll my state shall Tychicus declare unto you, who is a beloved brother, and a faithful minister and fellow-servant in the Lord: whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that he might know your estate,â etc. But Epaphroditus and Tychicus were not sent against their own will - nor is there any more reason to think that Onesimus was; see the introduction, Section 2. See (4) Below.
(2) Paul had no power to send Onesimus back to his master unless he chose to go. He had no civil authority; he had no guard to accompany him; he could entrust him to no sheriff to convey him from place to place, and he had no means of controlling him, if he chose to go to any other place than Colosse. He could indeed have sent him away from himself; he could have told him to go to Colossae, but his power ended there. Onesimus then could have gone where he pleased. But there is no evidence that Paul even told him to go to Colossae against his own inclination, or that he would have sent him away at all unless he had himself requested it.
(3) There may have been many reasons why Onesimus desired to return to Colosse, and no one can prove that he did not express that desire to Paul, and that his âsendingâ him was not in consequence of such a request. He may have had friends and relatives there; or, being now converted, be may have been sensible that he had wronged his former master, and that he ought to return and repair the wrong; or he may have been poor, and a stranger in Rome, and may have been greatly disappointed in what he had expected to find there when he left Philemon, and may have desired to return to the comparative comforts of his former condition.
(4) It may be added, therefore,
(a) that this passage should not be adduced to prove that we ought to send back runaway slaves to their former masters against their own consent; or to justify the laws which require magistrates to do it; or to show that they who have escaped should be arrested and forcibly detained; or to justify any sort of influence over a runaway slave to induce him to return to his former master. There is not the least evidence that any of these things occurred in the case before us, and if this instance is ever appealed to, it should be to justify what Paul did - and nothing else.
(b) The passage shows that it is right to aid a servant of any kind to return to his master, if he desires it. It is right to give him a âletter,â and to plead earnestly for his favorable reception if he has in any way wronged his master - for Paul did this. On the same principle it would be right to give him pecuniary assistance to enable him to return - for there may be cases where one who has fled from servitude might wish to return. There may be instances where one has had a kind master, with whom he would feel that on the whole he could be more happy than in his present circumstances. Such cases, however, are exceedingly rare. Or there may be instances where one may have relatives that are in the neighborhood or in the family of his former master, and the desire to be with them may be so strong that on the whole he would choose to be a servant as he was before, rather than to remain as he is now. In all such cases it is right to render aid - for the example of the apostle Paul goes to sustain this. But it goes no further. So far as appears, he neither advised Onesimus to return, nor did he compel him; nor did he say one word to influence him to do it; - nor did he mean or expect that he would be a slave when he should have been received again by his master; see the notes at Philemon 1:16.
Thou, therefore, receive him, that is, mine own bowels - There is great delicacy also in this expression. If he had merely said âreceive him,â Philemon might have thought only of him as he formerly was. Paul, therefore, adds, âthat is, mine own bowelsâ - âone whom I so tenderly love that he seems to carry my heart with him wherever he goes.â - Doddridge.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Philemon 1:12. Whom I have sent again — The Christian religion never cancels any civil relations; a slave, on being converted, and becoming a free man of Christ, has no right to claim, on that ground, emancipation from the service of his master. Justice, therefore, required St. Paul to send back Onesimus to his master, and conscience obliged Onesimus to agree in the propriety of the measure; but love to the servant induced the apostle to write this conciliating letter to the master.
