Philemon 1:12
10 I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whose father I became while I was in chains.
11 Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.
I am sending back to you him who is my very heart.
13 I would have liked to keep him with me, so that on your behalf he could minister to me in my chains for the gospel.
14 But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your goodness will not be out of compulsion, but by your own free will.
Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- I am sending back to you him who is my very heart.
- KJV
- Whom I have sent again: thou therefore receive him, that is, mine own bowels:
- WEB
- I am sending him back. Therefore receive him, that is, my own heart,
- ASV
- whom I have sent back to thee in his own person, that is, my very heart:
- DARBY
- whom I have sent back to thee: [but do *thou* receive] him, that is, *my* bowels:
- BLB
- whom I sent back to you himself—this [one who] is my inner parts—
- ÅB
- Ta godt imot ham, for det er som om jeg sender mitt eget hjerte!
- OTB
- Jeg sender ham tilbake til deg, sender en del av mitt eget hjerte.
- B1930
- Ta du imot ham, det er mitt eget hjerte!
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Matthew 6:14–15
For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
Read in contextEphesians 4:32
Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.
Read in contextLuke 15:20
So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.
Read in contextMark 11:25
And when you stand to pray, if you hold anything against another, forgive it, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your trespasses as well.”
Read in contextJeremiah 31:20
Is not Ephraim a precious son to Me, a delightful child? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore My heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,” declares the LORD.
Read in contextMatthew 18:21–35
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
Read in contextDeuteronomy 13:6
If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (which neither you nor your fathers have known,
Read in context2 Samuel 16:11
Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, my own son, my own flesh and blood, seeks my life. How much more, then, this Benjamite! Leave him alone and let him curse me, for the LORD has told him so.
Read in context