Philemon 1:12

Philemon 1:12 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Whom I have sent again: thou therefore receive him, that is, mine own bowels:
• New International Version (NIV)I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you.
• English Standard Version (ESV)I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart.
• New King James Version (NKJV)I am sending him back. You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart,

Context of Philemon 1:12

10I appeal to you for my [own spiritual] child Onesimus, whom I have fathered [in the faith] while a captive in these chains. 11Once he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you as well as to me. I have sent him back to you in person, that is, like sending my very heart. 13I would have chosen to keep him with me, so that he might minister to me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel; 14but I did not want to do anything without first getting your consent, so that your goodness would not be, in effect, by compulsion but of your own free will.

Philemon 1:12 word by word

ὃν ἀνέπεμψά σοι αὐτόν, τοῦτ᾽ ἔστιν τὰ ἐμὰ σπλάγχναRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Whomὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• I have sent againἀναπέμπωanapempō · to send backG375
• thouσύsu · youG4771
• thereforeδέde · thenG1161
• receiveπροσλαμβάνωproslambanō · to takeG4355
• himαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• thatοὗτοςhoutos houtoi hautē hautai · this/he/she/itG3778
• isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• mine ownἐμόςemos · mineG1699
• bowelsσπλάγχνονsplagchnon · affection/entrailsG4698

Cross-references for Philemon 1:12

• Matthew 6:14For if you forgive others their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins], your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
• Matthew 18:21Then Peter came to Him and asked, “Lord, how many times will my brother sin against me and I forgive him and let it go? Up to seven times?”
• Mark 11:25Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him [drop the issue, let it go], so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions and wrongdoings [against Him and others].
• Ephesians 4:32Be kind and helpful to one another, tender-hearted [compassionate, understanding], forgiving one another [readily and freely], just as God in Christ also forgave you.
• Deuteronomy 13:6“If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your friend who is as [precious to you as] your own life (soul), entices you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods’ (gods whom neither you nor your fathers have known,
• 2 Samuel 16:11Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Look, my son [Absalom] who came from my own body, is seeking my life; how much more [reason] now [does] this Benjamite [have to curse me]? Let him alone and let him curse, for [it could be that] the Lord has told him [to do it].
• Jeremiah 31:20Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a darling and beloved child? For as often as I have spoken against him, I certainly still remember him. Therefore My affection is renewed and My heart longs for him; I will surely have mercy on him,” says the Lord.
• Luke 15:20So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.

Commentaries on Philemon 1:12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12Whom 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…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12Whom 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 Philemon 2:25. “Yet I suppose it necessary to send to…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 8-14Verses 8-14 It does not lower any one to condescend, and sometimes even to beseech, where, in strictness of right, we might command: the apostle argues from love, rather than authority, in behalf of one converted through his means; and this was Onesimus. In allusion to that name, which signifies "profitable," the apostle allows that in time past he had been unprofitable to Philemon, but hastens to mention the change by which he had become profitable…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. mine own bowels--as dear to me as my own heart [Alford]. Compare Phm 17, "as myself." The object of my most intense affection as that of a parent for a child.Read the comment

In the dictionaries

• Onesimus
• Person, Personality
• Slave; Slavery

Commentaries on Philemon 1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings