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 exhort thee for my child, whom I have begotten in [my] bonds, Onesimus, 11once unserviceable to thee, but now serviceable to thee and to me: whom I have sent back to thee: [but do thou receive] him, that is, my bowels: 13whom I was desirous of keeping with myself, that for thee he might minister to me in the bonds of the glad tidings; 14but I have wished to do nothing without thy mind, that thy good might not be as of necessity but of willingness:

Philemon 1:12 word by word

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

• backἀναπέμπωanapempō · to send backG375
• isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510

Cross-references for Philemon 1:12

• Matthew 6:14For if ye forgive men their offences, your heavenly Father also will forgive you [yours],
• Matthew 18:21Then Peter came to him and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? until seven times?
• Mark 11:25And when ye stand praying, forgive if ye have anything against any one, that your Father also who is in the heavens may forgive you your offences.
• Ephesians 4:32and be to one another kind, compassionate, forgiving one another, so as God also in Christ has forgiven you.
• Deuteronomy 13:6If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, who is to thee as thy soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods (whom thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;
• 2 Samuel 16:11And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, who came forth of my bowels, seeks my life: how much more now a Benjaminite? let him alone and let him curse; for Jehovah has bidden him.
• Jeremiah 31:20Is Ephraim a dear son unto me? is he a child of delights? For whilst I have been speaking against him, I do constantly remember him still. Therefore my bowels are troubled for him: I will certainly have mercy upon him, saith Jehovah.
• Luke 15:20And he rose up and went to his own father. But while he was yet a long way off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell upon his neck, and covered him with kisses.

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