Philemon 1:16
You can have him back again now, but not just as a work-man that you don’t have to pay. Now he can be something much better than your work-man. He can be like your brother, and you can love him. I love Onesimus very much, but you will love him even more than I do. You see, he is your work-man, but you will like him more than a boss likes his work-men, because he is also your brother. You and he both belong to our leader, Jesus, so he is your brother, and you will love him a lot.
Plain English Version
In The King James Version
In Context
15Maybe God let Onesimus leave you for a short time so that now you can have him back for ever.
Cross References
Acts 9:17So Ananias got up and went to the house that Judas lived in. He went inside, and he put his hands on Saul, and he said, “Saul, my friend, you saw Jesus on the road as you were coming here. Well, he has sent me so that you can see again, and the Holy Spirit will come into you and fill you.”
Galatians 4:28You see, my Christian friends, you are like Sarah’s son. His name was Isaac. God promised to give that son to Abraham and Sarah. Well, just like that, God promises to make you his kids too.
Colossians 3:22And now I am talking to you people that have to work all the time for other people, like you are their prisoners. Make sure you always do whatever your bosses want. And don’t only work hard when they can see you, to make them think you are good. But also work hard when they can’t see you. Remember our leader, Jesus, can see you all the time, so respect him, and respect your bosses as you do your job.
1 John 5:1You know that Jesus is the Christ, the special man that God sent to save us. If anyone believes that about Jesus, it shows that God is their father, and they are one of God’s kids. You know, all of us that are God’s kids, we love God. And if we love God, then we will love other Christians, because they are God’s kids too.
Matthew Henry on Philemon 1:9-25
The Apostle's Plea for Onesimus; Salutations. ( a. d. 62.) 8 Wherefore, though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is convenient, 9 Yet for love's sake I rather beseech thee, being such an one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ. 10 I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds: 11 Which in time past was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me: 12 Whom I have sent again: thou therefore receive him, that is, mine own bowels: 13… Read the whole commentary →