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and with him is Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of your own. They will inform you about the whole situation here.
Colossians 4:9 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB together with Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will make known to you everything that is going on here.
  • KJV With Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They shall make known unto you all things which are done here.
  • BSB With him I am sending Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you about everything here.
  • NKJV with Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will make known to you all things which are happening here.
  • NLT I am also sending Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, one of your own people. He and Tychicus will tell you everything that’s happening here.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Onesimus, now a faithful and beloved brother and one of the Colossians, accompanies Tychicus. It matters because it displays the transforming power of the gospel, turning a runaway slave into a cherished brother.

Overview

Onesimus, the runaway slave of the letter to Philemon, is here warmly called 'the faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you.' His inclusion shows that in Christ social barriers give way to family bonds. His restoration to the Colossian church is a living testimony to the reconciling grace of the gospel.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 2

  • Phlm 1:10–19I beg you for my child, whom I have become the father of in my chains, Onesimus,
  • Col 4:7All my affairs will be made known to you by Tychicus, the beloved brother, faithful servant, and fellow bondservant in the Lord.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Colossians videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Colossians 4:9YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ColossiansMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The image of the invisible God, firstborn over creation, in whom all things hold together and all the fullness of God dwells bodily — supreme over every power.

How Colossians 4:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.