Whom I have sent again: thou therefore receive him, that is, mine own bowels:
Parallel translations
- WEB I am sending him back. Therefore receive him, that is, my own heart,
- BSB I am sending back to you him who is my very heart.
- NKJV I am sending him back. You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart,
- NASB I have sent him back to you in person, that is, sending my very heart,
- NLT I am sending him back to you, and with him comes my own heart.
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
Paul is sending Onesimus back to Philemon and asks that he be received warmly. He calls Onesimus "my own heart," showing how dear he has become.
Overview
Rather than keeping the useful Onesimus or shielding him from consequences, Paul does the right thing and returns him to his master, trusting the gospel to govern the outcome. By calling him "my own heart," Paul ties Philemon's treatment of Onesimus to his treatment of Paul himself. This costly honesty reflects how grace works within proper relationships rather than around them.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Matt 6:14–15For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
- Luke 15:20And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
- Eph 4:32And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
- Jer 31:20Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD.
- Mark 11:25And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
- Matt 18:21–35Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
- Deut 13:6If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;
- 2 Sam 16:11And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, which came forth of my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more now may this Benjamite do it? let him alone, and let him curse; for the LORD hath bidden him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The plea to receive a runaway slave as a beloved brother, charging his debt to Paul's account, is a living picture of how Christ receives us and pays what we owe.
How Philemon 1:12 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.