So if you consider me a partner, receive him as you would receive me.
Parallel translations
- WEB If then you count me a partner, receive him as you would receive me.
- KJV If thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself.
- NKJV If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me.
- NASB If then you regard me as a partner, accept him as you would me.
- NLT So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me.
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 asks Philemon to receive Onesimus just as he would receive Paul himself. He stakes their partnership on this gracious welcome.
Overview
If Philemon counts Paul a "partner" in the gospel, then he must extend to Onesimus the same warm reception he would give Paul. This is a striking picture of imputation: the offending slave is welcomed on the credit of another's standing. It mirrors the gospel itself, where God receives sinners as He receives His own beloved Son, for the sake of Christ our Partner and Advocate.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- 2 Cor 8:23As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you. As for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, to the glory of Christ.
- Matt 10:40He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives the One who sent Me.
- Phlm 1:12I am sending back to you him who is my very heart.
- Matt 18:5And whoever welcomes a little child like this in My name welcomes Me.
- Eph 3:6This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.
- Matt 25:40And the King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’
- Acts 16:15And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.
- Matt 12:48–50But Jesus replied, “Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?”
- Jas 2:5Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?
- Heb 3:1Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, set your focus on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess.
- Phil 1:7It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart. For in my chains and in my defense and confirmation of the gospel, you are all partners in grace with me.
- 1 Pet 5:1As a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings, and a partaker of the glory to be revealed, I appeal to the elders among you:
- 1 Jn 1:3We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.
- Phlm 1:10I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whose father I became while I was in chains.
- Heb 3:14We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly to the end the assurance we had at first.
- 1 Tim 6:2Those who have believing masters should not show disrespect because they are brothers, but should serve them all the more, since those receiving their good service are beloved believers. Teach and encourage these principles.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 1:17 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.