If then you count me a partner, receive him as you would receive me.
Parallel translations
- KJV If thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself.
- BSB So if you consider me a partner, receive him as you would receive me.
- 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 for you. As for our brothers, they are the apostles of the assemblies, the glory of Christ.
- Matt 10:40He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me.
- Phlm 1:12I am sending him back. Therefore receive him, that is, my own heart,
- Matt 18:5Whoever receives one such little child in my name receives me,
- Eph 3:6that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of his promise in Christ Jesus through the Good News,
- Matt 25:40“The King will answer them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
- Acts 16:15When she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and stay.” So she persuaded us.
- Matt 12:48–50But he answered him who spoke to him, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?”
- Jas 2:5Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him?
- Heb 3:1Therefore, holy brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Jesus;
- Phil 1:7It is even right for me to think this way on behalf of all of you, because I have you in my heart, because, both in my bonds and in the defense and confirmation of the Good News, you all are partakers with me of grace.
- 1 Pet 5:1Therefore I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and who will also share in the glory that will be revealed.
- 1 Jn 1:3that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us. Yes, and our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
- Phlm 1:10I beg you for my child, whom I have become the father of in my chains, Onesimus,
- Heb 3:14For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm to the end:
- 1 Tim 6:2Those who have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brothers, but rather let them serve them, because those who partake of the benefit are believing and beloved. Teach and exhort these things.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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.