Yes, brother, let me benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in the Lord.
- KJV Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord: refresh my bowels in the Lord.
- BSB Yes, brother, let me have some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ.
- NKJV Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in the Lord.
- NLT Yes, my brother, please do me this favor for the Lord’s sake. Give me this encouragement in Christ.
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, as a brother, to give him joy and refresh his heart in the Lord. Granting the request would be a gift to Paul himself.
Overview
Echoing verse 7, where Philemon refreshed the saints, Paul now asks to be refreshed in the same way. There may be a further play on the name Onesimus ("let me benefit from you"). The whole appeal is grounded "in the Lord," so that welcoming Onesimus is not merely a favor to Paul but an act of Christian love offered to Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Phlm 1:7For we have much joy and comfort in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother.
- 3 Jn 1:4I have no greater joy than this, to hear about my children walking in truth.
- Heb 13:17Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch on behalf of your souls, as those who will give account, that they may do this with joy, and not with groaning, for that would be unprofitable for you.
- Phlm 1:12I am sending him back. Therefore receive him, that is, my own heart,
- 2 Cor 2:2For if I make you sorry, then who will make me glad but he who is made sorry by me?
- 2 Cor 7:4–7Great is my boldness of speech toward you. Great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort. I overflow with joy in all our affliction.
- Phil 4:1Therefore, my brothers, beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.
- 2 Cor 7:13Therefore we have been comforted. In our comfort we rejoiced the more exceedingly for the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.
- Phil 2:1–2If there is therefore any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassion,
- Phil 1:8For God is my witness, how I long after all of you in the tender mercies of Christ Jesus.
- 1 Th 2:19–20For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Isn’t it even you, before our Lord Jesus at his coming?
- 1 Jn 3:17But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and closes his heart of compassion against him, how does God’s love remain in him?
- 1 Th 3:7–9for this cause, brothers, we were comforted over you in all our distress and affliction through your faith.
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 1:20 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.