Philemon 10-17
New Catholic Bible
10 am appealing to you on behalf of my child,[a] Onesimus, whom I have fathered during my imprisonment.
11 He was formerly useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you and to me. 12 Therefore, I am sending him back to you, that is, I am sending my very own heart.[b] 13 I wanted to keep him with me so that he might be of service to me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, 14 but I did not want to do anything without your knowledge, so that your good deed might be voluntary and not compelled.
15 Perhaps this is the reason he was separated from you for a while, so that you might have him back forever,[c] 16 no longer as a slave, but as more than a slave: as a brother. He is beloved especially to me, but even more so to you, both as a man[d] and in the Lord.
17 [e]Therefore, if you consider me to be a friend, welcome him as you would welcome me.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Philemon 1:10 My child: Paul became a father to Onesimus by converting him (see 1 Cor 4:15; Gal 4:19).
- Philemon 1:12 My very own heart: a wonderful description at a time when slaves were regarded as things.
- Philemon 1:15 Paul reasons that since he has found Christ, Onesimus is returning to Philemon as a beloved brother in Christ rather than as just a slave. Master and slave are now both brothers in Christ. Hence, for Philemon to treat Onesimus solely as a runaway slave would be entirely unfitting with his Christian witness.
- Philemon 1:16 As a man: literally “in the flesh.”
- Philemon 1:17 Paul is doing the same thing for Onesimus with Philemon that Christ did for us with God the Father.
