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Philemon 15-17
New Catholic Bible
Philemon 15-17
New Catholic Bible
15 Perhaps this is the reason he was separated from you for a while, so that you might have him back forever,[a] 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[b] and in the Lord.
17 [c]Therefore, if you consider me to be a friend, welcome him as you would welcome me.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 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.
