Philemon 1:12

Whom I have sent again,.... From Rome to Colosse, or to Philemon, wherever he was, along with this epistle:

thou therefore receive him, that is, mine own bowels; meaning his son, who, in a spiritual…

Whom I have sent again - That is, to Philemon. This was, doubtless, at his own request, for: (1) There is not the slightest evidence that he compelled him, or even urged him to go. The language is…

Whom I have sent again - The Christian religion never cancels any civil relations; a slave, on being converted, and becoming a free man of Christ, has no right to claim, on that ground, emancipation…

We have here,

I. The main business of the epistle, which was to plead with Philemon on behalf of Onesimus, that he would receive him and be reconciled to him. Many arguments Paul urges for this…

whom I have sent again Lit., "I did send" ;the "epistolary aorist," as in Col 4:8, where see note. How much lies behind these simple words; what unselfish jealousy for duty on St Paul's part, and what…