Philemon 1:12
I am sending back to you him who is my very heart.
BSB
ASV
whom I have sent back to thee in his own person, that is, my very heart:
KJV
Whom I have sent again: thou therefore receive him, that is, mine own bowels:
And what he says: "But you accept him, that is, my heart," this is what I said a little earlier, that "heart" signifies the internal affection of the heart and the full willingness from the soul, when everything that is in us is received from the one asking. But otherwise, all children are the parents' hearts.
Receive him, that is, my own bowels - Whom I love as my own soul. Such is the natural affection of a father in Christ toward his spiritual children.
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 from the service of his master. Justice, therefore, required St. Paul to send back Onesimus to his master, and conscience obliged Onesimus to agree in the propriety of the measure; but love to the servant induced the apostle to write this conciliating letter to the master.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Ephesians 4:32Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.
leads to
For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
And when you stand to pray, if you hold anything against another, forgive it, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your trespasses as well.”
Finally, all of you, be like-minded and sympathetic, love as brothers, be tenderhearted and humble.
If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And if I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven it in the presence of Christ for your sake,
Through
Mark 11:25And when you stand to pray, if you hold anything against another, forgive it, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your trespasses as well.”
leads to
Bear with one another and forgive any complaint you may have against someone else. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.
Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
