Philemon 12
(MLV)
11
who was previously not useful to you, but now is
useful to you and to me whom I have sent back
to you. 12 But you receive him
, that is: my heart:
(KJV) Whom I have sent again: thou therefore
receive him, that is, mine own bowels:
(1611 KJV) Whom I haue sent againe: thou
therfore receiue him, that is mine owne bowels.
(1587 Geneva Bible) Whome I haue sent
againe: thou therefore receiue him, that is
mine owne bowels,
(1526 Tyndale) whom I have sent home
agayne. Thou therfore receave him that is to
saye myne awne bowels
(Verse split differences between TR & Majority Texts.)
Counterfeit Versions
(NIV) I am sending him—who is my very
heart—back to you.
(NASV) I have sent him back to you in person, that is,
sending my very heart,
(THE MESSAGE) I'm sending him back to you, but it feels
like I'm cutting off my right arm in doing so.
(NLT) I am sending him back to you, and with him comes my
own heart.
(ESV) I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart.
(CEV) Sending Onesimus back to you makes me very sad.
(1901 ASV) whom I have sent back to thee in his own
person, that is, my very heart:
(NLV) I am sending him back to you. It is like sending you
my own heart.
(HCSB) I am sending him—a part of myself —back to you.
(NCV) I am sending him back to you, and with him I am
sending my own heart.
(RSV) I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart.
(NAB-Roman Catholic) I am sending him, that is, my own
heart, back to you.
(NWT-Jehovah’s Witness) This very one I am sending back to
you, yes, him, that is, my own tender affections.
Textus Receptus - Traditional Text
on anepemya (:) su
de auton tout estin ta ema splagcna proslabou
Hort-Westcott - Critical
Text
on anepemya soi
auton tout estin ta ema splagcna
Corrupted Manuscripts
This verse is corrupted in the following
manuscripts:
Aleph 01 - Sinaiticus - Fourth century (original)
A 02 - Alexandrinus - Fifth century
33 - Ninth century (Minuscule)
Manuscripts which agree with the Textus Receptus
for this verse
Byzantine Text (450-1450 A.D.
Aleph 01 - Sinaiticus - Fourth century (corrected)
C 04 - Ephraemi Rescriptus - Fifth century
D 06 - Paris: Claromontanus - Sixth century
K 018 - Ninth century
L 020 - Ninth century
P 025 - Ninth century
Published Critical Greek Texts with Corruptions
Omits “ thou therefore receive him”
Lachmann, Karl - 1842
Tischendorf, Constantine - 1869
Tregelles, Samuel - 1857
Alford, Henry - 1849 revised in 1871
Westcott and Hort - 1881
Weiss, Bernhard - 1894
Nestle - 1927 as revised in seventeenth edition in 1941
Nestle-Aland - 1979 - Twenty Sixth Edition
Nestle-Aland - 1993 - Twenty Seventh Edition
United Bible Societies - 1983 - Fourth Edition
Affected Teaching
Paul makes an impassioned plea for Onesimus to
Philemon. Onesimus, a slave, had left Philemon and met up
with Paul. Onesimus became a Christian and Paul was now
sending him back to Philemon. In verse 12 Paul desires that
Philemon receive Onesimus. The word that is removed from the
minority text versions in the Greek means not only to
receive Onesimus back into the service of Philemon but means
that Paul is desiring that Philemon would “accept, welcome,
to take along side, or to welcome with hospitality.” In the
minority text versions, Paul is seen as just sending him
back to Philemon and without the desire that Philemon accept
him as a brother, it could be interpreted that Paul I
sending him back and Philemon can do what he wants to
Onesimus. The minority text versions leave out the element
of mercy and compassion that Paul desires Philemon to show
to Onesimus. The great lesson here is that we, before
salvation, as servants of sin, return unto the Lord as
children of God and that He has great compassion on us not
giving us the punishment we deserve. This is the great
message of verse 12 that the Lord receives us as brethren
and no longer as a slave because our relationship has
changed. Once again the minority text versions leave out a
great lesson about the compassion of the Lord toward His
children. This verse also teaches that when a child of God
strays, He will receive us back as His children.