Philemon 12
 
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.

Back