Philemon 1:12 (DRB)

Passage

Whom I have sent back to thee. And do thou receive him as my own bowels.

Nearby Context

Philemon 1:10 I beseech thee for my son, whom I have begotten in my bands, Onesimus,

Philemon 1:11 Who hath been heretofore unprofitable to thee but now is profitable both to me and thee:

Philemon 1:12 Whom I have sent back to thee. And do thou receive him as my own bowels.

Philemon 1:13 Whom I would have retained with me, that in thy stead he might have ministered to me in the bands of the gospel.

Philemon 1:14 But without thy counsel I would do nothing: that thy good deed might not be as it were of necessity, but voluntary.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sent", "back", "thee", "thou", "receive", and "bowels". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sent" and "back", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "Who hath been heretofore unprofitable to thee..." into verse 13's "Whom I would have retained with me...", so "sent" and "back" belong inside that flow. In Philemon context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "sent" and "back" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.