Philemon 1:13 Whom I would have retained with me, that in your stead he might have ministered to me in the bonds of the gospel: No doubt it is aiding Paul in his ministerial work, or he would not have said, "In thy stead." It is scarcely to be supposed that Philemon would have ministered to St. Paul in the capacity of a domestic servant; and if Onesimus was to have ministered to the apostle, it was to supply the absence of Philemon in being St. Paul's deacon. There must have been something peculiarly thorough in the conversion of Onesimus, that the apostle should so desire him to be near him. (M. F. Sadler, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Whom I would have retained with me, that in thy stead he might have ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel: |
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