Philemon 1:15 For perhaps he therefore departed for a season, that you should receive him for ever; The word is used to express every degree of contingency from the faintest possibility to the highest probability. Two reasons may underlie the peculiar timidity and hesitation implied. 1. This "departure" might have been allowed with a view to a higher good. This case might have been like Joseph's (Genesis 45:5). Certainly a beginning which appeared so unpromising looked like the very path that had led to happiness. Had not Onesimus fled from Philemon, he would not have arrived in Rome, nor have found St. Paul. Had not Paul been imprisoned, Onesimus would never have believed, or been baptized, or become a minister of Christ — perhaps a bishop and martyr. Taking the two extreme points of the story, add connecting them together, it might be said, Onesimus became a minister of the gospel, because he fled from his master. St. Paul softens the sentence by the words, "it may be," because the judgments of God are hidden, and it is culpably rash to pronounce certainly on that which must be doubtful for creatures like ourselves. 2. If he had not so qualified his statement, slaves might have appealed with too much readiness to the example of Onesimus. (Bp. Wm. Alexander.) Parallel Verses KJV: For perhaps he therefore departed for a season, that thou shouldest receive him for ever;WEB: For perhaps he was therefore separated from you for a while, that you would have him forever, |
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