What Does Philemon 1:20 Mean in the King James?
Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord: refresh my bowels in the Lord.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Paul’s “joy” carries the same root as Onesimus’s name, linking the welcome he asks for with benefit and rest in the inward parts.
THE MEANING
Here, joy is expressed as receiving benefit from another, while refreshment reaches the inward parts, where affection is felt. The verse speaks now wherever welcome in the Lord renews someone from within.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that welcoming one person has only private consequences: that welcome can become another person’s inward rest.
THE ROOT
ὀναίμην
onaimēn
GROWS FROM
ὀνιν- (ὀνίνημι)
To benefit, profit, or have good from someone; here, “may I benefit from you.”
The phrase rendered “let me have joy of thee” uses ὀναίμην (onaimēn, may I benefit), from ὀνίνημι (oninēmi, to benefit). The same word family gives Ὀνήσιμος (Onēsimos, useful or beneficial), the name of the person at the center of the appeal: receiving him becomes Paul’s benefit and joy.
ALSO GROWS
Onēsimos: Useful, beneficial
Ὀνήσιμος
The name echoes the benefit Paul asks Philemon to bring him through this welcome.
onēsis: Benefit, advantage
ὄνησις
This related noun makes explicit the good or gain carried by the word family.
σπλάγχνα
splanchna
GROWS FROM
σπλαγχν-
splanch-
The inward parts, especially the organs understood as the seat of deep feeling.
“Bowels” here names more than a physical location: it is the inward self where compassion and affection are felt. The same word returns in Philemon 1:12, where Paul calls Onesimus his own σπλάγχνα (splanchna, inward parts).
ALSO GROWS
splagchnizomai: To be moved with compassion
σπλαγχνίζομαι
The verb carries the inward feeling of the same word family into action.
eusplagchnos: Tenderhearted, compassionate
εὔσπλαγχνος
This related word shows how the “inward parts” branch into a quality of deep-hearted care.
ἀνάπαυσον
anapauson
GROWS FROM
παυ- (παύω)
To stop or cease; in compounds, to bring someone to rest.
The request for refreshment is a request for rest to reach the inward parts. English “refresh” holds the sense of renewal, while the Greek word also carries the settling force of rest.
ALSO GROWS
pauō: To stop, cease, or bring to an end
παύω
This is the base verb beneath the request to give rest.
anapausis: Rest, repose
ἀνάπαυσις
This related noun names the resting or relief the verse asks Philemon to give.
katapauō: To bring to rest
καταπαύω
This compound carries the same root into the act of settling someone into rest.
THE PATTERN
Rest is shared: the one who is received or refreshed can become a source of renewal for others.
Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.For they have refreshed my spirit and yours: therefore acknowledge ye them that are such.THE THREAD
Whom I have sent again: thou therefore receive him, that is, mine own bowels:The same Greek word, σπλάγχνα (splanchna, inward parts), appears here and in verse 20. Paul identifies Onesimus with his own inward parts, then asks Philemon to refresh those inward parts; how Onesimus is received reaches Paul himself.
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