Philemon 1:15 For perhaps he therefore departed for a season, that you should receive him for ever; He does not say, "Perhaps he therefore ran away"; he uses a word of better report: he "departed," was separated from thee, by the permissive hand of God's providence. After men have repented of their sins, we must not aggravate, but in some measure extenuate them. Not "Noah's drunkenness," but "Noah's unadvised drinking"; Not "David's adultery," but "the matter of Uriah"; not "Peter's apostasy," but "Peter's denial"; not "Onesimus' running away," but "departing." Before they be humbled, we must be as trumpeters to waken them out of their sins; after that, we must be as nurses to cherish them: before corazives, after lenitives: before, we must come with the law as a schoolmaster to whip them; after, with the gospel to comfort them; before, we must be Boanerges, sons of thunder; after, Barnabases, sons of consolation. (W. Jones, D. D.) 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, |
    |