Philemon 1:15

For perhaps he therefore departed— As Philemon 1:13 were thrown in by way of parenthesis, this 15th verse must be considered as connected in sense with Philemon 1:12. As the event had been so happy, St. Paul ascribes it to God: Onesimus designed no such thing by his flight; Philemon did not send him to Rome for that purpose, and St. Paul had not sent to Colosse for him: there was no human contrivance to accomplish so great and good an event; but God, in the course of his wise providence, had so ordered it, that Onesimus's going to Rome had been the happy occasion of his becoming a gracious Christian. Philemon, therefore, could not be angry at such an event, unless he had a mind to quarrel with Divine Providence, the progress of the gospel, the conversion and welfare of Onesimus, and what would in the end prove his own advantage. Thus the patriarch Joseph ascribed his going into Egypt to Divine Providence, though it had been occasioned by the treachery and malice of his brethren. See Genesis 45:5; Genesis 50:20. It may not be improper to attend to the apostle's soft and tender manner of expressing this: Perhaps—he speaks a little dubiously: he was unwilling to pry into the secret views of Providence; but the event seemed to justify such a construction. The word 'Εχωρισθη we have translated he departed;—which is softer than to have said, he absconded, or ran away, like a criminal; but the Greek word signifies he was separated, which is still softer. That separation had been but of very short continuance; προς οραν, for an hour; for so short a space, that he could scarcely be accounted a fugitive; especially as he had returned voluntarily, and so much improved. He was separated from his master for an hour, that he might receive him again for ever. In which words St. Paul promises, in effect, that Onesimus would not run away any more: he was fully persuaded of the sincerity of his repentance and conversion, and that he would behave well for the time to come. See Exodus 2:6. Deuteronomy 15:17. Leviticus 25.