Charles Ellicott Commentary Philemon 1:12

"whom I have sent back to thee in his own person, that is, my very heart:" — Philemon 1:12 (ASV)

You therefore receive him.—The word “receive” is not in the best manuscripts. It is supplied here from Philemon 1:17 (apparently correct regarding sense) to fill up a broken construction in the original.

My own bowels—i.e., my own heart, dear to me as my own soul. There is, indeed, a usage of the word which applies it to children as begotten of our own body. But this is hardly St. Paul’s usage (see 2 Corinthians 6:12; Philippians 1:8; Philippians 2:1; Colossians 3:12; Philemon 1:20 of this Epistle), though it suits very well with the phrase “whom I have begotten” above.