Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Philemon 1:12

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

There is a double play on words here. “Onesimus” was a common slave name; it meant "useful” or “profitable.” This is also the meaning of another Greek word chrestos, which appears here in acbrestos (“useless”; GK 947) and euchrestos (“useful”; GK 2378). Chrestos in turn sounded much like Christos (the Greek word for “Christ”; GK 5986). An ancient reader would have thought this play on words much more clever and humorous than we would. That Paul uses it at the beginning of his plea for Onesimus shows us something of his exquisite sensitivity and tact. It is as if, realizing the radical nature of what he was about to ask of Philemon, Paul deliberately introduces this bit of humor.

In v.12, Paul again stresses how very dear to him Onesimus is. He is not simply the one “I am sending back”; he is “my very heart.”