For perhaps he therefore departed for a season, that you should receive him forever;
All Commentaries on Philemon 1:15 Go To Philemon 1
John Chrysostom
AD 407
He has well said, perhaps, that the master may yield. For since the flight arose from perverseness, and a corrupt mind, and not from such intention, he has said, perhaps. And he has not said, therefore he fled, but, therefore he was separated, by a more fair sounding expression softening him the more. And he has not said, He separated himself, but, he was separated. For it was not his own arrangement that he should depart either for this purpose or for that. Which also Joseph says, in making excuse for his brethren, For God did send me hither Genesis 45:5, that is, He made use of their wickedness for a good end. Therefore, he says, he was parted for a season. Thus he contracts the time, acknowledges the offense, and turns it all to a providence. That you should receive him, he says, for ever, not for the present season only, but even for the future, that you might always have him, no longer a slave, but more honorable than a slave. For you will have a slave abiding with you, more well-disposed than a brother, so that you have gained both in time, and in the quality of your slave. For hereafter he will not run away. That you should receive him, he says, for ever, that is, have him again.
