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It is not clear whether Onesimus did anything wrong except run away. But remember, Philemon was his master. Onesimus belonged to him. He did not have to pay Onesimus to work for him. When Onesimus ran away, Philemon may have had to hire another worker and pay him. So he may have felt that Onesimus owed him the money that he had had to pay the other worker. Onesimus may also have stolen something from Philemon, but Bible scholars are not certain about this.

owes: He needed to repay something to Philemon.

charge it to my account: This does not refer to a bank account. Paul did not have any kind of financial account with Philemon. Paul was saying, “Whatever Onesimus owes you, don’t say he owes it but say I owe it to you.” Paul was promising to repay to Philemon anything that Onesimus owed him. But the next two verses give reasons why Philemon would probably not let Paul repay him.

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