Philemon 1:15

For perhaps he was therefore parted from thee for a season, that thou shouldest have him for ever;

By this Paul affirms that perhaps the whole unfortunate event of the flight of the slave was providential, after all. Did not Joseph say to his brothers in Egypt, "God did send me before you to preserve life" (Genesis 45:5)?

That thou shouldest have him forever ... means simply that Philemon would now have his slave permanently, but there may also be included the thought of all the redeemed having fellowship with their own eternally in heaven. In the case at hand, both meanings are appropriate. Barry believed that "It is better to take it in the absolute sense of fellowship in the life eternal."[30]