You may have heard of the name Onesimus. Or perhaps you haven’t. His name comes from the book of Philemon, one of the shortest books in the Bible—and certainly one of the shortest that Paul penned.
Onesimus had done something right before the book of Philemon starts. He was a slave who ran away from his master, Philemon. Paul asks Philemon to forgive Onesimus and to see him as an equal.
Today, we’ll uncover Onesimus, some of the controversies from the book of Philemon, and what we can learn from Onesimus’ life.
Who Was Onesimus in the Bible?
As mentioned before, Onesimus was enslaved. We should mention that enslaved people tended to fall into two categories in ancient times. Bondservants were essentially indentured servants. The bondservant would owe a family a debt, and once that debt was repaid, they were allowed to be free. In Jewish culture, the year of Jubilee also played a role in freeing bondservants. Every 50 years, debts would be canceled out. Sometimes bondservants would ask to become part of the family after the debt had been repaid, and there were Old Testament practices for carrying out that.
Then there was the other kind of slavery. The kind we think of today, as human trafficking still looms large in the world. The kind that God does not condone. The kind where a human is seen as an object to sell between masters.
Paul doesn’t state in his letter which category that Onesimus fell into. He does mention repaying any debts that Onesimus owes to Philemon (Philemon 1:18-19), which could mean Onesimus was a bondservant who had left Philemon before his debt was paid. Some church traditions, such as Eastern Orthodoxy, maintain he was one of the 70 followers in Luke 10 that Jesus commissioned. If this is correct, Onesimus, he was free during Jesus’ lifetime and became a bondservant afterward. Since bondservants typically worked seven years to pay off debts, it’s plausible that he’d gone from free man to bondservant in the decades between Jesus’ ministry and Paul’s later ministry years.
Alternatively, he could have been enslaved from birth and stolen money from Philemon when he ran away. The Book of Philemon doesn’t tell us these details—only that he’d run away from Philemon, somehow reached Paul, and helped him “while [Paul] was in chains” (Philemon 1:10).
What Was Onesimus Known For?
Paul had hoped to keep Onesimus around but decided it would be best to send him back to Philemon, with the plea that Philemon no longer see him as a slave. But rather, a brother in Christ.
Scripture doesn’t tell us what happened after Onesimus returned to Philemon. We can look to church tradition for some hints.
According to church tradition, he was from Collosae and may have run away from Philemon for an offense he’d committed.
The tradition follows that Philemon forgave Onesimus and let him go back to Paul to help with Paul’s ministry. The disciples made him a bishop, and he continued preaching the Gospel to many places.
In 109 AD, Onesimus was reportedly martyred. First, by stoning, then his body was beheaded. Tradition holds that a female believer placed him in a silver coffin.
Of course, we should take anything outside of Scripture with a grain of salt. But it is wonderful to consider Philemon’s forgiveness, and Onesimus’ new life, in the grace of the Gospel.
Why Was Onesimus Stoned to Death?
Like many saints in the first four centuries, Onesimus met a grisly end before entering heaven.
We may often wonder why people could commit such atrocities. But we must remember that the Gospel is offensive to every tribe, tongue, and nation. Its message so often rubs people the wrong way. To the point where they’ll kill someone for it.
In the case of Onesimus, he was under the mercy of Emperor Trajan—an emperor who allowed Christians to be persecuted. It should be noted that Trajan was sadly one of the more merciful emperors when it came to this. Still, under his rule, several famous Christians, such as Ignatius, were executed.
Onesimus refused to redact his faith when on trial. After 18 days, the emperor could see Onesimus’ stronghold faith and decided to torture and kill him.
Why Is Onesimus Controversial?
We must always be careful about viewing the Bible through a modern lens. I remember discussing the book of Philemon in a Bible class, and one of the students said, “Why didn’t Paul just tell Philemon, ‘Slavery is wrong and immoral, and I’m not letting Onesimus go back to you until you promise not to keep him as a slave anymore?’”
Our teacher kindly explained the differences between modern-day enslaved people and bondservants. But even without that distinction, Paul had also said there is neither slave nor free in Christ (Galatians 3:28). So why didn’t he be bolder in his claims to Philemon?
We must remember that even telling someone that you thought about keeping their bondservant with them would’ve been incredibly controversial. Paul had anticipated he’d be in possible hot water with Philemon for keeping Onesimus for as long as he did.
Colossae was in Roman territory, and the Romans weren’t shy about their slaves. They had many prisoners of war and non-bondservant slaves in their households. They had no issue treating these people like second-class citizens (or worse).
Hence, Paul makes very intentional choices with his words. He tells Philemon that he (Paul) was in chains for the Gospel. He equalizes himself with Onesimus. That way, Philemon could see that Paul—a Roman citizen and pillar of the church—perceived himself as no different than a man who owed Philemon a debt.
Philemon tends to be a controversial book, and Onesimus a controversial figure, because we’d expect Paul to rebuke Philemon for even having a slave in the first place. We have to view this Scripture through a first-century lens and understand that Onesimus was paying off a debt and that Paul was crossing accepted standards by asking Philemon to forgive Onesimus and potentially set Onesimus free.
If church tradition stands, Philemon did heed Paul’s words. And Onesimus walked out a free man.
What Can We Learn from Onesimus?
We never get to learn many characteristics of Onesimus. We know that he’d wronged Philemon and ran away for fear of the consequences. But we never get to see his character of him—apart from church tradition. Still, we can glean a lot from this man.
First, Onesimus followed Jesus.
When Onesimus became a believer is hard to say. If the tradition that he was one of the 70 followers commissioned is correct, he followed Jesus early on. Alternatively, he may have found faith through Paul. Either way, Paul tells Philemon to treat him as “a dear brother” (Philemon 1:16), language he uses for talking about the church, indicating Onesimus had believed in Jesus as his savior. When he became a believer, he was so strong in his faith in Jesus that he endured torture and brutal death for the sake of the Gospel. We can hope to have a fraction of the faith and endurance that Onesimus displayed for Emperor Trajan.
Second, he owed Philemon money.
Somehow Onesimus ended up in debt. Perhaps the money owed was the bondservant amount he had entered indentured servitude to cover—in which case, his life reminds us that Scripture provides several admonishments against going into debt. Perhaps it was money taken from Philemon when he feld—in which case, he’d sinned by stealing. Either way, he owed a debt. And so do we.
Paul uses Onesimus’ situation to remind Philemon that we all owe debts. We are all slaves of righteousness and should have no distinction between ourselves, no hierarchies.
Finally, Philemon most likely forgave him.
Scripture leaves us with a cliffhanger. Will Philemon heed the advice of Paul? Or will he punish Onesimus severely?
If church tradition is accurate, Philemon did the former. He saw the divine imprint on Onesimus and set him free—despite the debts that Onesimus may still have owed him. May we be able to harbor the same forgiveness.
No matter what “debts” people owe us, may we forgive our debtors, as Christ has forgiven us.
Photo Credit: © Getty Images/papa42
Hope Bolinger is an acquisitions editor at End Game Press, book editor for hire, and the author of almost 30 books. More than 1500 of her works have been featured in various publications. Check out her books at hopebolinger.com for clean books in most genres, great for adults and kids. Check out her editing profile at Reedsy.com to find out about hiring her for your next book project.
This article is part of our People of Christianity catalog that features the stories, meaning, and significance of well-known people from the Bible and history. Here are some of the most popular articles for knowing important figures in Christianity:
How Did the Apostle Paul Die?
Who are the Nicolaitans in Revelation?
Who Was Deborah in the Bible?
Who Was Moses in the Bible?
King Solomon's Story in the Bible
Who Was Lot's Wife in the Bible?
Who Was Jezebel in the Bible?
Who Was the Prodigal Son?
