Philemon: welcome him as a brother

About the book

Philemon was a believer at Colossae, and a church met in his house (Philemon 1:2). The letter comes from "Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother" (Philemon 1:1), and hardly anyone doubts that Paul wrote it. It went with Colossians, by the same messengers; the church has traditionally placed both in Rome, about AD 60–62, some scholars in Ephesus. It belongs to the era the map under the Jesus tab calls the church (c. AD 30–90).

Onesimus was Philemon's slave. He has traditionally been understood as a runaway; some scholars think he sought Paul out to plead for him with his master. Either way he met the imprisoned Paul and came to faith, and Paul calls him "my child Onesimus, whose father I became while I was in chains" (Philemon 1:10). His name means ‘useful’, and Paul plays on it: "Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me" (Philemon 1:11).

How it unfolds

The twenty-five verses move from greeting (1–3) and thanks for Philemon's love and faith (4–7) to Paul's appeal for Onesimus (8–22) and greetings (23–25). Paul could give orders, but he would rather "appeal on the basis of love" (Philemon 1:9).

Key passages

For perhaps this is why he was separated from you for a while, so that you might have him back for good — no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a beloved brother.

Philemon 1:15-16

Paul asks Philemon to "receive him as you would receive me" (Philemon 1:17), and he takes the debt on himself:

But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to my account.

Philemon 1:18

And he signs it in his own hand: "I will repay it" (Philemon 1:19).

In a Roman world full of slaves, this letter does not order slavery to end, and later Christians who defended slavery leaned on Paul's sending a slave back to his master. Yet Paul tells the master to welcome his slave as a brother, as he would welcome Paul himself, and adds, "you will do even more than I ask" (Philemon 1:21). Many hear in that a hope that Onesimus would be freed, though the text does not say so. Either way, where master and slave become brothers in Christ, slavery is shaken at its root, though it was many centuries before Christians set out to end it. See Does the Bible approve of slavery?

The book and Christ

Paul stands between Philemon and Onesimus and takes another's debt as his own to bring them together, as Christ did. God forgave us in Christ, "having canceled the debt ascribed to us in the decrees that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross!" (Colossians 2:14). Matthew Henry sees in verse 18 the pattern of "the doctrine that Christ of his own will bore the punishment of our sins, that we might receive the reward of his righteousness" Matthew Henry. Because Christ has brought us into reconciliation with God, Christians welcome one another as brothers.

Reading it

Philemon takes five minutes. It was surely read to the church in Philemon's house, so read Philemon aloud at one sitting. Then see how Colossians introduces Onesimus to his home church: "our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you" (Colossians 4:9). Then go on to Hebrews.

Practice