Philemon

What This Book Is

The shortest of Paul's letters: a personal appeal to a slave owner about a runaway named Onesimus, who is now a fellow believer.

Overview

This is a single page letter about one situation, and it is in Scripture because of what it quietly does.

Onesimus was a slave belonging to Philemon. He appears to have run away, possibly after taking something, and has ended up with Paul in prison, where he has become a Christian and made himself genuinely useful. Paul is sending him back, which under Roman law exposed him to severe punishment, and the letter is what he carries with him.

Paul's approach is careful. He says he is bold enough to command but prefers to appeal on the basis of love. He plays on the name Onesimus, which means useful, saying he was formerly useless but is now useful to both of them. He offers to pay anything owed, writing that in his own hand, and then adds, with a light touch, that Philemon owes him his very self.

The request is the heart of it: receive him no longer as a slave but as more than a slave, as a beloved brother. Paul does not issue a decree about the institution, but he asks a man to receive his own property as a brother, which is not a relationship an owner and a possession can have. And he addresses the letter not only to Philemon but to the church meeting in his house, so the request is made in public.

We are never told what Philemon did.

Structure

• Verses 1 to 7: ThanksGreetings to Philemon and the church in his house.
• Verses 8 to 16: The appealOnesimus sent back, and a request to receive him as a brother.
• Verses 17 to 25: The guaranteePaul offers to pay any debt, in his own handwriting.

Themes

Why It Matters

Philemon is small and consequential. It shows the gospel working on a relationship rather than on an idea, and it was used on both sides of later arguments about slavery, which is worth knowing honestly. Its logic, that a brother cannot be property, undercuts the institution even where it does not directly denounce it. It also shows Paul at his most personal and persuasive, choosing appeal over command.

How to Read It

• Read it in one sitting; it takes five minutes.
• Notice that Paul refuses to command and explains why.
• Notice that the letter is addressed to the whole church, not only to Philemon.
• Sit with the fact that the outcome is not recorded.

Key Verse

Did You Know?

• Philemon is the shortest of Paul's letters, at twenty five verses.
• The name Onesimus means useful, and Paul makes a deliberate play on it.
• The letter is addressed to a whole household church, making a private appeal public.

Where to Start Reading