Background of the Letter to Philemon
Paul’s letter to Philemon is only 335 words in Greek, somewhere between 400-500 words in English translation. It can easily be read in a few minutes. It is the third-shortest “book” in the NT (only 2 John and 3 John are shorter) and has no chapters. It might very well be my favorite of Paul’s letters because it is so personal and direct; Paul’s humanity shines through it.
The background to the story is quite simple. A slave named Onesimus (the name means “useful”) ran away from his master, Philemon, and found his way to Paul. Paul sends Onesimus back with the letter to Philemon (and the church that meets in his house), hoping to reconcile master and slave as brothers in Christ.
There’s very few clues in the letter as to where and when it was written. We know Paul was in prison and Timothy was with him. Some of the same cast of characters (Archippus, Onesimus, Aristarchus, Mark, Epaphras, Luke, Demas) are also listed in Colossians. There is doubt as to whether or not Colossians is an authentic letter of Paul, so the details may not be factual, but many scholars believe a reliable tradition lies behind them. The reasoning is that if the details were blatantly incorrect, Colossians would have been rejected as an authentic letter from Paul.
If we therefore take as a workable hypothesis that Philemon lived in the region of Colossae, then Paul would most likely have written the letter during his Ephesian captivity. That would put the year of its writing the same as that of Philippians (circa 56 CE). Colossae is 100-120 miles from Ephesus and that is a plausible distance for a runaway slave to have travelled.
Purpose of the Letter
After a brief introduction, Paul gets down to business (vv. 8-21). He reminds Philemon that he could invoke his apostolic authority to command him to do his duty, but Paul would rather appeal to his better judgment. Apparently Paul is responsible for Onesimus coming to Christ (“whose father I have become during my imprisonment”). Paul speaks of how useful Onesimus has been in his captivity (playing on the meaning of the slave’s name). Paul would like to continue having Onesimus work for him, but needs Philemon’s consent. He wants Philemon to voluntarily offer Onesimus’ service and not have a good dead be forced upon him. If Onesimus owes damages to Philemon, Paul will make restitution.
It is not absolutely clear that Paul is asking Philemon to emancipate Onesimus. That could be the implication of v. 21 (“confident of your obedience … knowing you will do even more than I say”). But even if Paul is not expecting freedom for Onesimus, he does hope that Philemon will allow him to continue working with Paul. As far as Paul is concerned, it makes no difference whether Onesimus is a slave or a freeman because Christians should treat each other as equals, regardless of their state in life (see Gal 3:28). To Paul, all are slaves to Christ and all are free from sin.
Paul could have said something like “Slavery is incompatible with the message of Jesus,” but he did not. Why? As we have seen in Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, he had an apocalyptic view that the world would soon pass away. There’s no urgency is overthrowing the current social order if it is all to be soon wiped away by Christ’s second coming. Paul’s principle is set forth in 1 Cor 7:20-31: “Let each of you remain in the condition in which you were called.” Whether slave, married, or single, “the appointed time grows short.”
Importance of the Letter
Obviously, advice given to Christians expecting the imminent return of Christ in the mid 50’s is not the same as what would be given to a Christian in the early 21st century. Yet we hear advice from Col 3:18 (“wives, be subject to your husbands”) proposed as the eternal, unchangeable word of God, while ignoring “slaves, obey your masters” four verses later. If the centuries-old practice of slavery could one day be seen as utterly contrary to the Christian gospel, why not other inequalities such as those between men and women?
But, to me, the biggest takeaway is Paul refusing to exercise his apostolic authority. It is all too common to see authority (biblical or hierarchical) invoked to settle a church issue. Rare are the occasions when those in authority seek to persuade through an appeal to reason. It is so much easier to repeat “the Bible says” or “the Church teaches” than to build a case that could be convincing even to an atheist.
We don’t know what Philemon ultimately decided, but we can guess. Paul must have written countless personal letters to individual Christians, but this one was preserved and all the others were not. The most obvious reason why it was preserved was because Philemon did take Paul’s suggestion and allowed Onesimus to continue working with Paul. Colossians 4:9 cites Onesimus as one of the bearers of that letter – along with Tychicus – and says he is a “faithful and beloved brother” belonging to the church in Colossae.
Fifty years later, Ignatius of Antioch, writing to the Ephesians, praises Onesimus, their bishop (Eph 1:3). Could this be the same Onesimus? And could he have collected a sampling of Paul’s letters, including the one that eventually won him his freedom? There is no evidence for it, but it is a romantic theory and we would like it to be true.
There’s very few clues in the letter as to where and when it was written. We know Paul was in prison and Timothy was with him. Some of the same cast of characters (Archippus, Onesimus, Aristarchus, Mark, Epaphras, Luke, Demas) are also listed in Colossians. There is doubt as to whether or not Colossians is an authentic letter of Paul, so the details may not be factual, but many scholars believe a reliable tradition lies behind them. The reasoning is that if the details were blatantly incorrect, Colossians would have been rejected as an authentic letter from Paul.
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St. Paul the Apostle
in prison, writing his epistle to the Ephesians (from a 19th
century bible). While Paul may have written shorter letters like Philemon in his own hand, longer letters were dictated to a scribe. Even so, Paul would add a couple of sentences or paragraph in his own handwriting so that the recipient knew that it came from him. His letters were much larger than those of the scribe (Gal 6:11).
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Purpose of the Letter
After a brief introduction, Paul gets down to business (vv. 8-21). He reminds Philemon that he could invoke his apostolic authority to command him to do his duty, but Paul would rather appeal to his better judgment. Apparently Paul is responsible for Onesimus coming to Christ (“whose father I have become during my imprisonment”). Paul speaks of how useful Onesimus has been in his captivity (playing on the meaning of the slave’s name). Paul would like to continue having Onesimus work for him, but needs Philemon’s consent. He wants Philemon to voluntarily offer Onesimus’ service and not have a good dead be forced upon him. If Onesimus owes damages to Philemon, Paul will make restitution.
It is not absolutely clear that Paul is asking Philemon to emancipate Onesimus. That could be the implication of v. 21 (“confident of your obedience … knowing you will do even more than I say”). But even if Paul is not expecting freedom for Onesimus, he does hope that Philemon will allow him to continue working with Paul. As far as Paul is concerned, it makes no difference whether Onesimus is a slave or a freeman because Christians should treat each other as equals, regardless of their state in life (see Gal 3:28). To Paul, all are slaves to Christ and all are free from sin.
Paul could have said something like “Slavery is incompatible with the message of Jesus,” but he did not. Why? As we have seen in Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, he had an apocalyptic view that the world would soon pass away. There’s no urgency is overthrowing the current social order if it is all to be soon wiped away by Christ’s second coming. Paul’s principle is set forth in 1 Cor 7:20-31: “Let each of you remain in the condition in which you were called.” Whether slave, married, or single, “the appointed time grows short.”
Importance of the Letter
Obviously, advice given to Christians expecting the imminent return of Christ in the mid 50’s is not the same as what would be given to a Christian in the early 21st century. Yet we hear advice from Col 3:18 (“wives, be subject to your husbands”) proposed as the eternal, unchangeable word of God, while ignoring “slaves, obey your masters” four verses later. If the centuries-old practice of slavery could one day be seen as utterly contrary to the Christian gospel, why not other inequalities such as those between men and women?
But, to me, the biggest takeaway is Paul refusing to exercise his apostolic authority. It is all too common to see authority (biblical or hierarchical) invoked to settle a church issue. Rare are the occasions when those in authority seek to persuade through an appeal to reason. It is so much easier to repeat “the Bible says” or “the Church teaches” than to build a case that could be convincing even to an atheist.
We don’t know what Philemon ultimately decided, but we can guess. Paul must have written countless personal letters to individual Christians, but this one was preserved and all the others were not. The most obvious reason why it was preserved was because Philemon did take Paul’s suggestion and allowed Onesimus to continue working with Paul. Colossians 4:9 cites Onesimus as one of the bearers of that letter – along with Tychicus – and says he is a “faithful and beloved brother” belonging to the church in Colossae.
Fifty years later, Ignatius of Antioch, writing to the Ephesians, praises Onesimus, their bishop (Eph 1:3). Could this be the same Onesimus? And could he have collected a sampling of Paul’s letters, including the one that eventually won him his freedom? There is no evidence for it, but it is a romantic theory and we would like it to be true.
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