Paul's Prison Epistles: Paul and PhilemonSample

Onesimus as Petitioner: Philemon 11-13

The Onesimus that Paul described here was a very different man from the one who had come to him asking for a mediator. 

Onesimus had been a worthless slave. But he had been converted to Christ; he had repented of his sin, and mended his ways, showing his good faith by putting forth earnest effort to care for Paul in prison. And because Paul knew that Philemon was a loving Christian, he expected Philemon to rejoice at the news that Onesimus had come to Christ, and to forgive his transgressions as he would any other Christian who sinned against him.

Paul included a wordplay in Philemon 11-13 that emphasized this change in Onesimus. Specifically, chrēstos (χρηστος) was remarkably similar to the word christos (χριστος), meaning "Christ." Paul's word for "useless" was achrēstos (α’χρηστος), from the Greek prefix, a, meaning "not," and the root chrēstos, meaning "useful." Similarly, Paul's word for "useful" was euchrēstos (ευ’χρηστος) from the prefix eu, meaning "well" or "good," and the root chrēstos, again meaning "useful." And the wordplay was this: Onesimus was achrēstos or "useless" when he was achristos or “without Christ.” But he became euchrēstos or "very useful" when he received christos as his Lord.

Paul also pointed to ways in which Onesimus had already begun to make reparations for his transgressions. As Paul wrote, Onesimus was taking Philemon’s place in service to Paul. 

In the ancient world it was not unusual for a master to loan a slave to another person. This action was rightly considered a gift of sorts, as the master lost any work the slave might have done during the time of the loan, and the friend to whom the slave was loaned benefited. In this sense, through Onesimus, Philemon really was ministering to Paul. This is why Paul said that Onesimus had become useful not only to him, but also to Philemon. So, Philemon had yet more reasons to be merciful to Onesimus. 

Finally in this section, Paul also mentioned that he had sent Onesimus back to Philemon, presumably carrying Paul’s letter to Philemon, and probably traveling in the company of Tychicus. Paul mentioned this in Philemon 12, writing:

I am sending him … back to you (Philemon 12).

Onesimus was returning to Colosse to petition Philemon for mercy in the hopes of being reconciled to him, and perhaps even of being released. Onesimus was not a fugitive, and was returning to face his master’s judgment.