Paul's Prison Epistles: Paul and PhilemonSample

The Problem: Philemon 11, 18

It’s no secret that some workers are not good workers, that some servants are not good servants, and that some people refuse to accept their responsibilities and fulfill their obligations. And unfortunately, it appears that Onesimus was one of these people. And his failures, whether slothful, negligent or malicious, angered his master Philemon — so much so that Onesimus had greatly feared punishment from Philemon. And so, in order to avoid this punishment, Onesimus left Philemon’s household. Consider Paul’s words to Philemon about Onesimus in Philemon 11:

Formerly he was useless to you (Philemon 11). 

There is a play on words here. The name “Onesimus” is actually derived from a Greek word meaning “useful” or “profitable.” But Paul said here that Onesimus had proven useless. By this wordplay Paul granted the point to Philemon that Onesimus truly had been a useless or unprofitable slave.

Worse than this, according to Philemon 18, Onesimus may actually have caused a significant loss for Philemon. Consider Paul’s words there:

If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me (Philemon 18).

Many interpreters understand this verse to imply that Onesimus had stolen from Philemon, which was a common crime among household slaves. But Onesimus might also have incurred a loss for Philemon in other ways, such as through poor management of household resources, or destruction or loss of property.

In any case, Philemon had a right to be angry, and Onesimus probably had good reason to be afraid of Philemon. Under Roman law, masters had the right to punish slaves severely, even with heavy beatings. Onesimus was so worried about Philemon’s wrath that he fled in fear.

Paul alluded to this circumstance in Philemon 15, where he wrote these words:

Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good (Philemon 15).

Apparently, Philemon himself had not intended for Onesimus to leave, and probably did not approve of his leaving. But Paul suggested that God had a positive reason for allowing the situation. Through this time of separation, God changed Onesimus so that he became a great benefit to Philemon. 

Now, in the Roman Empire, slaves who left their masters’ households in this manner were not necessarily fugitives. If they fled with no intention of returning, they were fugitives. But the law also permitted slaves to leave their masters temporarily to find an advocate or mediator who might reconcile them to their masters. Several Roman jurists recorded this fact. For instance, Vivianus, who wrote between A.D. 98 and 117, argued this way:

If a slave leave his master and come back to his mother, the question whether he be a fugitive is one for consideration; if he so fled to conceal himself and not to return to his master, he is a fugitive; but he is no fugitive if he seeks that some wrongdoing of his may be better extenuated by his mother’s entreaties. 

Similarly, Proculus, writing in the early first century, had this to say:

A slave is not a fugitive, who, having in mind that his master wished physically to chastise him, betook himself to a friend whom he induced to plead on his behalf. 

And Paulus, in the late second century, provided this commentary:

A slave who takes himself off to a friend of his master to seek his intercession is not a fugitive.

These legal comments demonstrate that Roman law permitted slaves to run from their masters, so long as they were running to someone else for help and not trying to gain their freedom. So, if Onesimus fled in order to ask Paul to be his advocate and mediator with Philemon, he was not a fugitive.