Onesimus

c. AD 61· In the text

Placed by the story. The date is a rough guide. How the dates are worked out

"useful, profitable" · Greek

Paul plays on the name in Philemon 11, calling him once unprofitable and now profitable.

Bondservant of Philemon, called a servant or a slave depending on the translation, known from Paul's letter to Philemon and one verse of Colossians. He had been parted from Philemon for a while, and the letter does not say how he came to be with Paul. Paul, a prisoner, called Onesimus his child, once unprofitable to Philemon but now useful to both men, a play on the name Onesimus. Paul wished to keep him but sent him back, asking Philemon to receive him no longer as a servant but as a beloved brother, and offering to repay anything owed. Colossians calls him a faithful and beloved brother, sent with Tychicus.