No one can read the short letter that Paul wrote to Philemon without being struck by the fact that an Apostle who could write so wonderfully about God and Christ, and their respective parts in the great plan of human redemption, should concern himself in the domestic affairs of a private individual, and the future of a runaway slave. That he did so, is an indication of the versatility of his character and his interests. That point is further emphasised when some of his sterner writings are recalled and compared with the affectionate friendliness of this letter, which is unique among his writings which we possess. All the other epistles are addressed to churches or those having charge of churches; this is a purely private letter to a friend and his household about a private matter.
How did such a letter come to be included in the epistles to churches? Letter writing was quite a usual thing in those days; the rubbish heaps of Egypt have yielded up great numbers, and Paul must have written many letters to private individuals, beside the one to Philemon. Its preservation is probably due to the fact that if was addressed to Philemon, Apphia, Archippus, “and to the church in thy (Philemon’s) house.” It was, therefore, a part of the church archives, and as Philemon lived in Colosse, it would be preserved with the epistle to the Colossians. It may be presumed that Apphia was the wife of Philemon, and that Archippus was their son. The latter is mentioned in the Epistle to the Colossians, where he was exhorted to “take heed to the ministry.”
One other person is mentioned in the epistle, Onesimus, who was a slave belonging to Philemon, but who had run away, and had taken refuge in Rome. Slavery was usual in the Roman Empire; in some cities the slaves greatly outnumbered the ordinary population. Many of the slaves had a very hard time; they were entirely at the mercy of their masters. On the other hand, some of them were well treated and Seneca, brother of Gallio the deputy of Corinth,1 speaking of some of them said, they were “humble friends and real members of the family.” Nothing was known of the condition of Onesimus, though the fact that his master was a Christian, and was addressed in the language used in the epistle, suggests that his treatment was likely to be kindly. Whatever may have been the case, Onesimus was dissatisfied with his position and ran away, taking some of his master’s goods with him.
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Author: W. H. Boulton
Keywords: Epistle to Philemon, Letter to Philemon, Philemon, Onesimus
Bible reference(s): Philemon 1
Source: “Backgrounds of the Epistles,” The Testimony, Vol. 20 No. 240, December 1950, pp. 437-9.
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