Ones'imus ('Qvi'iaipoc, projltable) is the name of the servant or slave in whose behalf Paul wrote the Epistle to Philemon (Phil. 10; Col. iv. 9). A.D. 58. He was a native, or certainly an inhabitant, of Colossie, since Paul, in writing to the Church there, speaks of him (Col. iv, 9) as oc; icriv t? vjxwv, "one of you." This expression confirms the presumption which his Greek name affords that he was a Gentile, and not a Jew, as some have argued from fidXicTa t/ioi in Phil. 16. Slaves were numerous in Phrygia, and the name itself of Phrygian was almost synonj'mous with that of slave. Hence it happened that in writing to the Colos- sians (iii, 22-iv, 1) Paul had occasion to instruct them concerning the duties of masters and servants to each other. Onesimus was one of this unfortunate class of persons, as is evident both from the manifest implica- tion in ovKETi wQ CovXov in Phil. 16, and from the gen- eral tenor of the epistle. There appears to have been no difference of opinion on this point among the ancient commentators, and there is none of any critical weight among the modern. The man escaped from his master and tied to Rome, where in the midst of its vast popu- lation he could hope to be concealed, and to baffle the efforts which were so often made in such cases for re- taking the fugitive (\^'alter. Die Geschichte des Rom. Rechts, ii, 63 sq.). It must have been to Rome that he directed his way, and not to Cajsarea, as some contend ; for the latter view stands connected with an indefensi- ble opinion respecting the place whence the letter was written (see Neander, Pflanzung, ii, 506). Whether Onesimus had any other motive for the flight than the natural love of liberty, we have not the means of decid- ing. It has been very generally supposed that he had committed some offence, as theft or embezzlement, and feared the punishment of his guilt. This is grounded upon 7)SiK7](Tt in Phil. 18, in connection with the con- text; tlie meaning, however, is somewhat uncertain (see Notes in Ep.to Phil, by the Amer. Bil)le Union, p. 60). Commentators at all events go entirely beyond the evi- dence when they assert (as Conybeare, Life and Epistles of Paul, ii, 467) that he belonged to the dregs of society, that he robbed his master, and confessed the sin to Paul. Though it may be doubted whether Onesimus heard the Gospel for the first time at Home, it is beyond ques- tion that he was led to embrace the Gospel there through the apostle's instrumentality. The language in ver. 10 of the letter (ov iyivvi]rra tv roif Si(7fiolg fioi') is explicit on this point. As there were believers in Phrygia when the apostle passed through that region on his third missionary tour (Acts xviii, 23), and as Onesimus belonged to a Christian household (Phil. 2), it is not improbable that he knew something of the Christian doctrine before he went to Home. How long a time elapsed between his escape and conversion we cannfit decide; for Trpug iupnr in the 15th verse, to which appeal has been made, is purely a relative ex- pression, and will not justify any inference as to the in- terval in question. After his conversion the most happy and friendly relations sprung up between the teacher
and the disciple. The situation of the apostle as a cap- tive and an indefatigable laborer for the promotion of the Gospel (Acts xxviii, 30, 31) must have made him keenly alive to the sympathies of Christian friendship, and dependent upon others for various services of a per- sonal nature, important to his efficiency as a minister of the Word. Onesimus appears to have supplied this twofold want in an eminent degree. We see from the letter that he won entirely the apostle's heart, and made himself so useful to him in various private ways, or evinced such a capacity to be so (for he may have gone back to Colosste soon after his conversion), that Paul wished to have him remain constantly with him. Whether he desired his presence as a personal attend- ant or as a minister of the Gospel is not certain from 'Iva SiaK0}'7j fioi in ver. 13 of the epistle. Be this as it may, Paul's attachment to him as a disciple, as a person- al friend, and as a helper to him in his bonds, was such that he yielded him up only in obedience to that spirit of self-denial, and that sensitive regard for the feelings or the rights of others, of which his conduct on this oc- casion displayed so noble an example, Onesimus, ac- companied by Tychicus, left Rome with not only this epistle, but with that to the Colossians (Col. iv, 9). It is believed that Onesimus, anxious to justify the confi- dence which Paul reposed in him, by appearing speedily before his master, left Tychicus to take the Epistle to the Ephesians, and hastened to Colossi, where he doubt- less received the forgiveness which Paul had so touch- ingly implored for him as "a brother beloved" {Canon, Ajjost. 73).
There is but little to add to this account, when we pass beyond the limits of the New Testament. The traditionary notices which have come down to us are too few and too late to amount to much as historical testimony. Some of the later fathers assert that Onesi- mus was set free, and was subsequently ordained bishop of Beroea, in Macedonia (Constit. Apost. vii, 46). The person of the same name mentioned as bishop of Ephe- sus in the first ejiistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians (He- fele, Patrum Apost. 0pp. p. 152) was a different person {y\ni^T,Re(dw. ii, 175). See Oxesijius, St. It is re- lated also that Onesimus finally made his way to Rome again, and ended his daj-s there as a martyr during the persecution under Nero (Smith). His name is found in the Roman martyrology under date of Jlarch 2, 95.