Bible Discussion Thread

Break down of philemon

Hi Nsemeke. I share the following to help you understand this Book of Philemon when you read it, rather than do a verse-by-verse exposition. I hope the following will help you.

This Book is the most personal of all of Apostle Paul's letters. Like the other Prison letters that we have in the Bible, this too was written by Paul when he was confined in a Roman prison at the first. Onesimus is one of millions of slaves that were used & often badly treated in the Roman Empire, but sadly Onesimus did great wrong & stole from his master, Philemon, & to make matters worse, he ran away knowing what could happen to him. Eventually he made his way to Rome where he crossed paths with Paul & Paul led him to faith in Christ (v10).

Now, as a Christian, Onesimus had a new problem: he had to do his Christian duty & return to his master. And since death was mandatory for such a crime (don't know whether Christian masters carried this out), Paul took the initiative to write this deeply personal letter, interceding on Onesimus' behalf. And this is also an important letter to other Christians who had slaves (more like bond-servants) concerning their relationship to their slave-brothers in Christ, if they had any. In Colossians 4:1 we see another instance of employing slaves by Christians.

Paul didn't want to deny Philemon's rights over Onesimus, but wanted him to deal with him as a brother in Christ (v16). So sincere was Paul, that he even offered to pay back what Onesimus had stolen (vv18,19). We don't know the outcome, but it's possible that Philemon did give Onesimus his freedom & sent him back to Paul (v14 is how this verse is translated). Ignatius of Antioch, in his letter to the Ephesians, mentions that Onesimus later became a minister & then a bishop (a leading elder) of the Church at Ephesus. He was an outstanding example to them in his love & Christian qualities. All this showing us, how wonderfully God can change even the vilest of us into mighty tools in His Hands.