I lead a Bible Study and one of the books we studied is the book of Philemon. The following blog is the results of my research.

This book is one of the few books Paul wrote whose authorship is undisputed. Virtually all scholars agree it was written by the apostle Paul. First of all he says he wrote it but later in the book he tells us “see I have written this with my own hands.” Paul’s books are usually written by a scribe, one of his associates or team members. Paul appears to have vision problems so it works better for someone to pen the letters for him while he dictates.

“1 ¶ Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved fellow worker 2 and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house:” (Philemon 1:1-2 ESV)

It was obvious in the text that it was written while Paul was in prison. Most believe it was his first incarceration in Rome but some think it could have been written while imprisoned in Ephesus. Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel made note that Paul was a prisoner for Christ Jesus and thus wasn’t admitting being a prisoner of Rome. As a prisoner for Christ he was free to be Paul.

Four epistles were written from Rome while in prison and are called the prison epistles. They are Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon. Philemon and Colossians probably being the last two written from there. In Colossians, Paul refers to the letter to Laodicea and asked that letter be read to the Colossians and the letter to the Colossians be read in Laodicea. They were written together and delivered together by Tychicus. Paul was imprisoned in Rome between 60 AD and 62 AD. These epistles were believed to be written during that time period.

Philemon was a wealthy business man who lived in Colossae with his wife Apphia. They hosted the church in Colossae and it is believed that Archippus was either a son or another source suspected he was the pastor of the church. In the letter to the Colossians, Archippus was encouraged to keep doing the work of the Lord. (I paraphrase.)

[popup_anything id=”267″] was an important city on the banks of the River Lycus about 100 miles east of the port of Ephesus. Both Laodicea and Hierapolis were in the vicinity. All three were written about in the book of Revelation. Laodicea was 12 miles west and Hierapolis was fifteen miles north west of Colossae. All three cities were on the main highway, called the great Persian Royal Road between Sardis (near Ephesus) and Susa, Persia.

Colossae was established on the Persian Royal Road and was known for it’s textile industry especially its dark red wool called “Colossian Wool.” It is likely that Philemon was part of that industry as he was believed to be a wealthy man, at least wealthy enough to own slaves.

There were Jewish transplants in Colossae placed there by Antiochus III presumably to create stability in the area. They were given parcels of land tax free for ten years.

Colossae, being on the great Persian Royal Road, was inhabited by a number of different ethnicities.

Paul never visited the church of Colossae although he did pass through Colossae on his second missionary journey. It is said that most of Asia knew about Jesus because of Paul. People heard about Paul and came to Ephesus to hear about Jesus. The Church in Ephesus began in a home and then moved into the rented lecture hall of Tyrannus. Epaphras was believed to be one of those who became a believer while attending Paul’s sermons. He and Timothy went back to Colossae, Hierapolis and Laodicea to plant churches there. At the time Philemon was written, Epaphras probably had been the pastor of the Colossian church. He had been arrested and was in prison with Paul at the time.

Philemon is believed to have journeyed to Ephesus and heard Paul preach. Philemon was a wealthy man and probably acquired his wealth as a business man. He became a believer and went back to became part of the church in Colossae. He appears to have become friends with Paul. Since Paul never went to Asia in his travels one would assume that it was Philemon who traveled to Ephesus and spent time with Paul. Being a business man he likely traveled to Ephesus to market and deliver his goods. Paul and Philemon were believed to have become close friends after Philemon’s conversion.

When Paul wrote to the Colossians he also penned a letter to his friend Philemon in Colossae. Philemon was an early convert and a wealthy person who also owned slaves. Philemon and his wife Apphia hosted the church in Colossae in their home. Tradition tells us that Philemon was also a leader in the church. Paul also address Archippus as part of the household. Many believe he was Philemon’s son.

Onesimus was the slave of Philemon who appears to have ran away. Some suspect that he stole something from Philemon on his departure. He ran to Rome supposedly to get lost in the crowd. I suspect that he knew Epaphras from the church in Colossae in Philemon’s home. Slaves who ran away were considered thieves as they stole their master’s property. They were the master’s property and so running away was stealing his property. If caught they could be killed on the spot and often were branded on the forehead with the letter F, meaning fugitivo. Many freed slaves wore caps to cover the brand.

Somehow he connected with Paul and was converted. He then served Paul for a period while Paul was in prison.

Onesimus’ name means useful or profitable. It was a common name for slaves in those days. Tradition suggests that Onesimus was of Chinese origin.

Slavery was very prominent in Rome at the time. It is estimated that 35% to 40% of the population were slaves. Different that slavery in the Europe and the U.S, slaves were not of one ethnicity. In fact if you were to walk down the streets of Rome, it would be difficult to tell who was free and who was a slave. Slaves performed many jobs. They could do menial tasks but many were well educated and could teach, sew and help with business accounting and other business management tasks.

Because the slave population was so high, Roman leaders did all they could to keep the slaves from knowing how many slavers there were. They feared a rebellion which would have been hard to control.

Slaves in Rome were often peoples who had been captured during the conquests and brought back to Rome to used as slaves. Julius Caesar conquered Gaul (present day France) and turned several thousand captives over to the slave traders to be brought back to Rome.

Roman slaves had no rights and were considered property of their owners. They had no genealogical records and were considered to be sub-human. An owner could choose to terminate a slaves life and he would not be charged with homicide.

Cruelty to slaves was common although as the Roman Empire evolved slave owners discovered that if they treated their slaves well the slaves would be more productive and loyal.

Slaves belonging to very wealthy owners lived better in many cases than free poor people doing the same jobs.

Paul’s letter to Philemon was to ask forgiveness for Onesimus for running away and Paul agreed to repay anything that Onesimus had stolen. Paul could have commanded Philemon to take Onesimus back. He had authority in the church to do that. Paul chose to appeal to Philemon’s logic and his love for the brethren to accept Onesimus back. By law Philemon didn’t have to. Had Philemon been ordered to, he may have resisted. Paul appealed to Philemon to accept Onesimus back as a brother in Christ, not just as a slave.

It should be noted that neither Jesus nor Paul address the issue of slavery. Jesus and Paul taught that owners should treat their slaves well and slaves should obey their masters.

Should Jesus or Paul actually condemned slavery, Christianity would have been reduced a form of social reform and the whole point of salvation by grace been missed.

Paul encouraged slaves to gain their freedom when possible, but until then they were encouraged to serve their masters as though they were serving Christ.

It appears that Philemon did so as Onesimus went on to become a leader int the church. Tradition says he became the Bishop of Ephesus following Timothy in that position according to Catholic tradition. Onesimus was a common slave name and whether this Onesimus became a church leader is uncertain.

NOTE: Somewhere between AD 60 and 61 a great earthquake destroyed Laodicea and Colossae. Laodicea rebuilt quickly but not much is known about Colossae’s recovery.