Philemon

Philemon, book of the New Testament. It was written by Saint Paul, evidently while he was in prison (1:1, 9-10, 13, 23), but the actual place and date of composition still are not known positively. Most scholars have favored Rome as the site of composition, although the ancient Ionian city of Ephesus is increasingly favored. If Ephesus is accepted as the place, then the letter dates from about 56. If it was Rome, the date would be about 61 to 65.

Philemon is the only surviving letter of Saint Paul written to an individual on a primarily private matter. It contains only 25 verses. In it Saint Paul appeals to Philemon, a “beloved fellow worker” (1:1) residing in the city of Colossae in southwestern Asia Minor (now in Turkey), on behalf of Philemon's slave Onesimus. Apparently, Onesimus had deserted his master, possibly after robbing him. Under Paul's influence, however, Onesimus had become a “useful” convert to Christianity. Paul would have kept the fugitive with him, but lacking Philemon's consent, he returned Onesimus (with this Epistle) to his master “no longer as a slave” but as a “beloved brother” (1:16). He requests Philemon to “receive him as you would receive me,” to forgive him “on my account,” and even hints at emancipation (1:21).

Paul did not openly attack slavery, an accepted and legally protected institution among many peoples in ancient times. Instead he implied that, in this instance, Onesimus through his conversion had become a brother in Christ—in other words, the spiritual equal of his master. The notion that a slave could be a “brother” to his legal master was first expressed in the teachings of Stoicism.