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PHILEMON

(Gk. Philḗmōn)

The recipient of Paul’s Epistle to Philemon, written on behalf of Philemon’s slave Onesimus who was with Paul in Rome. This epistle is our only source of information about Philemon, with inferences possible from the accompanying Epistle to the Colossians (cf. Phlm. 12; Col. 4:9). Although uncertain, Apphia and Archippus whom Paul greets in Phlm. 2 may be Philemon’s wife and son, respectively (cf. Col. 4:17). Since Onesimus and Archippus reside with Philemon (Phlm. 2, 10-21) and belong to the church of Colossae (Col. 4:9, 17), we can surmise that Philemon also resided in Colossae in the Lycus Valley of the Roman province of Asia.

Philemon was one of Paul’s converts (Phlm. 19), perhaps when Paul was ministering in Ephesus on his third journey and the province of Asia was evangelized (Acts 19:10). Paul considers Philemon a fellow worker (Gk. synergós), possibly because he was instrumental in founding the church of Colossae. Philemon was a wealthy patron of a house church in his home in Colossae (Phlm. 2) and was known for his hospitality (vv. 5-7). Paul tried to convince Philemon that the conversion of Onesimus to Christianity transcended the relationship of master and slave, seeming to imply that one option open to Philemon was to set Onesimus free.

Bibliography. J. M. G. Barclay, “Paul, Philemon and the Dilemma of Christian Slave-Ownership,” NTS 37 (1991): 161-86; N. R. Petersen, Rediscovering Paul: Philemon and the Sociology of Paul’s Narrative World. Guides to Biblical Scholarship (Philadelphia, 1985).

Duane F. Watson

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

PHILEMON

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)