The letter to Philemon is the shortest of
Paul’s extant documents, consisting of merely 334 words (comparable in size to
an average Greco-Roman letter). It is the most personal of the Pauline
writings, addressed to “Philemon the beloved and our fellow worker” (v. 1).1
While the address also includes, “to Apphia the sister, and to Archippus our
fellow-soldier, and to the assembly in your house” (v. 2), it is written almost
entirely in the second person singular
(“you”) form of address and thus directed to Philemon alone. It is commonly
believed that Apphia was Philemon’s wife and that Archippus may have been their
adult son. Philemon appears to have been a relatively affluent Christian, as he
owned a house large enough to accommodate congregational meetings and was also
a slave owner.
Except among the most liberal scholars,
Pauline authorship is not seriously questioned and the letter is counted among his
undisputed writings. Even though Timothy is also named in the prescript (v. 1),
the forty-two first person singulars with which the document is written
distinguishes Paul as the sole author (note v. 19), leaving no room for Timothy
in the letter’s composition, unless, of course, he served as amanuensis.2
The Philemon epistle was composed while
Paul was incarcerated (vv. 1, 9, 10, 13, 23), likely during the two years he
was confined to house arrest in Rome (Acts 28:16-31). A comparable timeframe
with Colossians is presupposed by the close relationship between the two documents.
In both letters Timothy is named as co-sender, while reference is also made to
Epaphras, Archippus and Onesimus (Col. 1:7; 4:9, 17; Philm. 2, 10, 23). In both
letters Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke are included as the apostle’s immediate
companions (Col. 4:10, 14; Philm. 24).
Since Paul was expecting potential release
in Philm. 22, with no indication of such in Colossians, the Philemon epistle
was probably drafted in early 62 after Colossians. In Colossians, Paul's appeal for prayers involved a petition for evangelistic opportunities in view of his "chains" (Col. 3:3), whereas in Philemon the prayer request included his anticipated release. Paul’s letter to Philemon would
have been sent to the city of Colosse, seeing that Epaphras was associated with
the Colosse church (Col. 1:7; 4:12) and acquainted with Philemon (Philm. 23),
and Onesimus was Philemon’s slave (Philm. 15-16) and a resident of Colosse
(Col. 4:9).
The traditional view is that Onesimus was
a runaway slave who encountered Paul in Rome (cf. W. Barclay, Letters to Timothy, Titus, Philemon
269-76). But it has also been suggested that Onesimus may have already known
Paul and sought him out for help after having gotten into trouble with his
master (cf. J. D. G. Dunn, Colossians and
Philemon 301-304). An alternative proposal is that Onesimus was the
messenger of Philemon’s house church who delivered financial aid to the
imprisoned apostle and overstayed his visit (cf. S. C. Winter, “Paul’s Letter
to Philemon” NTSup 33 [1987]: 1-15).
According to recent studies of ancient
Roman slavery law, it “was a legally recognized practice for a slave who had
incurred his or her master’s wrath to flee to one of the master’s trusted
associates to plea for his intervention and protection. The associate then
served as a kind of official mediator, who would try to smooth out differences
that had arisen through misunderstanding or even malfeasance” (B. D. Ehrman, The NT: Historical Introduction 353-54).
It is interesting that in the opening of this epistle Paul does not describe
himself as a doulos (“slave”) of
Christ (as in Philippians 1:1), perhaps because of the sensitive issue he is
addressing.
Slavery in the Greco-Roman world was practically viewed as an economic necessity, incomparable to the harsher forms in other times
and societies. Different kinds of slavery co-existed, and one must be careful
not to make presumptuous generalizations. The domestic house slaves were much
better off than those working in the fields or mines. A slave middle class
consisted of skilled craftsmen, secretaries, educators, and medical
practitioners.3
The apostle urges a new relationship
between Philemon and Onesimus, but he stops short of demanding emancipation.
Elsewhere Paul encourages Christian slaves who could legally obtain freedom to
take advantage of this opportunity, but otherwise their situation in life was
to be accepted and used to the glory of God (1 Cor. 7:17-24). A Christian slave
was still free in Christ (cf. Gal. 5:1), just as a free Christian was Christ’s
slave (1 Cor. 7:22). Paul taught obedience for slaves and fairness for masters
(Eph. 6:5-9; Col. 3:22–4:1). Nevertheless, the principles of Christianity (cf.
Gal. 3:28) were to mitigate the harshness of slavery and would eventually lead
to its demise.
Within this brief epistle to Philemon the
providential working of God is clearly evident, even though the details cannot be identified specifically (v. 15). We are thus reminded that God’s
will is going to be accomplished despite our human shortsightedness and our clumsy,
ignorant, fallible ways. The gospel molded an unprofitable slave into a useful,
trustworthy servant (vv. 11-13), and the divine message and its transforming
power remain unchanged. If brotherhood can be fostered between an irresponsible
slave and his frustrated master (vv. 15-16), imagine how Christ can impact any
of our less-than-ideal relationships.
--Kevin L. Moore
Endnotes:
1 All
scripture quotations are the author’s own translation.
2
Perhaps Timothy was brought into the picture to add support to what Paul was
about to say, while Apphia and Archippus may have been included in the address
as a subtle way of pressuring Philemon to comply with Paul’s request (J.
Murphy-O’Connor, Paul the Letter-Writer
53). Timothy was from that general vicinity and could have been acquainted with
Philemon.
3
Markus Barth and Helmut Blanke observe: “The dividing line between slaves and
free persons was not always sharply drawn or easily recognized …. Often a
reasonably rich man’s slave was better off than a poor citizen in possession of
all civil rights …. Among ancient slaves there were highly intelligent and
well-trained people who did qualified work and had – especially in Paul’s day –
a fair chance of being eventually manumitted and/or of marrying into the
owner’s or another free person’s family …. in many respects an ancient slave’s
treatment was better and his life conditions more secure than those of a nineteenth-century
factory worker” (The Letter to Philemon
3-4).
Image credit: https://revonator.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/philemon1.jpg
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