No longer a slave but a brother: Paul's letter to Philemon

Philemon is the shortest of Paul's surviving letters, a single page addressed to a Christian named Philemon, to Apphia, to Archippus and to the church that met in Philemon's house (verses 1-2). Philemon was a man of means in Colossae, a convert of Paul (verse 19), who hosted a house church. Paul writes from prison (verses 1, 9, 10, 13), with Timothy named in the greeting. Archippus is the man told in Colossians 4:17 to complete his ministry, and Onesimus is named in Colossians 4:9 as 'one of you', so the two letters were sent to the same town at the same time, probably carried together by Tychicus and Onesimus (Colossians 4:7-9).

The place of Paul's imprisonment is debated: Rome (about AD 60-62) is the traditional view; Ephesus and Caesarea are alternatives. Verse 22, where Paul hopes to visit, fits any of them. Paul's authorship is almost universally accepted.

The occasion is the slave Onesimus. The traditional view, found in the church fathers such as John Chrysostom, is that Onesimus ran away from Philemon, perhaps taking money (verse 18), met Paul in prison and became a believer (verse 10), and Paul now sends him back. Roman law gave the master wide rights over a runaway, including harsh punishment. Some modern scholars suggest another reconstruction: Onesimus had offended his master and went to Paul, as a friend of the master, to ask him to intercede. Others, such as Allen Callahan, have proposed that Onesimus was Philemon's brother, not his slave, a view that has found few followers because verse 16 says 'no longer as a slave'. Ignatius of Antioch, early in the second century, mentions an Onesimus as bishop of Ephesus, but whether this is the same man cannot be shown.

Philemon is a personal letter, but it is not private. It is addressed to the whole house church, so Paul's appeal is made in front of the community, and it is read aloud, which adds weight to his request. A letter in the ancient world followed a pattern of greeting, thanksgiving, request and closing, and Paul follows it. The thanksgiving (verses 4-7) is the first stage of persuasion: he praises Philemon's love, which he will then ask him to show.

The key interpretive rule is to read the letter as a request, not a command, and to notice that Paul is deliberate about this. He says he could order Philemon but prefers to appeal on the basis of love (verses 8-9), and he wants Philemon's goodness to be a matter of free will (verse 14). The second rule is to read what the letter does not say. It does not state outright what Philemon is to do. It does not say 'free him', and it does not say 'punish him not'. It says to receive Onesimus as a brother and as Paul himself, and it hints that Philemon will do more than Paul asks (verse 21). Scholars differ on whether this means freeing Onesimus, sending him back to serve Paul, or something less specific. The class holds that the text leaves the action open, but the direction is plain.

A third rule concerns the letter in the canon. Philemon is not a treatise on slavery. It gives no programme for social reform. It does show how the gospel changes a relationship between slave and master from inside, by making them brothers, and that theme must be read beside Colossians 3:11 and Galatians 3:28.

Verses 1–3

Paul calls himself 'a prisoner of Christ Jesus', a title that is both literal and theological: he is held by Christ. Timothy is 'our brother'. Philemon is 'our beloved fellow worker'. Apphia is 'our sister', probably Philemon's wife, and Archippus 'our fellow soldier', perhaps their son or a leader of the church. The church 'that meets at your house' is also addressed. The greeting is 'Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ'.

Verses 4–7

Paul thanks God, remembering Philemon in his prayers, because he hears of his faith in the Lord Jesus and his love for all the saints. He prays that Philemon's 'partnership in the faith may become effective as you fully acknowledge every good thing that is ours in Christ'. The word for partnership is koinonia, shared life. He takes joy and encouragement in his love, because Philemon has 'refreshed the hearts of the saints'. The verb for refresh will return in verse 20.

Verses 8–14

'So although in Christ I am bold enough to order you to do what is proper, I prefer to appeal on the basis of love.' Paul adds that he is now aged, and a prisoner. Then he names the subject: 'I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whose father I became while I was in chains.' The name Onesimus means 'useful'. Paul plays on it: 'Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.' He sends him back, 'him who is my very heart'. He would have liked to keep him to minister to him in his chains, but would do nothing without Philemon's consent so that the kindness would not be forced.

Verses 15–16

'For perhaps this is why he was separated from you for a while, so that you might have him back for good.' The passive voice ('was separated') hints at God's purpose without saying so. The return is to be 'no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a beloved brother', beloved to Paul 'but even more so to you, both in person and in the Lord'. 'In person' (literally 'in the flesh') refers to the earthly relation and 'in the Lord' to the new one: Onesimus is both his slave and his brother in the Lord.

Verses 17–21

'So if you consider me a partner, receive him as you would receive me.' Paul uses the language of partnership again. 'But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to my account.' He writes in his own hand: 'I will repay it', and adds, without pressing, that Philemon owes him his very self, a reference to Philemon's conversion. 'Yes, brother, let me have some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ.' The closing sentence says he writes confident of Philemon's obedience, 'knowing that you will do even more than I ask'.

Verses 22–25

Paul asks for a guest room, hoping to be restored to them through their prayers, which gives Philemon a further reason to act well. Greetings come from Epaphras, 'my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus', and from Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke. The closing blessing, 'The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit', uses a plural 'your' in Greek, so it is addressed to the whole church and not to Philemon alone.

The letter shows the gospel working in a relationship of unequal status. The theological ground is not stated in Philemon but is clear from other letters: in Christ there is no slave or free (Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:11; 1 Corinthians 12:13). Paul does not say that the social difference has disappeared, since Onesimus is still a slave in verse 16 'in person', but he says the difference no longer defines how they stand to each other in the Lord. The new relationship is as brothers, and it calls for treatment appropriate to that.

• The second theme is reconciliation and forgiveness. Paul seeks the repair of a broken relationship, which fits the theme of reconciliation in Colossians 1:20-22.
• The third is Christian generosity and the use of authority. Paul has apostolic authority but does not use it. He wants a free response of love.
• The fourth is God's providence, the 'perhaps' of verse 15, in which a wrong event may serve a larger good without excusing the wrong.

The letter has a long history in Christian discussion of slavery. In the fourth century Gregory of Nyssa preached against the very idea of owning another human being, on the ground that humans are made in God's image. Later, opponents of the slave trade and of slavery in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries appealed to Philemon and to the equality in Christ. Others used the fact that Paul sent Onesimus back to defend the institution. Today most Christian traditions say that the letter does not teach that slavery is acceptable, and that the principle of brotherhood works against it.

Philemon does not discuss the person of Christ, but it shows his work in the form of a human action. In the central verses Paul stands between a wronged party and a debtor. He says that Philemon should receive Onesimus as he would receive Paul, and that any wrong or debt should be charged to Paul's account. Two actions are joined: the one who has standing takes the debtor's place, and the one wronged receives the debtor on the standing of the one who stands for him. Martin Luther, in the preface he wrote to the letter, saw in this a picture of what Christ has done for sinners with God the Father, and the picture has been used by many readers since. It is an illustration, not a proof, and Paul does not make the comparison himself.

The strongest links with Christ are made by other letters. Colossians 2:14 speaks of the record of debt nailed to the cross, and 1:20-22 of reconciliation by his blood. Paul's offer to pay is a small instance of the pattern. The Philemon letter also shows what it means to be 'in Christ': Paul speaks of every good thing that is theirs 'in Christ' (verse 6), of a brother beloved 'in the Lord' (verse 16), and of the heart refreshed 'in Christ' (verse 20). The Lord Jesus Christ is named as the source of grace and peace at the start and end of the letter.

Old Testament echoes are slight. The picture of a relative who pays to buy back a person in debt is found in the law of the kinsman-redeemer (Leviticus 25:47-49). Deuteronomy 23:15-16 forbids handing back an escaped slave to his master, which readers have set beside Paul's decision to send Onesimus home. These are echoes or points of comparison only: Paul cites no Scripture here.