The Epistle of Paul to Philemon

Philemon was a member of the church at Colosse. Onesimus had been one of Philemon's slaves who had run away. It appears that he somehow traveled to Rome where he found Paul and was converted to Christ. He had become very dear to Paul, and was proving to be very useful

The letter is beleived to have been written sometime between 61-65 AD. In ancient greek Onesimos, means "useful or profitable". Paul is offering a subtle and implicit wordplay on the name of Philemon's runaway slave Onesimus by referring to him as "the one once useless to you, but now useful to you and to me. Paul follows this wordplay up a few verses later (Phlm 20) with a wordplay on Onesimus's name: in his exclamation to Philemon "may I gain some use from you" -he uses a rare verbal form of the word at the root of Onesimus's name, which is attested only here in the New Testament. By "gaining some use" Paul means that he wishes to gain the services of Mr. Useful.

Sermons by Pastor Mike Amo 2019

Philemon 2019 - Reconciliation through brotherly Love