Philemon

Jul 23

About Philemon

“Most Christians have never studied Philemon; many have never heard it taught or preached. It is short—in the New Testament only 2 and 3 John are shorter; it is private—addressed to a fellow worker, but in his private capacity; and it is obscure—scholars are not quite sure just what it is about. No wonder it suffers from neglect. Yet God has providentially seen to it that this short, private, and obscure letter is included in the canon of authoritative Christian Scripture.”

About the Author of Philemon

In the first verse of the letter to Philemon, it says, ”Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker (NIV).”

About the Audience and Background

Although this letter is called Philemon, the first two verses show us that it is addressed to three individuals and a church.

“Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved fellow worker and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Philemon 1:1-2, ESV).”

Philemon
Apphia
Archippus
The church in Philemon’s household

If we have more than one addressee mentioned in the letter, why do we not identify all three and the church as the recipients of the letter? Greek is not grammatically structured the same as English. In Greek, the most important work, or in this case person, is written first. It is significant that Philemon is the first name mentioned. It is worth noting that every “you” and the verbal forms used in vv. 4–22a and vv. 23–24 is in the singular form. This can easily be lost in the English because we use the word “you” when addressing one person (singular) or when addressing a gathering of people (plural). The letter primarily focuses on personal matters rather than ministry issues. Given these reasons, it seems reasonable to consider Philemon as primarily a ”private” letter.

“At the same time, we should not overlook the fact that Paul chooses to include two other individuals and the whole church that meets in Philemon’s house in his address. And this is not just a literary convention, as the switch to second-person plural forms in vv. 22b (“your prayers”) and v. 25 (“your spirit”) reveals. This does not turn the letter into a “public” letter, or an official “apostolic” document. Yet it does suggest that our notion of Philemon as a “private individual” or of his handling of the Onesimus situation as a “private matter” needs rethinking. We may be injecting into the first-century Christian community a contrast of “private” versus “public” that was simply not present there. Indeed, we will suggest that one of the enduring and extremely relevant teachings of Philemon is the degree to which Christians are bound to one another in all their activities through their common faith. Paul’s inclusion of the whole church in the address of the letter is not simply, then, a way of putting greater pressure on Philemon (“you had better do as I say or all the church will know you have scorned me”). It is the reflection of a social and theological reality of the early Christian community.”

Onesimus, the slave of Philemon, is mentioned in Colossians 4:9 and is said to be “one of you,” which leads us to believe that Philemon is a resident of Colossae. (See introduction to Colossians for more details on this place.) “Paul, then, has written a general letter to the church at Colossae along with this “private” note to Philemon at the same time, sending both of them with Tychicus, who is accompanied by Onesimus (Col. 4:7–9).”

This letter is written to Philemon about his slave Onesimus. We need to take a deeper look at what slavery. Meant in this context.

During the time of Rome, there was a lot of slavery. From the beginning, the government was accepting of it, and at times, promoted it. It was during the first century that slavery began to look different. Public sentiment strongly condemned the cruel treatment of slaves, and numerous prominent speakers voiced their opposition to the institution as a whole. This led to numerous masters choosing to emancipate their slaves. However, freed slaves discovered that their social situation was more favorable prior to their freedom.

Rome’s military advances were the source of providing slaves. When the army would return home, they would bring back thousands of captives who were sold to citizens to “increase the investments of private citizens who supported the army.” There are some reports that report as many as 10,000 slaves being sold per day in Delos. It was not just wars where the slaves came from. The slave traders were known to kidnap people and sell them into slavery, too.

“Some people became slaves because of crimes they committed, by birth, by failure to pay debts, or by choice. Initially, most slaves were barbarians, with little to offer other than physical strength. As Roman armies advanced, however, slave resources included the highly skilled and educated. These slaves brought a higher price and undertook quite responsible positions in the government or the home. They were treated in accord with their value to the owner, and many lived quite well.”

Slaves were not always treated well. At one point, slaves were viewed as property, not humans. The owner had the right to do whatever they saw fit. For example, they could sell their slaves, punish and torture them, and even kill them for no reason.

In the first two centuries B.C., there was a series of uprisings, and concerned philosophers encouraged and brought on more humane treatment. Laws protecting slaves came on soon after.

“At the beginning of the empire a Lex Petronia (law) forbade a master to give his slave to the beasts of the amphitheater without a judgment to do so. Claudius (mid-first century a.d.) decreed that abandoned sick slaves should be freed. Shortly thereafter, Nero instituted a legal procedure for hearing the complaints of injustice brought by slaves against their masters. Domitian (a.d. 83) forbade a master to castrate his slaves and set the penalty for doing so at half the offender’s property. In the second century, reforms continued. Hadrian forbade the selling of slaves to the trainer of gladiators and also required a review of the death penalty for slaves before a master could enforce it himself. Finally, at the end of the second century, Antoninus Pius condemned as homicide the slaying of a slave by the sole order of his master.”

It should be noted that slaves were not always treated poorly. Some were treated well and were even considered part of the family.

“Some were given high-level management positions in households; they were entrusted with the education of sons; they provided health care for their masters; and they handled delicate financial matters for the family. Valued slaves often were loved and protected. Some were allowed to marry, own property, develop financial resources, and will their estates to whom they would. Practically, slaves were an investment, and few could afford to abuse them. The religions had a more consistent attitude toward the institution. The people recognized that slaves had souls, and all religions welcomed them into their fellowships. A slave could even practice a religion different from his master. To find slaves in the New Testament church, whether their masters chose to follow Christ, would be no surprise. In this social setting, the early church lived with slavery. It was a fact of life. Christianity recognized the evils of the institution and spoke against it mildly, but the religions in general had little to do with social change. ‘It would have been too much to expect these religions to have advocated the abolition of slavery as an institution (although some of the church fathers indeed demanded just that).’”

Why did Paul write this letter?

This letter, although short, is still important. Paul writes to Philemon and implores him to forgive and receive his slave, Onesimus, who ran away.