Philemon — Introduction

[Philemon] was written at the same time as [Colossians]. Tychicus carried from Rome the two Epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians. Onesimus, his traveling companion, received from the prisoner of the Lord this personal letter to Philemon. It was therefore written at the same time as Colossians, during the first imprisonment of the Apostle Paul, about the year 61 or 62. … Onesimus, a slave, probably a Phrygian, who were considered the lowest of all, had run away from his master, Philemon, who was a Christian. It is more that probably that [Onesimus] had stolen money from Philemon (v.18). What happened to him in Rome and how he came in touch with Paul is not made known in the Epistle. … This we know, that he heard the gospel preached by the apostle, and believing, he was saved. He then told the apostle his story and Paul sent him back to his master with this precious letter. — Gaebelein, page 1088.

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Philemon was a convert of Paul and was evidently a wealthy man. He lived at Colosse. He had a house large enough to receive the Church; and he had slaves, among whom was Onesimus. He ran away, having most probably robbed his Master (vs. 11 and 13), and reached Rome. There he met the Apostle Paul … and was won by him to Christ. Onesimus, whose name in the Greek tongue means “profitable,” must have been a man of some energy and talent (v.11 and 13) both as a friend and as a minister of the Gospel. The Apostle would have willingly retained him as a colleague, but with a fine sense of what was due to his master, to law, to public opinion and to the Gospel, he sent him back to Philemon entreating that he might be received as Paul himself (vs. 12 and 17), and that he might be given his freedom (v.21). The Apostle’s promised visit (v.22) was an assurance to Onesimus of his master’s hoped-for forgiveness. — Williams, page 969.

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The backdrop of the whole story is, of course, the first-century Roman Empire. There were millions of slaves throughout the empire. Many slave-holders had ten or more, and not a few owned hundreds. These slaves were not of any particular race or nationality, but were composed of the people of Rome’s many conquered territories from the East to the West. Roman law governing slavery was quite severe toward the slave. They were considered nothing more than pieces of property to be bought, sold, and used for any purpose whatsoever. Life was not easy for slaves. They could be beaten for minor offenses and even crucified for running away. — KJV Commentary, page 1665.

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The primary purpose of this epistle is to reveal Christ’s love for us in what He did for us in pleading our cases before God. This is one of the finest illustrations of substitution. “If he hath wronged the, or oweth thee aught, put that on mine account” (v.16). We can hear Christ agreeing to take our place and to have all our sin imputed to Him. He took our place in death, but He gives us His place in life. “If thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself” (v.17). We have the standing of Christ before God, or we have no standing at all. Onesimus, the unprofitable runaway slave, was to be received as Paul, the great apostle, would have been received in the home of Philemon. — McGee, page 183.

The resources I’m using for this study:

Gaebelein’s Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible, by Arno C. Gaebelein — Loizeaux Brothers (Gaebelein)

Grace Study Bible — Berean Bible Society (Grace)

King James Bible Commentary — Thomas Nelson Publishers (KJBC)

First and Second Timothy Titus Philemon, by J. Vernon McGee — Thomas Nelson (McGee)

Williams’ Complete Bible Commentary, by George Williams — Kregel Publications (Williams)

When I quote from these works, I will use the word in the parentheses.