Encyclopedia entry
Onesimus
Useful, a slave who, after robbing his master Philemon (q.v.) at Colosse, fled to Rome, where he was converted by the apostle Paul, who sent him back to his master with the epistle which bears his name. In it he beseeches Philemon to receive his slave as a “faithful and beloved brother.” Paul offers to pay to Philemon anything his slave had taken, and to bear the wrong he had done him. He was accompanied on his return by Tychicus, the bearer of the Epistle to the Colossians (Philemon 1:16, 18).
Read full account →↑
The story of this fugitive Colossian slave is a remarkable evidence of the freedom of access to the prisoner which was granted to all, and “a beautiful illustration both of the character of St. Paul and the transfiguring power and righteous principles of the gospel.”
Also from Smith's (1884) +−
(profitable, useful), the name of the servant or slave in whose behalf Paul wrote the Epistle to Philemon. He was a native, or certainly an inhabitant, of Colosse. (Colossians 4:9) (A.D. 58.) He fled from his master end escaped to Rome, where he was led to embrace the gospel through Paul’s instrumentality. After his conversion the most happy and friendly relations sprung up between the teacher and disciple. Whether Paul desired his presence as a personal attendant or as a minister of the gospel is not certain from verse 13 of the epistle.
In the Bible
2
Verses where Onesimus is named. Berean Standard Bible (public domain).
- Colossians 4:9
With him I am sending Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you about everything here.
- Philemon 1:10
I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whose father I became while I was in chains.
Scripture on Onesimus
2
Entries that reference Onesimus
1
Voices on Onesimus
2
Surfaced by name match — accuracy varies by title clarity.
Sources · Hitchcock's Bible Names (1869) · Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897) · Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884)
Public-domain text. Modernized only where archaic spelling impedes reading; original facts preserved. Verify against an authoritative modern reference before quoting.