Philemon

About this book

Philemon is the shortest and most personal of Paul's letters, a single page written from prison to a Christian slaveholder in Colossae. Onesimus, a slave of Philemon, had left and somehow come into Paul's company, where he came to faith in Christ. Paul now sends him back, carrying this letter. Rather than giving an order, Paul appeals to love and asks Philemon to welcome Onesimus no longer merely as a slave but as a beloved brother, and to count any debt against Paul's own account. The letter does not directly call for abolishing slavery, and readers have long discussed why. Yet it plants an idea that undermines the whole system: in Christ, master and slave are family. Its quiet lesson is that the gospel reshapes relationships through forgiveness, generosity and costly love, and it shows Paul practicing what he preaches about reconciliation.

Author

The apostle Paul, writing with Timothy; this is widely accepted.

Date

Probably the early 60s AD, from a Roman imprisonment, though some suggest Ephesus or Caesarea.

Audience

Philemon, a believer in Colossae, along with Apphia, Archippus and the church in his house.

Themes

Outline

1. 1:1–1:3Greeting
2. 1:4–1:7Thanksgiving for Philemon's love
3. 1:8–1:16The appeal for Onesimus
4. 1:17–1:22Welcome him as you would welcome me
5. 1:23–1:25Final greetings and blessing

Key verses