Onesimus (Bible)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Papyrus 87 , the oldest fragment of Philemon's letter

Onesimus (bl. Around 53/55 AD) is a slave mentioned in the New Testament who was baptized by Paul .

Surname

Onesimus, Greek Ὀνήσιμος Onḗsimos , "the useful one" was a typical slave name that is attested 185 times among Roman slaves, for example.

Onesimus in Philemon's Letter

The following details of his biography, which can be interpreted in different ways, can be found in the Philemon letter :

  1. Onesimus is Philemon's slave;
  2. Onesimus and Philemon were separated (ἐχωρίσθη echōrísthē , Phlm 15  EU );
  3. Perhaps Onesimus wronged Philemon and owes him something;
  4. Paul, who is in captivity, baptized Onesimus;
  5. Paul sends the onesimus back to Philemon, although he had other plans for him.

Onesimus as a fugitive slave ( fugitivus )

This interpretation can be considered classic; it was already represented by John Chrysostom : “Onesimus had committed a theft from his master and had escaped. [...] So he came to see Paul in Rome, found him in prison, was instructed by him in Christian doctrine and was also baptized there. " Joseph Barber Lightfoot added the description of fugitivi in the ancient comedy and combined: With that Theft was financed the escape. “He was a thief and runaway . [...] Apparently he had done exactly what the vulgar slave of Roman comedy threatened to do when he got into trouble: he had grabbed some valuables and ran away. "

This interpretation is fraught with difficulties, which is why it was first questioned by John Knox (1935) and then by several exegetes in the 20th century. It is unclear how it was possible that Onesimus and Paul met in prison. If Onesimus had already been caught and imprisoned, Paul had no choice between “sending him back” or keeping him with him. If Onesimus was still at liberty, it is incomprehensible why, instead of going into hiding, he visited Paul in prison. It was extremely risky for him.

Onesimus as a helper to the imprisoned apostle

Sara C. Winter (1987) developed this interpretation model. The separation was not an escape. Philemon sent his slave Onesimus to Paul to provide food and clothing for the imprisoned apostle, which was a necessary measure in ancient prisons. Paul would have liked to keep the messenger with him permanently as an assistant, but asked the slave owner whether he was willing and possibly also ready for a manumissio .

Against this interpretation, the fact that Paul expressly characterizes Onesimus as a previously useless slave ( Phlm 11  EU ). It is unlikely that Philemon or the entire local church would have entrusted the Onesimus with a job that required reliability.

Onesimus as " drifting around" ( erro )

Based on ancient legal texts, Peter Lampe suggested interpreting the behavior of Onesimus as a request for intervention from a friend of his master ( amicus domini ). He would have moved away from Philemon without permission, but not to go into hiding, but to win Paul over as an advocate. Lampe is thinking here of a material damage that Onesimus caused and which aroused violent anger in Philemon, so that Onesimus sought out Paul and asked him to appease his master. It was an option for slaves; the unauthorized removal was not assessed as an escape, but as a drifting around.

Peter Doktor-Grabner advocates a variant of this type of interpretation and assumes that Onesimus was a notorious “ drifting around” ( erro ) and Paulus intervened to settle the ongoing conflict between slave owners and slaves: he sent Onesimus back with a letter of recommendation. A special point of the interpretation of Arzt-Grabner is that Paul suggested to Philemon to treat the slave Onesimus as his (business) partner (κοινωνός koinōnós ) in the future , which presupposes a certain economic margin of maneuver .

Onesimus as the biological brother of Philemon

This interpretation, a minority opinion, understands the relationship between Philemon and Onesimus as a conflict among brothers, with the inferior position in which Onesimus finds himself metaphorically referred to as slavery; Here too, with his letter, Paul acts as a mediator and mediator. First represented by Allan D. Callaghan in 1993, it was taken up again by Norbert Baumert in 2001.

Onesimus in Colossians

According to Col 4,9  EU , Onesimus, the “faithful and dear brother” in the Christian community of Colossai was a well-known person, possibly with an important function. It should be noted, however, that Onesimus was a frequent slave name and the identity with the Onesimus named in Philemon can therefore not be considered as secure.

Peter Lampe, on the other hand, thinks that if one (like the majority of exegetes) takes the Letter to the Colossians to be the writing of a student of Paul, the close connection to the Letter to Philemon and thus the identity of the two people named Onesimus must be inferred. Philemon had therefore fulfilled Paul's wish and welcomed Onesimus again in a friendly manner in his house.

Web links

literature

  • Peter Arzt-Grabner: Philemon (= Papyrological Commentaries on the New Testament . Volume 1) Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2003. ISBN 3-525-51000-4 .
  • Allen Dwight Callaghan: Embassy of Onesimus: The Letter of Paul to Philemon . Trinity Press, Valley Forge 1997. ISBN 1-56338-147-8 .
  • Martin Ebner : The letter to Philemon (= Evangelical-Catholic Commentary on the New Testament . Volume XVIII). Patmos-Verlag, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Ostfildern and Göttingen 2017, ISBN 978-3-7887-3107-6 .
  • Peter Lampe: The letter to Philemon . In: Nikolaus Walter, Eckart Reinmuth, Peter Lampe: The letters to the Philippians, Thessalonians and Philemon (= New Testament German . Volume 8/2, revision) Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1998. ISBN 978-3-525-51381- 1 . ( PDF )
  • Joseph Barber Lightfoot: Saint Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon: a revised text with introductions, notes, and dissertations . Reprint of the first edition from 1879, Zondervan, Grand Rapids 1880 ( digitized version )
  • Peter Müller: The letter to Philemon (= critical-exegetical commentary on the New Testament . Volume 9/3) Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2001. ISBN 978-3-525-51637-9 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Assuming that Paul was imprisoned in Ephesus, during which Paul and Onesimus met. The fact that the apostle was imprisoned in Ephesus is concluded from circumstantial evidence and is uncertain.
  2. ^ Peter Arzt-Grabner: Philemon , Göttingen 2003, p. 86.
  3. ↑ Martin Ebner: The letter to Philemon . Ostfildern and Göttingen 2017, p. 8.
  4. ↑ John Chrysostom: Homilies on the Letter to Philemon, Introduction. In: Library of the Church Fathers. Retrieved April 7, 2019 .
  5. ^ John Barber Lightfoot: Saint Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon . Zondervan, Grand Rapids 1880, p. 312.
  6. ↑ Peter Arzt-Grabner: Philemon , Göttingen 2003, p. 102.
  7. ↑ Martin Ebner: The letter to Philemon . Ostfildern and Göttingen 2017, p. 10. Peter Müller: The letter to Philemon , Göttingen 2001, p. 128.
  8. ↑ Martin Ebner: The letter to Philemon . Ostfildern and Göttingen 2017, p. 11.
  9. ↑ Peter Arzt-Grabner: Philemon , Göttingen 2003, p. 102.
  10. ↑ Peter Lampe: The letter to Philemon . Göttingen 1998, p. 206.
  11. ↑ Peter Arzt-Grabner: Philemon , Göttingen 2003, p. 108.
  12. ↑ Peter Arzt-Grabner: Philemon , Göttingen 2003, p. 230.
  13. ↑ Martin Ebner: The letter to Philemon . Ostfildern and Göttingen 2017, p. 14.
  14. ^ Peter Arzt-Grabner: Onesimus . Göttingen 1998, p. 1.
  15. ↑ Peter Lampe: The letter to Philemon . Göttingen 1998, p. 218.
personal data
SURNAME Onesimus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION slave mentioned in the New Testament
DATE OF BIRTH 1st century BC BC or 1st century
DATE OF DEATH 1st century