Colossians 4:9 – Once More on Onesimus

9 together with Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They shall make known to you all things here.

Paul mentions Onesimus in the letter to the Colossians in only a few words. Only the letter to Philemon reveals his remarkable background. Apparently, both letters were taken to Colossae at the same time. Precisely for that reason, they complement one another, and Paul’s commendation of Onesimus takes on added significance.

The letter to Philemon shows that Onesimus was a slave of Philemon who had apparently run away and, during his stay with Paul, had become a believer through Paul’s proclamation (Philemon 10–16). His name means “useful.” Paul plays on this by writing that Onesimus was formerly “useless,” but now is “useful” both to Philemon and to himself (Philemon 11). Now he returns to Colossae, not only with the letter to Philemon, but also as a co-messenger of the letter to the Colossians. Together with Tychicus, he will report to the ecclesia “all things here.”

What is striking is that in the letter to the Colossians, Paul does not say a single word about Onesimus’s past. He simply introduces him as “the faithful and beloved brother.” The letter to Philemon shows just how remarkable that is. What Paul explicitly asks of Philemon there, he is already putting into practice here: Onesimus is not presented in terms of his past, but in terms of who he has become through God’s grace.

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