Slavery and profitability

I am a slow starter on Philemon. Middle of August and no blog from me yet.

So, I turned to commentaries on the Internet and found Enduring Word commentary which caught my attention.

The first thing I noted was the possible influence on the letter by the one who was probably Onesimus’ wife, Appia. (This article presumes that the other addressee of the letter was probably the son, Archippus.) The writer points out that in those days the wife was the supervisor of the slaves in the household. So the business concerned her as well. For this letter is about business as well as love and the need of Paul for the help he receives from this slave.

The writer quotes:

Regarding the escaped slave, “She is as much a party to the decision as her husband, because according to the custom of the time, she had day-to-day responsibility for the slaves.” (Rupprecht)

What about the son? I ask. The thought that comes to me is that perhaps Archippus and Onesimus were of a similar age and they had played together as children.

I gather that Paul wasn’t asking for ownership of a slave who was very helpful to him. Possibly he could not afford to buy him. Which brings the question, How did Paul pay for all his travels?

So, we have the interesting question of profitability. Onesimus is not profitable to Philemon because he has run away. He has been profitable to Paul because of his service to him – and the fact that he has accepted Christianity. He may go forward in the faith and spread the word. And, because he knows that Philemon loves Paul, he must appreciate and value the service Onesimus gives him. And Philemon must love the fact that while he cannot serve Paul at this time, his servant is doing that in his stead.

Hello! Onesimus means profitable! Paul gives a play on the name and sees that now he is a Christian he can now live up to his name.

Of interest: There were at least 60 million slaves in the Roman Empire.

Joyce Voysey