Observations on Philemon
(avg. read time: 2–4 mins.)
Honestly, when I first considered doing the challenge for this year of writing at least one entry on every book of the NT, I knew Philemon would provide the most difficulty. I have had to cut out ideas I had for topics on other books to fit everything to the schedule, but there was only ever going to be one entry on Philemon. I simply do not have as much to write about it at this point without addressing the obvious thing everyone writes about with it, which I currently cannot write in as much depth as I would like to. And I could not do my typical thing with Paul’s letters and write something about resurrection related to it because the letter is so short and the connection to resurrection so indirect that I could not make what I would consider a sufficiently long entry about it. With those avenues cut off for an entire post, my best resort is simply to write some observations about the letter.
Philemon stands out from Paul’s other letters in a number of ways. Unlike most of his letters, it is not directed to the general instruction of an assembly of Christians. The primary addressee is one person, but even from the opening we can see that it is addressed to multiple people: Philemon, Apphia (his wife), Archippus, and the church in Philemon’s house (2). That sets it apart from the Pastorals, which are addressed to only one person each. With it being so different and so short, it is understandable that it has often, as with the standard canonical order today, been placed at the end of the collection of Paul’s letters. But in commentaries it is often treated with Colossians, as certain people are mentioned in both letters. These people include Onesimus (Col 4:9; Phlm 10), Archippus (Col 4:17; Phlm 2), Epaphras (Col 1:7; 4:12–13; Phlm 23), Aristarchus (Col 4:10; Phlm 24), Mark (Col 4:10; Phlm 24), Demas (Col 4:14; Phlm 24), and Luke (Col 4:14; Phlm 24). It is a matter of mere speculation because the name “Onesimus” was common, but it could be that the Onesimus who was bishop of Ephesus in the time of Ignatius of Antioch (Eph. 1:3; 2:1; 6:2) is the same one as this Onesimus, as they both lived in the area and it would line up if Onesimus was a young man in the mid-50s that he could be an old bishop in ~110 CE. But again, this is speculation.
As I said above, one reason I am not inclined to write at length about slavery in Philemon is that everyone who writes about Philemon writes about it. I may address the subject at more length another time if I find some other treatment of it either especially wrong-headed (thus giving me material to respond to) or especially helpful to convey to my audience. After all, slavery was quite the complex institution across the centuries and settings in which the Bible was written (including indentured servitude, chattel slavery, public slavery, the many types of outcomes of slavery for captives, the many means of manumission, and so on), and obviously there were situations in which either the master, the servant, or both could be Christians. Here, we have a case where both are, and Paul provides an example of how to navigate the power dynamics in thinking messianically about this matter (as he did also in Ephesians). However this whole relationship got started, they are master and slave at the moment, but that is not the primary definition of their relationship. The real definer is the fact that they are brothers who share the identity and implications of being “in Christ” (10–17). Paul himself exemplifies how to navigate such power dynamics, because he has authority over Philemon but does not press it, instead appealing to him out of love as a brother in Christ (7–9).
In fact, at no point does Paul directly appeal to his apostolic status. He first identifies himself as a prisoner for Christ Jesus (1). He continues to identify himself throughout the letter as being in prison (9, 13, 23). His imprisonment actually points to the source of his authority as deriving from the gospel, for he is imprisoned because of his faithful testimony to the gospel (13). He is thereby demonstrating what it means to persevere in suffering faithfulness, which has as its goal our conformity to Christ by conformity to his resurrection. He never appeals to his apostleship by title, but in light of what he has said about his apostleship elsewhere, we can see that his imprisonment embodies his apostolic duty. He is a brother to both Philemon and Onesimus (7, 16, 20) precisely because of his apostolic work in proclaiming the gospel and their reception of the same. He also embodies it in how he appeals for reconciliation and living in light of the same between them. We love because God first loved us, and we forgive because he first forgave us. And so these same dynamics continue down the chain, as Paul tells Philemon to charge any wrong to his account, though he could remind him that Philemon himself owes him (17–19).