Onesimus

This article is about the biblical figure. For other uses, see Onesimus (disambiguation).

Saint Onesimus
Bishop of Byzantium
Saint Onesimus
Installed	54 AD
Term ended	68 AD
Predecessor	Stachys the Apostle
Successor	Polycarpus I of Byzantium
Personal details
Died	c. 107 AD
Denomination	Early Christianity

Onesimus
Painting depicting death of Onesimus, from the Menologion of Basil II (c. 1000 AD)
The Holy Apostle Onesimus Bishop of Byzantium
Died	Rome (then Roman province)
Venerated in	Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church Oriental Orthodox Church Lutheranism
Feast	15 February (formerly 16 February in the West)

Onesimus (Ancient Greek: Ὀνήσιμος, romanized: Onēsimos, meaning "useful"; died c. 107 AD, according to Catholic tradition),^[1] also called Onesimus of Byzantium and The Holy Apostle Onesimus in the Eastern Orthodox Church,^[2] was a slave^[3] to Philemon, a man of Christian faith. He may also be the same Onesimus named by Ignatius of Antioch (died c. 107) as bishop in Ephesus^[4] which would put Onesimus's death closer to 107. If so, Onesimus went from slave to brother to bishop.

In Scripture

The name "Onesimus" appears in two New Testament epistles — in Colossians 4 and in Philemon. In Colossians 4:9^[5] a person of this name is identified as a Christian accompanying Tychicus to visit the Christians in Colossae; nothing else is stated about him in this context. He may well be the freed Onesimus from the Epistle to Philemon.

The Epistle to Philemon was written by Paul the Apostle to Philemon concerning a person believed to be a runaway slave named Onesimus. The traditional designation of Onesimus as a slave is doubted by some modern scholars.^[6] Onesimus turned up where Paul was imprisoned (most probably Rome or Caesarea Maritima)^[7] to escape punishment for a theft of which he was accused.^[8] After hearing the Gospel from Paul, Onesimus converted to Christianity. Paul, having earlier converted Philemon to Christianity, sought to reconcile the two by writing the letter to Philemon which today exists in the New Testament.^[9] The letter reads (in part):

I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains, who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me. I am sending him back. You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart, whom I wished to keep with me, that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel. But without your consent I wanted to do nothing, that your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary. For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave — a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

— Paul of Tarsus to Philemon, Epistle to Philemon 1:10-16 (NKJV)

In tradition

Though this is questioned by authorities such as Joseph Fitzmyer,^[10] it may be the case that this Onesimus was the same one consecrated a bishop by the Apostles, and who accepted the episcopal throne in Ephesus^[11] following Timothy. Whether in the reign of Roman emperor Domitian or the persecution of Trajan, Onesimus was imprisoned in Rome. He may have been martyred by stoning (some sources claim he was beheaded). However, since the reign of Domitian was from 81 AD to 96 AD, and that of Trajan lasted to 117, Onesimus' death would have to fall within these years and not in 68, as above.

Veneration

Onesimus is regarded as a saint by many Christian denominations.

Lutheran Churches

The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod commemorates him and Philemon on 15 February.^[12]

Eastern Orthodox Church

The Eastern Orthodox Church commemorates Onesimus on a variety of dates:

• 15 February: Primary Feast Day;^[13]
• 4 January: Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles.^[14]
• 6 July: The Apostles Philemon, Archippus, and Onesimus.^[15]
• 22 November: The Apostles Philemon, Archippus, Onesimus, and equal-to-the-apostles Apphia.^[16]

Catholic Church

The traditional Western commemoration of Onesimus is on 16 February.^[17] But in the 2004 edition of the Roman Martyrology, Onesimus is listed under 15 February. There, he is described as "[a] runaway slave, whom the apostle Paul received to the faith of Christ while in prison, regarding him as a son of whom he had become father, as he himself wrote to Philemon, Onesimus's master".^[18]

Notes and references

1. "Onesimus". Ecumenic Patriarchate of Constantinople. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
2. "Apostle Onesimus of the Seventy", OCA
3. Philemon 1:15-16. For perhaps [Onesimus] was for this reason separated from you for a while, that you would have him back forever, no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. (New American Standard Bible (NASB))
4. Ignatius of Antioch (1919) [1900]. The Epistles of St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch. Translated by James Srawley (3rd ed.). Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. pp. 39–40. ... Onesimus, whose love surpasses words, in the flesh as your bishop. I pray that you may love him with a love according to Jesus Christ and that you may all be like him. For blessed is He Who granted unto you, worthy as you are, to possess such a bishop. (chapter 1)
5. Christian Bible: Colossians 4:9
6. Tolmie, D. F. (17 July 2009). "Onesimus – 'n wegloopslaaf? Oor die ontstaansituasie van die Filemonbrief" [Onesimus - a runaway slave? The origin of the Letter to Philemon]. Verbum et Ecclesia (in Afrikaans). 30 (1): 279–301. doi:10.4102/ve.v30i1.74. hdl:10520/EJC114225.
7. "The Letter to Philemon", Joseph Fitzmyer, S.J.; paragraph 5, pages 869-870, The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, 1989, Geoffrey Chapman
8. "Saint Onesimus at SQPN website". Archived from the original on 24 December 2006. Retrieved 15 January 2007.
9. Christian Bible - Philemon verses 19-16
10. Fitzmyer paragraph 4
11. The Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians
12. Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, Lutheran Worship, Concordia Publishing House, 1982, updated by the same church's Lutheran Service Book, Concordia Publishing House, 2006.
13. "Lives of all saints commemorated on 15 February". Orthodox Church in America. Archived from the original on 27 August 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
14. "Lives of all saints commemorated on 4 January". Orthodox Church in America. Archived from the original on 27 August 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
15. "Calendar: 6 July". Orthochristian. Archived from the original on 18 July 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
16. "Lives of all saints commemorated on 22 November". Orthodox Church in America. Archived from the original on 27 August 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
17. Livingstone (2000), p. 414
18. Martyrologium Romanum, 2004, Vatican Press (Typis Vaticanis), p. 150.

See also

• Christianity and slavery, relative to Paul's attitude on slavery
• Onesimus (Bostonian), unrelated to the Bible, arguably the founder of modern inoculation

External links

• "St. Onesimus". catholic.org.
• "St. Onesimus". santiebeati.it (in Italian).

Titles of the Great Christian Church
Preceded by Stachys the Apostle	Bishop of Byzantium 54 – 68	Succeeded by Polycarpus I of Byzantium

v t e Bishops of Byzantium and Patriarchs of Constantinople
Bishops of Byzantium (Roman period, 38–330 AD)	Andrew Stachys Onesimus Polycarpus I Plutarch Sedecion Diogenes Eleutherius Felix Polycarpus II Athenodorus Euzois Laurence Alypius Pertinax Olympianus Marcus I Philadelphus Cyriacus I Castinus Eugenius I Titus Dometius Rufinus Probus Metrophanes Alexander
Archbishops of Constantinople (Roman period, 330–451 AD)	Alexander Paul I Eusebius Macedonius I Eudoxius Evagrius Demophilus Maximus I Gregory I Nectarius John I Chrysostom Arsacius Atticus Sisinnius I Nestorius Maximianus Proclus Flavian Anatolius
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Byzantine period, 451–1453 AD)	Anatolius Gennadius I Acacius Fravitta Euphemius Macedonius II Timothy I John II Epiphanius Anthimus I Menas Eutychius John III John IV Cyriacus II Thomas I Sergius I Pyrrhus Paul II Peter Thomas II John V Constantine I Theodore I George I Paul III Callinicus I Cyrus John VI Germanus I Anastasius Constantine II Nicetas I Paul IV Tarasius Nicephorus I Theodotus I Antony I John VII Methodius I Ignatios Photios I Stephen I Antony II Nicholas I Εuthymius I Stephen II Tryphon Theophylact Polyeuctus Βasil I Αntony III Nicholas II Sisinnius II Sergius II Eustathius Alexius Michael I Constantine III John VIII Cosmas I Eustratius Nicholas III John IX Leo Michael II Cosmas II Nicholas IV Theodotus II Neophytus I Constantine IV Luke Michael III Chariton Theodosius I Basil II Nicetas II Leontius Dositheus George II John X Michael IV^† Theodore II^† Maximus II^† Μanuel I^† Germanus II^† Methodius II^† Manuel II^† Arsenius^† Nicephorus II^† Germanus III Joseph I John XI Gregory II Athanasius I John XII Nephon I John XIII Gerasimus I Isaias John XIV Isidore I Callistus I Philotheus Macarius Nilus Antony IV Callistus II Matthew I Euthymius II Joseph II Metrophanes II Gregory III Athanasius II
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Ottoman period, 1453–1923 AD)	Gennadius II Isidore II Joasaph I Sophronius I Mark II Symeon I Dionysius I Raphael I Maximus III Nephon II Maximus IV Joachim I Pachomius I Theoleptus I Jeremias I Joannicius I Dionysius II Joasaph II Metrophanes III Jeremias II Pachomius II Theoleptus II Matthew II Gabriel I Theophanes I Meletius I Neophytus II Raphael II Cyril I Timothy II Gregory IV Anthimus II Cyril II Athanasius III Neophytus III Parthenius I Parthenius II Joannicius II Cyril III Paisius I Parthenius III Gabriel II Parthenius IV Dionysius III Clement Methodius III Dionysius IV Gerasimus II Athanasius IV James Callinicus II Neophytus IV Gabriel III Neophytus V Cyprianus Athanasius V Cyril IV Cosmas III Jeremias III (Callinicus III) Paisius II Seraphim I Neophytus VI Cyril V Callinicus IV (III) Seraphim II Joannicius III Samuel Meletius II Theodosius II Sophronius II Gabriel IV Procopius Neophytus VII Gerasimus III Gregory V Callinicus V (IV) Jeremias IV Cyril VI Eugenius II Anthimus III Chrysanthus Agathangelus Constantius I Constantius II Gregory VI Anthimus IV Anthimus V Germanus IV Meletius III Anthimus VI Cyril VII Joachim II Sophronius III Joachim III Joachim IV Dionysius V Neophytus VIII Anthimus VII Constantine V Germanus V Meletius IV
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Turkish period, since 1923 AD)	Gregory VII Constantine VI Basil III Photius II Benjamin Maximus V Athenagoras Demetrius Bartholomew
^† in exile at Nicaea Christianity portal