Bible Dictionaries
Onesimus

Holman Bible Dictionary

(oh nehss' ih muhss) Personal name that may mean, “profitable.” The slave for whom Paul wrote his letter to Philemon. In the epistle, Paul pled with Philemon to free the servant because Onesimus had been so helpful to the apostle. Onesimus had robbed his master, escaped, met Paul, and accepted Christ. In sending him back to Philemon, Paul urged the owner to treat the slave as a Christian brother (Genesis 38:16 ).

Later, Onesimus accompanied Thychius in bearing Paul's letter to the church at Colossae (Colossians 4:7-9 ). Two traditions connect Onesimus with a bishop of that name in the second-century church, and with Onesiphorus in 2 Timothy 1:16 . Neither connection has been proven satisfactorily. See Philemon .