St. Onesimus the Slave

Onesimus (meaning "useful") was a Christian mentioned in the New Testament. He was a slave to Philemon, a Christian, and is the subject of Paul's Epistle to Philemon. He may also be the same Onesimus mentioned by Ignatius of Antioch (died c. 107) as bishop in Ephesus. Eastern Orthodox tradition also list an Onesimus as the third bishop of Byzantium.

The name "Onesimus" appears in two of Paul's epistles. The Epistle to Philemon was written by Paul the Apostle to Philemon concerning a runaway slave named Onesimus. Onesimus turned up where Paul was imprisoned (Rome or Caesarea Maritima) to escape punishment for a theft of which he was accused. 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.

Paul is offering a subtle and implicit wordplay on the name of Philemon’s runaway slave Onesimus (“Useful”) by referring to him as “the one once useless to you, but now useful to you and to me.” Paul follows this wordplay up a few verses later

In the Epistle to the Colossians 4:9 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.

Tradition tells us that Onesimus became Bishop of Ephesus after Timothy’s death. The Orthodox also regard him as the Bishop of Byzantium. He died a martyr’s death under Emperor Trajan. His memorial is kept on February 17.