Paul calls Onesimus to emon teknon, “my child,” thus acknowledging a relationship between
the slave and himself, which has not previously existed. Teknon expresses here not a physical but a symbolic relationship,
as in 1 Cor 4:14–15, 17. The conversion of Onesimus was God’s work, but God
often works through human agents; in this case, through Paul, who regards
himself as a father in Christ to Onesimus; cf. Gal 4:19. Carson contrasts Paul,
the onetime Pharisee and heir of Jewish exclusiveness and remoteness, with the
Gentile slave, “from the very dregs of Roman society” (Colossians and Philemon, 108), with whom Paul now associates
himself, in order to bring out the meaning of “my child.”
Nomen est omen (the name is an omen),
and Paul is playing on the meaning of Onēsimos
and its relation to achrēston later
in the verse. The name Onēsimos means
“useful, profitable one,” and it was in current use at the time Paul writes. A.
L. Connolly has listed about sixty instances of its use in various
inscriptions, a third of which come from Ephesus, and many others from Asia
Minor (NDIEC 4 [1987] 179–81). It was
often used for slaves (e.g. Menander, Epitrepontes
2a; Galen, De optima doctrina 1.82; P. Cair.
Zen. 2 [1926] 59148 and 59285; cf. Lightfoot, Colossians and Philemon, 308–9) and thus described their worth to
their owners or masters. It was, however, a name often borne also by many
freemen. As a name of a slave, it was similar to others: Karpos (= fruit[ful]), Chrēsimos
(= useful), Chrēstos (= good,
profitable), Onēsiphoros (= bringing
profit), Symphoros (= suitable,
profitable). For examples of Latin Onesimus
as a slave name, see CIL, 3. 323
§2146; 3. 359 §2723; 3. 986 §6107.
whose father I have
become in my imprisonment. Lit. “whom I have begotten in chains,” or “in my
chains,” if one follows the reading en
tois desmois mou of MSS א2, C, D1, Ψ, 0278, 1739. Paul has
begotten Onesimus, because Onesimus has been converted to Christian faith
through his instrumentality. Being a child begotten by the imprisoned Paul, the
Christian Onesimus is especially dear to Paul.
For instances of Paul referring to himself as
“father” to other Christian converts, see 1 Cor 4:14–15, 17; Gal 4:19; cf. 1
Pet 1:3. The same image is found in Essene texts (1QH 7:20–21: the Teacher of
Righteousness says in a hymn to God, “You have made me a father for the
children of kindness”; cf. CD 13:9). In later rabbinic literature, a teacher
who instructs others in Tôrāh is
called a father (b. Sanhedrin 19b; cf. Str-B, 3. 339), and a
convert to Judaism is compared to a “child just born” (b. Yebamot 22a). Compare
2 Kgs 2:12; Philo, Leg. ad Gaium 8
§58).
Another possible translation would be “whom I have
begotten as Onesimus.” It would, then, play even more so on the meaning of the
slave’s name, but it would not necessarily mean that “Onesimus” was the
Christian name given to the new convert, as Knox would have it (Philemon among the Letters, 24–25). As
R. P. Martin has said, “It is just as likely that he became true to his slave
name at this time” (Colossians and
Philemon, 164).
The form Onēsimon
is accusative, which means that it does not stand in apposition to genitive teknou, “child.” It is found in the
Greek text after the masculine accusative relative pronoun, and perhaps that is
why it is accusative, attracted to the pronoun hon, the object of the verb egennēsa,
“I have begotten” (Lightfoot compares Mark 6:16: hon egō apekephalisa Iōannēn). After the pronoun hon, some MSS (A, 69) and the Syriac
Harclean version add egō, which
merely emphasizes the subject of the verb egennēsa,
but its absence in other MSS may be owing to haplography (from egō egennēsa). (Joseph
A. Fitzmyer, The Letter of Philemon: A New Translation with Introduction and
Commentary [AYB 34C; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008], 107-8)