Onesimus

About Onesimus

Onesimus appears in Paul's letter to Philemon as the person for whom Paul makes a personal appeal. Paul, writing from imprisonment, calls him his child and asks Philemon to welcome him as a beloved brother rather than merely as a slave. The letter reveals Paul's appeal and relationship with Onesimus, but gives no birthplace, life dates, or account of what happened afterward.

Colossians names an Onesimus with Tychicus and calls him a faithful, beloved brother who is ‘one of you.’ The USCCB note links this mention with Philemon, a conventional identification that the texts themselves do not explain. The early letters do not establish a later office or manner of death; those belong to later church tradition and are not treated here as verified biography.

The Orthodox Church in America commemorates Onesimus on February 15, while the older Roman Martyrology lists him on February 16. These are distinct calendar observances, not known dates of death. The brief early references leave most of his later life uncertain.