Onesimus, a Friend of the Apostle Paul, Brought from Rome to Ephesus

Onesimus, a servant of Philemon, a Colossian by descent, had run away from his master and had come to Rome. There he was recognized by the apostle Paul, then a prisoner in that city, and sent back to his master with letters of recommendation urging reconciliation, as may be seen in Paul's epistle to Philemon, in which Paul calls him his son, whom he had begotten in his bonds. Philemon, verse 10.

He also carried a certain letter of Paul from the prison at Rome to the church at Colosse; for in the conclusion of the epistle to the Colossians we read: [n139-1]

"Sent from Rome through Tychicus and Onesimus." Colossians 4, after verse 18.

It appears, therefore, that he was a beloved friend and faithful servant of the apostle Paul, even though he had left his outward service in the house of Philemon. He also, after he was sincerely converted, was not allowed to finish his course without persecution, sufferings, and a violent death; but had to tread, after the example of his Savior, the wine press of suffering. According to the testimony of ancient historians, he was carried away bound from Ephesus to Rome, and there stoned to death, under Trajan and the judge Tertullus, shortly after the death of Ignatius, in the year 111. See above. The same author, in the same place, from the Acts of Metaphrastes; the Roman Martyrology, February 16. Also, Ado. [n139-2]