Gospel Doctrine: Tychicus, Onesimus, and Philemon

Tychicus, Onesimus, and Philemon
By John Tvedtnes

[Supplement to Gospel Doctrine New Testament lesson 40]

In his epistle to the Ephesians saints, Paul noted that one of the brethren with him, Tychicus, would be able to provide further details on his (Paul's) status (Ephesians 6:21-22). In his epistle to the Colossians, he said the same and added that Tychicus would be accompanied by Onesimus, who was from Colosse (Colossians 4:7-9). In this same epistle, Paul also sent greetings from Epaphrus, who was also a Colossian (Colossians 4:12; cf. 1:7).

Ephesus was the principal city of the Roman province of Asia, as were Colosse, Laodicea, and Hierapolis, all of which Paul named. In his letter to the Colossians, Paul mentioned the nearby towns of Hierapolis and Laodicea, and asked that the branches in Colosse and Laodicea share their respective letters with each other (Colossians 4:13, 15-16). ¹

Paul's second epistle to Timothy may have been written about the same time, for he wrote, “And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus” (2 Timothy 4:12). ²

Another contemporary Pauline epistle is the one he sent to Philemon, who lived in Colosse. Onesimus, whose name means “profitable, useful,” had been a slave to Philemon, but had fled. ³ Having encountered him, Paul taught and baptized him and he served as one of the missionaries accompanying the apostle. ⁴ He now felt it proper to return Onesimus to Philemon, by sending him with Tychicus.

The letter to Philemon explained the situation. Paul wrote,

I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds: ⁵

Which in time past was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me: ⁶

Whom I have sent again: thou therefore receive him, that is, mine own bowels:

Whom I would have retained with me, that in thy stead he might have ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel:

But without thy mind would I do nothing; that thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity, but willingly.

For perhaps he therefore departed for a season, that thou shouldest receive him for ever;

Not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved, specially to me, but how much more unto thee, both in the flesh, and in the Lord?

If thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself. (Philemon 1:10-17)

Paul offered to repay any loss that Philemon had incurred from Onesimus, but reminded Philemon that he owed Paul for his service in bringing him into the fold (Philemon 1:18-19). ⁷ The situation of Onesimus may have prompted Paul to admonish slaves to faithfully serve their masters in the epistles Paul was sending (Ephesians 6:5; Colossians 3:22; 4:1). ⁸

The Constitutions of the Holy Apostles 8.82 specifically notes that slaves were not to be ordained without the consent of their masters or when given their freedom. The text specifically mentions the case of Onesimus, who was freed and then ordained.

Acts 20:4 includes Tychicus in the list of missionaries who served with Paul. Hippolytus (early third century AD), in his On the Seventy Apostles , mentioned two men named Tychicus among the Seventy and noted that one of them became bishop of Colophonia, the other of Chalcedon.

The Constitutions of the Holy Apostles 7.2, attributed to the apostle Peter, lists the various bishops who had been ordained by the apostles (including Paul) and indicates that Philemon was bishop of his home town, Colosse, while his former slave Onesimus became bishop of Borea in Macedonia.

Other traditions hold that Onesimus was bishop of Byzantium (later renamed Constantinople) or Ephesus. ⁹ Ignatius (born ca. AD 50), in his first and second epistles to the Ephesians, mentioned their bishop Onesimus by name, but it is uncertain if this was the former slave of that name. In his epistle to the Antiochians, Ignatius named Onesimus as pastor of the Ephesians.

In a number of hymns used in the eastern Orthodox churches, Onesimus is called an “apostle” and considered to be one of the Seventy. His name is included in the list of the Seventy in o ne manuscript of the thirteenth-century Syriac Book of the Bee 48, but none of the earlier lists include him. A medieval pseudephigraphic text ( Acts of Xanthappe and Polyxena ) appends (chapters 38-42) a first-hand account of a revelation received by Onesimus while en route to Spain to join Paul's missionary efforts there. Following the revelation's admonition, he and Lucius (Luke) stopped for two weeks at a Greek city and managed to convert all of its inhabitants.

When the emperor Trajan persecuted the Christians, Onesimus, then an old man, was arrested and taken to Rome, where he was imprisoned and either stoned or beheaded in AD 109. A wealthy woman placed his body in a silver coffin and buried him. The slave of Philemon, who became a slave of Christ and a leader in the early Christian Church, became a martyr to his faith.

For additional material relating to this lesson, see:

John A. Tvedtnes, “The Lord Appointed Other Seventy Also,” Insights 19/4 (April 1999).
John A. Tvedtnes, Organize My Kingdom: A History of Restored Priesthood (Bountiful, UT: Cornerstone, 2000, later issued by Horizon), especially chapter 6, “Presiding Quorums.”

¹ A few decades later, the apostle John wrote “to the seven churches which are in Asia” (Revelation 1:4, 11). Two of them, Ephesus (Revelation 2:1) and Laodicea (Revelation 3:14), had also received letters from Paul.

² Paul intended to send Tychicus or Artemas to Titus ( Titus 3:12) who, according to early tradition, was bishop in Cyprus. Whether he actually did so we are unable to determine from his extant letters.

³ The Greek term was frequently given as a name to slaves in the Roman empire.

⁴ I suspect that Paul was not of the Twelve, but one of the Seventy, who are also termed apostles in both ancient and modern records.

⁵ Paul considered those he baptized to be his children and treated them as such (e.g., 1 Corinthians 4:17; Philippians 2:22; 1 Timothy 1:2, 18; 2 Timothy 1:2; 2:1; Titus 1:4).

⁶ The word “useful” employed here derives from a different Greek term and is not cognate with the name Onesimus.

⁷ Some Bible commentators believe that the slave had stolen something belonging to his master, but this is uncertain. The mere loss of his services may have prompted Paul to offer recompense.

⁸See also 1 Timothy 6:1 and Titus 2:9. Slavery was legal in the Roman Empire. The King James version of the Bible employed the term “servant,” which is misleading in terms of modern English usage.

⁹ Usually, Timothy is considered to have been the first bishop at Ephesus — and some traditions suggest that Onesimus was his successor.