Colossians 4:7-9
New Catholic Bible
Conclusion
Tychicus and Onesimus.[a] 7 Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a beloved brother, a faithful minister, and a fellow servant in the Lord. 8 I am sending him to you for this very purpose, so that you will know how we are and that he may cheer your hearts. 9 He will be accompanied by Onesimus, our trustworthy and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you about everything that has happened here.
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- Colossians 4:7 Tychicus is assigned to carry the Letter to the Colossians. Onesimus, his companion, is the slave whom Paul has converted and is now sending back to Colossae, while recommending him to his former owner (Letter to Philemon). Also named are Mark, who was for a short time Paul’s associate in the apostolate and is generally regarded as the author of the Second Gospel; then Luke, to whom we owe the Third Gospel and the Book of Acts; and finally Epaphras, founder of the Church of Colossae. The Letter to the Laodiceans (v. 16) may be the Letter to the Ephesians, which probably circulated in the communities of the region.
Philemon 10-19
New Catholic Bible
10 am appealing to you on behalf of my child,[a] Onesimus, whom I have fathered during my imprisonment.
11 He was formerly useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you and to me. 12 Therefore, I am sending him back to you, that is, I am sending my very own heart.[b] 13 I wanted to keep him with me so that he might be of service to me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, 14 but I did not want to do anything without your knowledge, so that your good deed might be voluntary and not compelled.
15 Perhaps this is the reason he was separated from you for a while, so that you might have him back forever,[c] 16 no longer as a slave, but as more than a slave: as a brother. He is beloved especially to me, but even more so to you, both as a man[d] and in the Lord.
17 [e]Therefore, if you consider me to be a friend, welcome him as you would welcome me. 18 If he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19 I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand: I will repay it. I say nothing about the fact that you owe me your very self.
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- Philemon 1:10 My child: Paul became a father to Onesimus by converting him (see 1 Cor 4:15; Gal 4:19).
- Philemon 1:12 My very own heart: a wonderful description at a time when slaves were regarded as things.
- Philemon 1:15 Paul reasons that since he has found Christ, Onesimus is returning to Philemon as a beloved brother in Christ rather than as just a slave. Master and slave are now both brothers in Christ. Hence, for Philemon to treat Onesimus solely as a runaway slave would be entirely unfitting with his Christian witness.
- Philemon 1:16 As a man: literally “in the flesh.”
- Philemon 1:17 Paul is doing the same thing for Onesimus with Philemon that Christ did for us with God the Father.
