오네시모

Onesimus was the runaway slave of Philemon whose story is the occasion for Paul's letter to Philemon. His name means 'useful' or 'profitable' in Greek, a fact Paul exploits with wordplay—formerly useless, now 'indeed useful' to both Philemon and Paul (Philemon 11). He met Paul while Paul was in prison, was converted, and became Paul's trusted helper; Paul writes that he wanted to keep him as his own assistant but felt obligated to return him to his owner (Philemon 12–14). Paul sends him back with the letter, bearing his own name as guarantee (Philemon 18–19). A tradition recorded in the Apostolic Constitutions and by Ignatius of Antioch identifies a later bishop of Ephesus named Onesimus, possibly the same person, though the identification is uncertain.