Epistle to Philemon
book of the New Testament attributed to Paul
The Epistle to Philemon is a Pauline epistle of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It is a prison letter, authored by Paul the Apostle (the opening verse also mentions Timothy), to Philemon, a leader in the Colossian church. Paul does not identify himself as an apostle with authority, but as "a prisoner of Jesus Christ", calling Timothy "our brother", and addressing Philemon as "fellow labourer" and "brother" (Philemon 1:1; 1:7; 1:20). Onesimus, a slave who had escaped from his master Philemon, was returning with this epistle wherein Paul asked Philemon to receive him as a "brother beloved" (Philemon 1:9–17). The letter appeals on behalf of Onesimus, who subsequently became a Christian through Paul. Paul requests that Philemon receive Onesimus not as a slave but as a beloved brother in Christ, offering to repay any debt Onesimus owes.
Philemon was a wealthy Christian, possibly a bishop of the church that met in his home (Philemon 1:1–2) in Colossae. This letter is now generally regarded as one of the undisputed works of Paul. It is the shortest of Paul's extant letters, consisting of only 335 words in the Greek text.
The epistle emphasizes reconciliation, forgiveness, and Christian fellowship, addressing themes of slavery, freedom, and ethical conduct within the Roman social context.
The public source identifies “Epistle to Philemon” as book of the New Testament attributed to Paul. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Epistle, Philemon and book.
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Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q131104. VIAF identifies the subject as 179400679. The Library of Congress control number is n80098138. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Epistle to Philemon” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.