📖 The Book of Philemon
Start reading →New Testament · 1 chapter · Pauline
Reconciliation in Christ — a slave, a master, and a mediator.
Who wrote Philemon?
Author
Paul
Written
c. AD 61
Genre
Pauline
Personal letter about the runaway slave Onesimus.
Why Philemon was written
Paul's personal letter to Philemon, appealing for him to receive back his runaway slave Onesimus not as a slave but as a beloved brother in Christ.
Outline of Philemon
- 11–7: Paul's thanksgiving for Philemon
- 28–20: The appeal for Onesimus
- 321–25: Closing
Key verses
Philemon 1:15-17
How Philemon points to Christ
Paul's intercession for Onesimus — 'charge that to my account' (v.18) — is a direct picture of Christ's intercession for sinners, bearing our debt and presenting us to the Father as beloved.
How Philemon begins
1Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellowlabourer,
Read Philemon 1 →