Corpus-Paul

[Richard Fellows <rfellows AT intergate.ca>]

Dave Inlglis wrote:
>How likely is it that Onesimus from Colosse (Col 4:9, Phm 1:10) is the
>same person as Onesiphorus (2 Tim 1:16, 4:19)?

The name Onesimus was a rather common name in its own right. It does not
seem to have been a contraction of 'Onesiphorus', which was a rather rare
name. Contractions commonly (but not always) end in -AS. So I do not think
the names are variants of each other. However, this does not mean that
there is no connection between 'Onesiphorus' and Onesimus. The names
certainly sound similar, and the meanings are similar: Onesimus means
'profitable', and Onesiphorus means 'who brings profit'. In Phm Paul
emphasizes the usefulness of Onesimus, and it is interesting to note that
some commentators have observed that Onesiphorus lives up to his name too.
Also, as Dave pointed out, both 'people' are mentioned in connection with
Paul's chains. Here are some possible scenarios that would explain the data:

1. There might be no connection between the two 'people'. This is possible,
but many of the names in 2 Tim do appear in Col and Phm.

2. Onesimus might have been given the name 'Onesiphorus' by the believing
community. The giving of new names seems to have been quite common, and
there may be other examples where the new name sounds similar to the old
(consider Titus-Timothy or perhaps Saul-Paul cf Abram-Abraham etc.).

3. The author of the pastorals might have got the name wrong. He seems to
have taken many of his other names from Phm or Col. Perhaps he
mis-remembered the name of Onesimus.

4. The example of Onesimus was the model for the case of 'Onesiphorus'
invented by the author of 2 Tim.

I am finding it difficult to decide between these options. Perhaps we do
not have enough data to allow a decision.

In any case, we should not expect to find much historical data on Paul's
companions in the post-Paul writings (except Acts). They frequently get
things wrong, and the case of Onesiphorus is a good example. In 2 Tim he is
a resident of Ephesus, but in the Acts of Paul he is a resident of Iconium.
Neither document can be trusted, and it is not clear whether Onesiphorus
ever existed.

Richard Fellows
Vancouver
Canada