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  • From: "Rabbi Saul" <tim AT rabbisaul.com>
  • To: "Corpus-Paul" <corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Corpus-Paul] Onesimus
  • Date: Sat, 7 Aug 2004 01:32:01 -0600

> Philemon 10-11 (NRSV) reads, "I am appealing to you for my child,
Onesimus,
> whose father I have become during my imprisonment. Formerly he was useless
> (AXRHSTON) to you, but now he is indeed useful (EUXRHSTON), both to you
and
> to me." Usefulness was the primary quality that Paul hoped for from
> Onesimus, and this is confirmed by Phlm 20, which reads, "Yes, brother,
let
> me have this benefit from you in the Lord!".
>
> Phlm 10-11 seems to me to be Paul's way of saying how and why he had given
> Philemon's slave the name Onesimus. He tactfully does not mention the
> previous name, but rather emphasises his new identity. It is striking that
> these two short sentences contain all the elements often associated with
> renaming situations:
etc

All very fascinating, but I wonder if it may not be that the exact reverse
is somewhat more likely. (1) Is it so strange that a slave would be
identified as "useful"? Hmm. Probably not. (2) Is it so strange to think
that Paul might wish to make a play on the meaning of Onesimus's name? This
seems all the more likely, given the fact that only here and in 2 Tim. do we
find euchrestos in the Pauline letters - i.e. it is not generally a term he
finds ready to hand. But Onesimus's name, it would seem, gets him thinking
about the category.

It would seem to me that this is a more ready-to-hand solution than a
renaming.

Tim Gallant
Pastor, Conrad Christian Reformed Church
Conrad, MT

Biblical Studies Center
http://www.timgallant.org/center.htm

Pauline studies:
http://www.rabbisaul.com

(406) 278-5846 / (406) 278-7809
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