“I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds: which in time past was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me:” (Philemon 10–11, KJV 1900)
It pays to look up the meaning of names because Onesimus has special meaning here. The word Onesimus means "profitable." Since he was the slave of Philemon, it is quite likely that Philemon himself named the slave, perhaps in hope that he would be profitable. Onesimus runs away from Philemon and ends up in Rome and somehow comes into contact with Paul who promptly leads him to faith in Christ. Onesimus—the profitable one, is now unprofitable to Philemon.
All of this gives depth of meaning to Paul's statement that Onesimus "was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me." The profitable one had once again become profitable, not as a slave any longer, but as a brother in Christ. How radically the gospel changes social relationships.
How might it change your social relationships?
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