The Utility of an Apostle: On Philemon 11

Abstract

ABSTRACTA recent round of scholarship has focused on Paul's language of utility in Philemon, his characterisation of the enslaved Onesimus as ἄχρηστος or εὔχρηστος. In this context, it is helpful to consider idiomatic connotations of both terms. Commonly associated with servility, the term ἄχρηστος idiomatically connotes expendability or disposability. The term εὔχρηστος has a particular place in Stoic thought, as the wise person understands the usefulness of all things. Remaining within the lexicon of utility, Paul's pairing of ἄχρηστος and εὔχρηστος in v. 11 thus shifts between two registers of connotation. Philemon is invited to see the enslaved member of his household whom he had written off as a broken vessel as instead useful, invited to construe unhappy circumstances of separation from that slave as a source of personal benefit. Onesimus, in turn, is seen to have his own sense of utility. Finally, it is noted that in improving his own precarious situation, the enslaved Onesimus seems to have found the apostle Paul to be most useful.