ὀνήσῐ-μος G3682
Onesimus, a personal name meaning 'useful' or 'beneficial'
The name of a slave who fled from Philemon, encountered Paul in prison, became a Christian, and was sent back with Paul's letter to Philemon. The name's ironic etymology—'Onesimus' means 'useful'—becomes a play on words in Philemon 1:11: 'formerly useless to you, but now useful indeed to you and to me.' Paul sends him to Colossae as 'our faithful and beloved brother' (Colossians 4:9), transformed from runaway slave to Christian brother. The name embodies the gospel's transformation of identity and relationship.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Onesimus, personal name of Philemon's slave. The Greek adjective 'onēsimos' (useful, profitable) becomes a proper name, common among slaves—a designation of their value to masters. Paul's wordplay in Philemon exploits the name's meaning: Onesimus lived down to his name by running away (useless) but now lives up to it through conversion (useful). Cross-linguistic transliterations preserve the Greek name (Onésimos, Onēsimos, Onesimus) while losing the 'useful' pun unavailable in most target languages. 2×
AR["أونيسيموسَ", "أُنِسيموسَ"]·ben["ওনেসিমসকে", "ওনেসিমসের"]·DE["Onesimus"]·EN["Onesimos", "Onēsimos"]·FR["Ὀνήσιμον", "Ὀνησίμῳ"]·heb["אוֹנֵיסִימוֹס", "אוֹנֵסִימוֹס"]·HI["ओनेसिमोस"]·ID["Onesimus", "Onesimus;"]·IT["onēsimon", "onēsimō"]·jav["Onésimus", "Onésimus;"]·KO["오네시모-를", "오네시모와"]·PT["Onésimo", "Onḗsimos;"]·RU["Онисиме;", "Онисимом"]·ES["Onésimos", "Onḗsimon"]·SW["Onesimo", "Onesimu"]·TR["Onesimos-ile", "Onesimos;"]·urd["انیسمس-کو", "انیسمس-کے"]
Related Senses
G3588 1. definite article (18298×)H0853 1. definite direct object marker (10915×)G2532 1. (8312×)H3068 1. YHWH (the divine name) (6522×)H0834a 1. relative pronoun (who/which/that) (4839×)H3588a 1. causal: because, for (3498×)G1161 1. and (2806×)H3478 1. Israel (proper name and nation) (2507×)G4771 1. you (plural address) (1853×)H1931 1. personal pronoun he/she/it (1431×)G3739 1. relative pronoun who/which/that (1149×)H1732 1. David (proper name) (1075×)H2088 1. this, this one (demonstrative) (1059×)G1063 1. (1047×)G3778 1. this thing, these things (1003×)H???? 2. (1002×)G2424 1. (924×)G3754 1. that (content clause) (881×)H2009 1. presentative particle: behold, look (881×)H0589 1. I (first person singular pronoun) (874×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
ὀνήσῐ-μος, ον, useful, profitable, beneficial, Refs 5th c.BC+; aiding, succouring, ἔγχος Refs. adverb -μωςRefs 5th c.BC+