“Which in time past was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me:”
Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to me and to you — the name Onesimus (onēsimos — useful) creates wordplay: once unfruitful (achrēstos — useless), now profitable (euchrēstos — useful). The reversal is complete and multivalent: useful to Paul (providing service during imprisonment), useful to Philemon (redeemed slave now reliable), and useful to God (converted to Christ). The transformation of a wasted human into useful instrument exemplifies the gospel's redemptive power.
Church Fathers on Philemon 1:11
See how great is his prudence, how he confesses the man's faults, and thereby extinguishes his anger. I know, he says, that he was unprofitable. “But now” he will be “profitable to you and to me.” He has not said he will be useful to you, lest he should contradict it, but he has introduced his own person, that his hopes may seem worthy of credit, “But now,” he says, “profitable to you and to me.” For if he was profitable to Paul, who required so great strictness, much more…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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