Saint Onesimus (Greek: Ὀνήσιμος Onēsimos, meaning "useful"; died c. 68 AD), also called Onesimus of Byzantium and The Holy Apostle Onesimus in some Eastern Orthodox churches, was a slave to Philemon of Colossae, a man of Christian faith. He may be the same Onesimus named by Ignatius of Antioch as Bishop in Ephesus.
The name "Onesimus" appears in two New Testament epistles—in Colossians 4 and in Philemon. In Colossians 4:9 a person of this name is identified as a Christian accompanying Tychicus to visit the Christians in Colossae; nothing else is stated about him in this context. He may well be the freed Onesimus from the Epistle to Philemon.
The Epistle to Philemon was written by Paul the Apostle to the slave-master Philemon concerning a runaway slave called Onesimus. This slave found his way to the site of Paul's imprisonment (most probably Rome or Caesarea) to escape punishment for a theft of which he was accused. After hearing the Gospel from Paul, Onesimus converted to Christianity. Paul, having earlier converted Philemon to Christianity, sought to reconcile the two by writing the letter to Philemon which today exists in the New Testament.). The letter read (in part):
Onesimus, bishop of Byzantium (a runaway slave and early Christian convert mentioned in the New Testament of the Christian Bible).
Onesimus may also refer to:
Onesilus, son of Python, was a Macedonian noble and councillor of King Perseus. Once Onesimus had failed to dissuade Perseus from going to war, he began to excuse himself, for one reason or another, from being involved in activities. He finally passed over to the Romans, when Perseus resolved to declare war against the latter, 169 BC, and received in consequence magnificent rewards from the Roman Senate.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "article name needed". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.