OCCASION
OCCASION
The letter seems to show that Onesimus, a slave of Philemon, had run away from his master, probably robbing him in the process (Phlm. 18). The alternative is to think that his master had sent him on a mission and that he had failed to return when he should have. Sometimes in antiquity (at least among the Greeks) a slave would flee from his master and claim sanctuary at an altar, which might be a household altar. In that case the householder was under obligation to get the slave to go back, and if the slave refused, then the householder was to sell him and send the money to the owner. If the situation is understood in this way, Onesimus robbed Philemon only in the sense that by refusing to go back, he deprived Philemon of the services he should have rendered him.
We have no way of knowing how Onesimus came into contact with Paul, but clearly he had done so and had been converted as a result (Phlm. 10). Now Paul is sending him back to his owner as the law required, but the letter is an appeal to Philemon not to employ the full rigor of the law. He is entitled to punish Onesimus, but Paul urges him instead to receive him "as a dear brother” (Phlm. 15-16). Clearly Paul had valued Onesimus’s presence and his help in evangelism (see Phlm. 13). It is quite possible that he wants Philemon to send the slave back to him. But he does not specifically ask that, and we can say for certain no more than that he urges Philemon to receive his slave with kindness.
Did Philemon respond as Paul wished? We may safely assume that he did.
Otherwise he would surely have suppressed the letter, and we would know nothing about it.