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A Rebellious Son
Posted by Jay at 12:06 pm
I’m hoping someone out there can help me understand something. In light of this:
You shall not give up to his master a slave who has escaped from his master to you. He shall dwell with you, in your midst, in the place that he shall choose within one of your towns, wherever it suits him. You shall not wrong him.
Deuteronomy 23:15-16 [+/-]Deuteronomy 23:15-16
[15]"You shall not give up to his master a slave who has
escaped from his master to you. [16]He shall dwell with
you, in your midst, in the place that he shall choose
within one of your towns, wherever it suits him. You shall
not wrong him. (ESV)
Why did Paul give up Onesimus to his master (see Philemon 8-16 [+/-]Philemon 1:8-16
[8]Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to
command you to do what is required, [9]yet for love's sake
I prefer to appeal to you--I, Paul, an old man and now a
prisoner also for Christ Jesus-- [10]I appeal to you for my
child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment.
[11](Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed
useful to you and to me.) [12]I am sending him back to you,
sending my very heart. [13]I would have been glad to keep
him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf
during my imprisonment for the gospel, [14]but I preferred
to do nothing without your consent in order that your
goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord.
[15]For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a
while, that you might have him back forever, [16]no longer
as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother--
especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the
flesh and in the Lord. (ESV)
)? Was it to make restitution for the theft which appears to have taken place?
May 24th, 2007 at 7:10 am
Could it be that because Onesimus had stolen from Philemon, Paul knew restitution of some sort was necessary? (I’m assuming that Paul is talking about theft of something material, not just the value of a slave.) I’m reading through NTW’s treatment of Philemon in his Paul for Everyone series, but I don’t think he addresses your concern - I’ll look more carefully.
May 24th, 2007 at 7:45 am
A senior moment - Reading your entry again to the end I see you already suggested the answer I offered above, and using the same language. However, I would add that possibly Paul felt that reconciliation was needed because now master and run-away slave were now brothers in Christ.
May 24th, 2007 at 8:34 am
Mom, I wasn’t going to comment on your first comment, other than to say great minds think alike.
May 24th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
I was going to say that it doe seems to be the Gospel that leads Paul to “turn in” Onesimus. It also suggests that the Gospel affects social structures like slavery. The Gospel doesn’t do away with slavery here but it does affect it. Sure, Philemon and Onesimus can/will still be master-slave, respectively, but trumping that construct is the story of the Gospel.
May 24th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
You’re too kind!
May 24th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
Look at 1 Corinthians 7:21 [+/-]1 Corinthians 7:21
. Does this include escape? If so, it echoes the premise of the Deuteronomy passage. Yet we know slaves are commended to serve their masters as unto the Lord, and all the more if their masters are Christians. That doesn’t seem to be compatible with escaping.
[21]Were you a slave when called? Do not be concerned
about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself
of the opportunity.) (ESV)
At the same time, I don’t understand how escaping was a good thing in the Old Testament either given the broader case law, so Deuteronomy 23 [+/-]Deuteronomy 23
really jumped out at me.
[23:1]"No one whose testicles are crushed or whose male
organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the LORD.
[2]"No one born of a forbidden union may enter the
assembly of the LORD. Even to the tenth generation, none of
his descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD.
[3]"No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the
LORD. Even to the tenth generation, none of them may enter
the assembly of the LORD forever, [4]because they did not
meet you with bread and with water on the way, when you
came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you
Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse
you. [5]But the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam;
instead the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing
for you, because the LORD your God loved you. [6]You shall
not seek their peace or their prosperity all your days
forever.
[7]"You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your
brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were
a sojourner in his land. [8]Children born to them in the
third generation may enter the assembly of the LORD.
[9]"When you are encamped against your enemies, then you
shall keep yourself from every evil thing.
[10]"If any man among you becomes unclean because of a
nocturnal emission, then he shall go outside the camp. He
shall not come inside the camp, [11]but when evening comes,
he shall bathe himself in water, and as the sun sets, he
may come inside the camp.
[12]"You shall have a place outside the camp, and you
shall go out to it. [13]And you shall have a trowel with
your tools, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig a
hole with it and turn back and cover up your excrement.
[14]Because the LORD your God walks in the midst of your
camp, to deliver you and to give up your enemies before
you, therefore your camp must be holy, so that he may not
see anything indecent among you and turn away from you.
[15]"You shall not give up to his master a slave who has
escaped from his master to you. [16]He shall dwell with
you, in your midst, in the place that he shall choose
within one of your towns, wherever it suits him. You shall
not wrong him.
[17]"None of the daughters of Israel shall be a cult
prostitute, and none of the sons of Israel shall be a cult
prostitute. [18]You shall not bring the fee of a prostitute
or the wages of a dog into the house of the LORD your God
in payment for any vow, for both of these are an
abomination to the LORD your God.
[19]"You shall not charge interest on loans to your
brother, interest on money, interest on food, interest on
anything that is lent for interest. [20]You may charge a
foreigner interest, but you may not charge your brother
interest, that the LORD your God may bless you in all that
you undertake in the land that you are entering to take
possession of it.
[21]"If you make a vow to the LORD your God, you shall
not delay fulfilling it, for the LORD your God will surely
require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin. [22]But
if you refrain from vowing, you will not be guilty of sin.
[23]You shall be careful to do what has passed your lips,
for you have voluntarily vowed to the LORD your God what
you have promised with your mouth.
[24]"If you go into your neighbor's vineyard, you may
eat your fill of grapes, as many as you wish, but you shall
not put any in your bag. [25]If you go into your neighbor's
standing grain, you may pluck the ears with your hand, but
you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor's standing
grain. (ESV)
Which brings me to my next question: Was Paul obligating Philemon to free Onesimus? In Israel, Israelite slaves were to be freed every Sabbath year (every seventh year), and they were not to be sent out empty handed. Thus, when Onesimus returned to Philemon as a Christian brother, was Philemon now obligated to send him out a free man (and with provisions) at some point in the near future? Onesimus’ theft would stand in the way, but Paul very clearly wants that debt out of the way.
May 25th, 2007 at 8:06 pm
Could it be that the law of the land (Roman, right?) in Paul’s day was not in accord with Deuteronomy, and thus mandated returning a slave? Paul and Onesimus, subject to the authority of the civil authority, would have obeyed that mandate?
May 25th, 2007 at 9:22 pm
Rollin, that sounds right to me. Thanks!