The book of Philemon is written by Paul to the man who is the namesake of the book, and it addresses the recent visit of Philemon’s slave Onesimus. According to Ehrman, it is probable that Onesimus fled Philemon and came to Paul due to malfeasance on Philemon’s part towards his slave. A common practice at the time was, when a slave had prompted their master’s wrath, the slave would often flee to a good friend or associate of their owner. Then, the friend/associate would act as a mediator between the slave and their owner and sort out whatever had gone wrong. This is what Ehrman suggests is the reason for Onesimus coming to Paul while he was in prison. Paul’s letter, then, primarily deals with him trying to reason with Philemon to take back his slave seeing as he is now a brother in Christ and not just a slave (Paul converted Onesimus while he was visiting), and also because Paul sees him as “useful” for both him and Philemon (v. 11).

Ehrman tells us that the only indicators as to Philemon’s status and authority are written in the book of Philemon. He is obviously a Christian, seeing as some of Paul’s reasoning for taking his slave back was that he would now also be a brother in Christ (v. 16). He is also a wealthy Christian, though, because he owns a private home that is large enough to allow a church to gather there, and he has enough wealth to own a slave.

The main ways in which Paul applies pressure to Philemon to take back his slave were previously mentioned: he says Onesimus is now not only a slave but a brother, then he says that he could be of use. However the third way in which Paul pressures Philemon is by mentioning a debt that Philemon supposedly has to him: “I say nothing about your owing me even your own self” (v. 19). Paul not so subtly hints towards this debt by saying he won’t mention it, and in this way he is telling Philemon that, as someone who is in Paul’s debt, he ought to do what he is suggesting for him to do. Finally, the fact that the letter would be public and that others would have access to reading it put pressure on Philemon to do exactly what the letter suggests and make sure people know about it; because, as someone who provides the house that Christians gather at and is thus someone of a slightly higher religious authority, he would not want to be discovered as someone who is disregarding the advice of someone who is the primary leader in converting both Jews and Gentiles alike to Christianity. The image that would be cast to the readers of the letter would be of Philemon being someone who is being disrespectful and disobedient to the current unofficial leader of their faith. On top of that, Paul’s promise of a future visit lets Philemon know that he would likely be criticized publicly by Paul based on his unwillingness to forgive and bring in a brother, bringing down Philemon’s higher status.