Philemon 1:13

13. In thy stead His ministry to Paul would not, therefore, be a servile one a waiting on the apostle’s bodily wants but such a ministry as Philemon would have rendered, namely, aid in the Gospel. Slavery in ancient times often held cultured men in its bonds. Tyro, the bondsman of Cicero, was a literary aid to the orator. And there is quite a probability that Onesimus was a more competent apostolic assistant than Philemon. This accounts, in some degree, both for St. Paul’s profound interest in his case, and for the traditions of his subsequent episcopate. The service was such a subordinate ministry as John Mark, and Timothy in his early days, rendered to Paul.