Who was Onesiphorus in the Bible?

How precious a contrast is seen now in this devoted brother Onesiphorus, his name also eternally inscribed in the Word of God! The heart of the apostle is deeply appreciative of the simple faithfulness of this dear man, who evidently had no place of prominence, but a heart devoted to the Lord and to His afflicted servant. It is no great public work he does, but he often refreshed the apostle, and was not ashamed of being identified with one in prison for Christ's sake. In Rome he sought Paul out, no doubt a difficult matter in so large a city, where prisons would be more than few. One could easily excuse himself from such a task, as being unnecessary: but the apostle (and certainly God also) appreciated the faith that persisted until finding Paul. What an indication that things which may appear small in our eyes are not really so in the estimate of God!

As to his finding "mercy of the Lord in that day," it is no doubt the day of rewards. And rewards are not strictly that which is deserved: that would be wages. It is because God's very character is merciful that he gives rewards. Note in Matthew 25:28 that though the one servant had gained ten talents for his master, by use of his master's goods, yet after he brought it to the master, we find that he still had it in his own possession. The master had allowed him to keep it, and in fact gave him more. This is certainly mercy, a reward not really deserved at all. Then is added the many things in which Onesiphorus had previously ministered to Paul. It was not forgotten by him: how much less with God!

There was one ray of light amid the gloom of the moment, one rill of consolation flowing into the heart of the Apostle from the heart of God, through His servant Onesiphorus. This godly man, so far from being ashamed of Paul or his chain, being in Rome, sought him out very diligently, and rested not until he had found him, and was used of the Lord to minister refreshment to the captive Apostle. Precious privilege vouchsafed to Onesiphorus! Precious also to the weary soul of Paul were these cups of cold water which Onesiphorus put to his thirsty lips! And the Lord saw this blessed service, and esteemed it as rendered unto Himself. "I was in prison, and ye came unto Me" (Matt. 25:36).

The gratitude of the Apostle's heart turned into a prayer for Onesiphorus. "The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain: but when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me. The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day: and in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well." vv. 16-18.

There was one ray of light amidst the gloom of the moment, one rill of consolation flowing into the heart of the apostle from the heart of God, through His servant Onesiphorus. This godly man, so far front being ashamed of Paul or his chain, being in Poise, sought him out very diligently, and rested not until he had found him, and was used of the Lord to minister refreshment to the captive apostle. Precious privilege vouchsafed to Onesiphorus: Precious also to the weary soul of Paul were these cups of cold water which Onesiphorus put to his thirsty lips! And the Lord saw this blessed service, and esteemed it as rendered unto Himself. "I was in prison, and ye came unto me." (Matt. 25:36.)

The gratitude of the apostle's heart turned into a prayer for Onesiphorus. "The Lord give mercy unto the house of 0nesiphoruss; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain: but when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me. The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day: and in how many things he ministered unto me in Ephesus, thou knowest very well." (vv. 16-18.) The apostle's prayer embraces a present and a future blessing. He desires present mercy for the house of Onesiphorus, that is, he prays that the members of Onesiphorus's family, of his household indeed, might be brought into the enjoyment of present mercy in salvation. The heart of the apostle was thus in communion with the heart of God, who said to Noah, "Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation." (Compare Acts 16:31.) He also prays that the Lord would grant Onesiphorus himself to find mercy from "the Lord in that day." "That day" refers to the Lord's appearing (see v. 12), when He will display His own in glory, and when the recompense, in grace, of each of His servants will likewise be exhibited. Onesiphorus had already been the object of mercy in his salvation, but, as passing through the wilderness, he was "looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." (Jude 21.) And it is this, mercy in its full fruit and consummation, that Paul prays he may find in that day.*

The closing statement shows that it was not the first time Onesiphorus had been of service to Paul. In Ephesus too he had ministered in many things to the apostle, and the Spirit of God has caused it to be recorded here, as it is also recorded in heaven, to teach us that He marks and appreciates the slightest kindness shown to His servants in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. E. D.

You will remember we have spoken of Jonathan, who was not willing to share David's rejection. Onesiphorus is a name that will live to all eternity, as one who not only was willing to share the rejection and reproach of Christ, but who very diligently sought out Paul, and found him, when he was the prisoner of Nero, chained in a Roman dungeon. From that dungeon he writes: "This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me." (2 Tim. 1:15). Ephesus was the capital of Asia Minor, and Paul had laboured there for three years. Read the latter part of the 20th of Acts, telling of that most touching parting between Paul and the elders of Ephesus. You remember they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him. But now Paul was a prisoner in a Roman dungeon, and they were ashamed of him, and also it was dangerous to be known as one of his friends: so all in Asia forsook him, and that included those elders at Ephesus. This does not mean they turned away from Christ, and later on the Apostle John writes a letter to the assembly at Ephesus, with much good to say of them: but they were a fallen assembly, though outwardly so fair, for they had left their first love. (Rev. 2:4). I think that fall began when they turned away from Paul. And it was not only those of Asia who forsook that scorned, rejected man at this time. At his first answer before Nero, no man stood with him, "but all forsook me", the Apostle writes. Only Luke was with him of all his beloved fellow-labourers. They were dark days indeed. There are a few other names of those who were not ashamed of the rejected servant: his beloved "Prisca and Aquila", who had so long been true to him, were still unchanged. Then there is Trophimus left sick at Miletum; and from the assembly in Rome there were Eubulus, Pudens and Linus and Claudia (the last, probably, a blue-eyed, fair-haired British maiden; only a little later we hear of a "Pudens and Claudia" in Rome as husband and wife.)

It was in these dark days that Onesiphorus came to Rome from Ephesus, "And", writes the Apostle, "he sought me out very diligently, and found me. The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day: and in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well." (2 Tim. 1:16-18).

But there was a notable exception. Onesiphorus had also visited Rome and had diligently sought him and found him finally. There were many thousands of prisoners in Roman dungeons, and we may well imagine how day after day Onesiphorus sought for his beloved brother, going from dungeon to dungeon till he had located Paul. What a meeting that must have been! He had ministered to Paul in Ephesus, which was well known to Timothy, and now he was not ashamed to minister unto the prisoner of the Lord. He prays therefore for his house and that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day. The reward for his faithfulness to Paul will be mercy, as everything else is mercy in the believer's life.

(Strange it is that the prayer of the Apostle for the house of Onesiphorus is used as an authority to pray for the dead. The assumption that Onesiphorus had died is incorrect.)

"Salute Prisca and Aquila and the house of Onesiphorus. Erastus remained at Corinth, but Trophimus I left at Miletus sick. Do thy diligence to come before winter. Eubulus saluteth thee, and Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia, and all the brethren. The Lord [Jesus Christ be] with thy spirit. Grace be with you" (vers. 19-22).

"Salute Prisca and Aguila and the house of Onesiphorus." The two former were early associates, who remained faithful to the last. With them he associates the household of Onesiphorus, of whom he made mention at the close of the first chapter of this Epistle. The apostle deeply felt the identification of Onesiphorus with his own circumstances as a prisoner: "He often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain." He was no longer in Rome, though perhaps not then at Ephesus, his usual dwelling place. When he was in Rome, he zealously sought out the apostle and found him. God prospers earnest love for Christ's sake. It was indeed no other love than what the apostle had proved at Ephesus, and nobody knew better than Timothy what service had been rendered there. These dear saints now receive together the last salutation of the apostle, once more the prisoner of Christ.

(Vv. 16-18). The reference to Onesiphorus and his household is very touching. It proves that the indifference and the desertion of the mass did not lead the Apostle to overlook the love and kindness of an individual and his family. Indeed, the desertion of the mass made the affection of the few all the more precious. When the great mass grieved the heart of Paul, there was at least one of whom he can say, “He oft refreshed me.” Others may be ashamed of him, but of this brother he can say that he “was not ashamed of my chain.” When others deserted him, there was still one of whom he can write, “He sought me out very diligently, and found me.” When others neglected him he can own with pleasure of this brother that “in many things he ministered to me.”

But the turning away from Paul was not absolutely complete even in Asia. There was at least a bright exception, as a time of general evil is ever used in the grace of God to bring out singular fidelity and devotedness. "The Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus; for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain; but being in Rome he sought me out diligently and found [me]; (the Lord grant him to find mercy from [the] Lord in that day). And in how many things he ministered at Ephesus thou knowest very well" (vers. 16-18). The contrast helps much and definitely to show us where the general defection lay; and the Lord repaid "the house of Onesiphorus" with compound interest the grace He had bestowed on its head. "He often refreshed me," says the gracious apostle: how like the Master Who could say to the poor disciples, "Ye are they which have continued with Me in My temptations; and I appoint unto you a kingdom, even as My Father appointed unto Me …"! (Luke 22:28-29).

But Paul also singles out the crucial fact: "and was not ashamed of my chain." Love evinces its truth, character, and power in the hour of need. How was it with "all that were in Asia"? They were evidently ashamed of it. Fleshly prudence blamed the zeal for Christ which gave the occasion; and worldly spirit shrank from all solidarity with the imprisoned apostle. How did the Lord regard such selfish timorousness" The Holy Spirit marks its baseness indelibly on the everlasting page of scripture. But He singles out the blessed exception of one whose heart clave the more to the apostle, not merely in the province of Asia, but in the proud metropolis where the apostle was bound. "But being in Rome he sought me very diligently"; and not in vain. He found the deserted apostle: "the Lord grant him to find mercy from [the] Lord in that day"! This, it is true, we are all awaiting in faith (Jude 21); but none the less sweet or comforting is the apostle's prayer, surely not less efficacious than that of an Abraham of old for the present government of God. Nor is this all that is said; but he appeals to Timothy as knowing very well how much service Onesiphorus rendered in Ephesus. The apostle does not limit it, as the Authorized Version does with others, to ministering to himself: the general phrase leaves room for what was personal, of course, but it implies much more, as the apostle carefully states. None knew this "better" than Timothy who needed no further explanation.

The Apostle's prayer embraces a present and a future blessing. He desires present mercy for the house of Onesiphorus; that is, he prays for the members of Onesiphorus' family, of his household indeed, and also that the Lord would grant Onesiphorus himself to find mercy from "the Lord in that day." "That day" refers to the Lord's appearing (see v. 12), when He will display His own in glory, and when the recompense, in grace, of each of His servants will likewise be exhibited. Onesiphorus had already been the object of mercy in his salvation; but, as passing through the wilderness, he was "looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life" (Jude 21). And it is this, mercy in its full fruit and consummation, that Paul prays he may find in that day.

The closing statement shows that it was not the first time Onesiphorus had been of service to Paul. In Ephesus too he had ministered in many things to the Apostle, and the Spirit of God has caused it to be recorded here, as it is also recorded in heaven, to teach us that He marks and appreciates the slightest kindness shown to His servants in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

But it was the household of Onesiphorus we intended to consider, and I have wandered far away from it. The Apostle writes: "The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus." (2 Tim. 1:16), and again: "Salute Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus." The whole household is linked up with the loyalty of its head; the whole household is specially commended to the mercy of the Lord for Onesiphorus's loyal and loving heart. Like Ittai of old, the whole household shared the rejection with its head. This is as it should be. May it be so indeed in our households!