Saint Philemon (died 68 AD) was the Bishop of Ephesus in the early Christian Church. He was the recipient of Paul the Apostle's Epistle to Philemon, and he, his family, and their former slave Onesimus were martyred in 68 AD.
Biography[]
Philemon was born in Colossae, Roman Asia to a wealthy Greek family, and he was married to Apphia and had a son, Archippus; he also owned a slave, Onesimus. During the 1st century AD, he and his family were converted to Christianity by Paul the Apostle, and Philemon became Bishop of Ephesus. When he accused his slave Onesimus of stealing from him, Onesimus fled to an imprisoned Paul, who sent him back with an epistle to Philemon asking for Philemon to forgive Onesimus and receive him not as a slave, but as a brother. In 68 AD, Philemon, his family, and Onesimus were martyred at Colossae during Nero's first persecution of Christians.