Note 2 at Col. 4:9: Onesimus was the converted runaway slave mentioned in the book of Philemon. He became a faithful and beloved Christian brother of the apostle Paul. He was a Colossian and accompanied Tychicus in the reporting of Paul's affairs and the delivery of this letter (see note 1 at v. 7).

The name "Onesimus" means "profitable or useful" (Thayer). Paul, in a letter to Philemon, seems to play on these words when he says, "Once he was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me" (Phile. 11 [NKJV]).

Note 3 at Col. 4:9: One of Paul's purposes in writing this letter was to let the Colossians know how he and his companions were doing. Remember, Paul had never met these people (see note 5 at Col. 1:4, p. 1185 and note 13 at Col. 2:1, p. 1195), but he had a relationship with them through the messengers who had heard the gospel from Paul and relayed it to the Colossians. Paul wanted to continue to strengthen this relationship, so he kept them informed of what was happening in his life through Onesimus.

This illustrates the truth that communication is important to relationships. Paul was communicating with great difficulty in comparison to the modern means of communication we have today. Yet he made the effort because he knew it was important. "A man that hath friends, must shew himself friendly..." (Prov. 18:24).