The Apostolic Fathers · AD 70–130
Onesiphorus of Ephesus
fl. c. 65 (death unrecorded) · Householder · Visited Paul in prison at Rome · Ephesus
The Apostolic Fathers
Who Onesiphorus of Ephesus was
Named twice in the last letter Paul wrote, and both times with gratitude. When Paul was a prisoner at Rome and, by his own account, deserted — “all men forsook me” — Onesiphorus came from Asia, searched the city until he found him, and was **not ashamed of his chain**. Paul asks mercy for his household in this life and for the man himself “in that day”, and greets the household again at the letter’s close.
The wording of the prayer — for the *house* in the present, for Onesiphorus himself at the judgement — has been read since antiquity as implying he was already dead when Paul wrote. The archive does not decide it: Paul does not say so, and a man’s death is not the sort of thing to be inferred from a change of tense.
Chrysostom takes the naming itself to be purposeful: by mentioning Onesiphorus in the greeting, Paul “makes those of his household also more zealous in such good actions.”
Common questions
When was Onesiphorus active?
Onesiphorus of Ephesus is dated fl. c. 65 (death unrecorded) in the archive, which places Onesiphorus in the Apostolic Fathers (AD 70–130). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
Which early sources mention Onesiphorus?
Onesiphorus of Ephesus is named in 3 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Paul of Tarsus and John Chrysostom. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Onesiphorus from?
The archive associates Onesiphorus of Ephesus with Ephesus.
Who were Onesiphorus’ contemporaries?
The archive links Onesiphorus of Ephesus to 4 other figures, including Paul of Tarsus, Timothy of Lystra, Prisca (Priscilla) and Aquila of Pontus. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Scripture record
Primary-source mentions (3)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
2 Timothy 1:16–18
c. AD 65The 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.Paul of Tarsus · read ↗
2 Timothy 4:19
c. AD 65Salute Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus.Paul of Tarsus · read ↗
Homilies on the Scriptures
c. AD 400“Salute Priscilla and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus.” — For he was then in Rome, of whom he said “The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day.” **By this naming of him, he makes those of his household also more zealous in such good actions.** [Chrysostom reads the greeting as doing work rather than merely closing the letter: naming Onesiphorus in front of his own household is meant to move them to imitate him. The homily is the same one that supplies Carpus of Troas — Homily X on 2 Timothy, on 2 Timothy iv. 9–22.]John Chrysostom · Homilies on 2 Timothy X · source text
Chrysostom's Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles and the Pauline epistles. Critical Greek: *Patrologia Graeca* 60–62. English translation in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 1st series, vol. 13 (1889), public domain.
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 30 · Crucifixion, Resurrection and Pentecost, AD 30–33
- AD 44 · Persecution under Herod Agrippa I, AD 44
- AD 49 · The Council of Jerusalem, AD 49
- AD 57 · Paul writes Romans, AD 57
- AD 62 · James the Just stoned, AD 62
- AD 64 · The Great Fire and Nero’s persecution, AD 64
- AD 70 · The fall of Jerusalem, AD 70
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Onesiphorus.