land. However, by the time of Jesus, following the Greek and Roman conquests of the Mediterranean world, slavery had become a ruthless endeavor. Legally sanctioned by the state, runaway slaves could be severely punished, even to the point of death. According to Rapske (1991), the punishment which could be inflicted upon a fugitive slave upon his (voluntary or involuntary) return to the master included whipping, imprisonment, degradation in status, branding on the face, being placed in bonds, fitted with a metal collar, having his legs broken, condemnation to the mines, or death by crucifixion, being thrown to "wild beasts," or to man-eating fish (pp. 189-190).
The only portion of the New Testament which specifically deals with the subject of slavery is Paul's letter to Philemon which concerns the fate of Onesimus, a slave owned by Philemon. Scores of commentators have formulated a variety of hypotheses to account for the meeting of Paul and Onesimus. In Rapske's (1991) opinion, the number may be conveniently reduced to six. These are described as:
1) the messenger Onesimus is sent to Paul by his master and the church; 2) the fugitive Onesimus is captured by the authorities and imprisoned with Paul; 3) the fugitive Onesimus is found by one of Paul's associates and is brought to Paul; 4) the fugitive Onesimus, because of lack of success in providing for himself or because of pangs of conscience, secretly steals to Paul; 5) Onesimus runs to Paul's place of imprisonment in a bid to find asylum from his master there; and finally, 6) Onesimus, in a bid to be happily restored to his estranged master, runs to Paul who is his master's friend (p. 187).
In accepting the last view as most plausible, Rapske cites E.R.
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