ONESIPHORUS ŏn’ ə sĭf’ ə rəs (̓Ονησίφορος, G3947, profit-bringer). An Ephesian believer whose fearless ministry to Paul during his second Rom. imprisonment was held up as a model of Christian kindness (2 Tim 1:16-18; 4:19). His courageous conduct stands in contrast to the desertion of Phygelus and Hermogenes (1:15). Whether he was asked to come or went on personal business, when Onesiphorus arrived in Rome he began at once a diligent and successful search for Paul. He repeatedly “refreshed” Paul in his dungeon, apparently by his means as well as by his unashamed friendship. His conduct was in keeping with his previous well-known services at Ephesus.

That Paul did not greet Onesiphorus personally but rather sent greetings to his household (4:19), and uttered a prayer for the household (1:16), has led some (Plummer, Bernard, Kelly) to conclude that he was no longer alive. If so, 2 Timothy 1:18 is a NT instance of prayer for the dead. 2 Maccabees 12:43-45 is cited as Jewish precedent for such a practice. But others (Simpson, Guthrie, Hendriksen) insist that the assumption of his death is unnecessary. He may have been absent from home. That Paul should think of his family is natural since they too were involved in the risk he took. Paul would never be able to repay Onesiphorus for the “mercy” he had shown him, so he prayed God’s “mercy” upon him “on that Day” (2 Tim 1:18). Paul expressed such an eschatological wish for people still alive (1 Thess 5:23). His prayer for “mercy” upon the household (2 Tim 1:16) does not imply that they were dead.

In any case, since “that Day” refers to the Judgment Day, Paul’s prayer for Onesiphorus (1:18) offers no support for prayer for the deliverance of souls from purgatory.

Bibliography A. Plummer, “The Pastoral Epistles,” ExB (1888); J. H. Bernard, “The Pastoral Epistles,” CGG (1899); E. K. Simpson, The Pastoral Epistles (1954); D. Guthrie, The “Pastoral Epistles,” Tyndale NT Comm. (1957); W. Hendriksen, “Exposition of the Pastoral Epistles,” NT Comm. (1957); J. N. D. Kelly, “The Pastoral Epistles,” Harper’s NT Comm. (1963).