Journal: Conspectus
Volume: CONSPECTUS 29:1 (Mar 2020)
Article: The Curious Case Of Apphia, Our Sister
Author: Batanayi I. Manyika

Conspectus 29:1 (March 2020) p. 134

The Curious Case Of Apphia, Our Sister

Batanayi I. Manyika

and

Cornelia van Deventer1

Abstract

Far from being formulaic, the Pauline letter opening serves as a dynamic rhetorical strategy that intertwines characters and themes to suit the objectives of each letter. In Philemon2 the person of Apphia appears in the opening, occupying the unique intersection between identity and rhetoric, where she is inscribed into a social group privileged with proximity to Paul. As the sole female to be included in a Pauline address, questions regarding the inclusion of her name, the seemingly vague appellation of sister (ἀδελφή), and Paul’s silence regarding her relationship to the other parties in the greeting, have led to an ongoing debate regarding this mysterious character. This paper traces and critically engages various renderings of Apphia in the Wirkungsgeschichte of Philemon. It explores the potential rhetorical effect of her inclusion in the Pauline corpus and what it means for Bible interpreters engaging her narrative from the Global South. It is, therefore, a central claim of this paper that tracing the many versions of Apphia retrieves history for contemporary audiences to appropriate meaning from Paul’s salutation to our sister.

Keywords

Apphia; Philemon; Paul; Wirkungsgeschichte; deliberative rhetoric.

Conspectus 29:1 (March 2020) p. 135

1. Introduction

Mentioned once in a letter about a slave called Onesimus and a paterfamilias called Philemon, Apphia remains an enigmatic figure that makes a sudden appearance in Philemon’s opening, and in the broader New Testament (NT). While her sole reference may appear disconnected from the epistle’s rhetorical emphases, the deliberative role played by both her presence in a prominent part of the epistle and her gender should not be understated. Contrastingly, the limited description accompanying her textual location among a group of men, who make multiple appearances in the broader Pauline corpus (cf. Phlm 23–24; Col 1:7–8, 4:7–17; 2 Tim 4:10)3 presents to the reader a peculiarity that has not gone unnoticed. It is into this space that this essay voyages as it explores Apphia’s inclusion from both historical and rhetorical shores. First, w...