Onesimos Nesib (Qubee: Onesimoos Nasiib) was born in Hurrumu, former Yayu District, Illubabor Zone, Oromia Region, in 1855/56. His birth name was Hiikaa [translator, problem solver, one who liberates]. Onesimos is the biblical name he received after baptism in 1872. Like the main character in Paul’s letter to Philemon, Onesimus had been enslaved. Hiikaa was ransomed by the orientalist and French vice-consul Werner Munzinger in Massawa in 1870 and then attended the nearby “School for Freed Men” established by the Swedish Evangelical Mission (SEM). From 1876 until 1881, Onesimos studied at Johannelund Missionary Training Institute.
Having returned from Sweden, Onesimos Nesib participated in the SEM expedition to reach Oromia via Khartoum and Famaka (Sudan). However, the team did not reach its destination. Seriously ill and exhausted, Onesimus arrived back in Imkullu (near Massawa) about the middle of July 1882.
A few weeks later, Onesimos began translating Christian literature into Oromo. The first book printed at the local mission press was a hymn book titled Faarsaa fi Weedu [Hymns and Songs], published in 1886.
In 1881, his former teacher and SEM leader in Eritrea and Ethiopia, Rev. Bengt P. Lundahl, had published an Amharic hymn book, Yegubaé Mezmurat. From these 41 congregational songs, Onesimos translated 26 into the Oromo language. He selected 75 songs from various Swedish and English hymn books and also translated them into Oromo. In total, the first edition of Onesimos’ hymnal thus contained 101 hymns, including two by Martin Luther (“A Mighty Fortress” and “Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice”).
Onesimos Nesib constantly revised his Oromo hymnal. Based on the enlarged manuscript Onesimos had completed in 1927, Rev. Martin Nordfeldt and his wife Ingeborg published a revised edition in 1935. They included some of Onesimos’ new songs but replaced some of his other hymns with lesser-known melodies. An Oromo translation of parts of the liturgy was also added. The Nordfeldt family had made their home in Nekemte from 1924 to 1927 and learned Oromo from Onesimos and his colleague, Aster Ganno.
Onesimos Nesib had left for Illubabor via Djibouti in 1903, but settled at the invitation of Governor Kumsaa Moroda in Nekemte. In 1904, Onesimos received a plot for his house and a school in Nejo, but had to return to Nekemte in early 1906. He stayed there, teaching reading and writing Oromo at an elementary school and proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ, until he died in June 1931.
Onesimos could play the harmonium (pump organ) and brought one with him when he returned from his studies in Sweden. Unfortunately, the harmonium was stolen during his second missionary expedition to reach Oromia in 1885/86.
Onesimos Nesib’s legacy as an Oromo Bible translator, evangelist, and teacher is well-known. However, there is still much to learn about Onesimos as the father of Oromo gospel music.
Video
» Watch videos on Onesimos Nesib
Pictures
(from EFS [SEM] historical archives; adapted)
(coloured photograph from EFS [SEM] historical archives; adapted)
Further study
Bibliography
» Onesimos Nesib, Oromo writings
» Onesimos Nesib Anthology
(Letters, etc. in English; edited by Rev. Paul Persson, 2024):
- Front and back matter
- Part 1: “Onesimos, the useful one” (by Fredrik Almqvist)
- Part 2: Onesimos’s life in Naqamte (by Paul Persson)
- Part 3: Obituaries for Onesimos (transl. by Kersi Karlsson)
- Parts 4 and 5: Onesimos’s letters (transl. by G. Arén and I.H. Rydland)
- Part 6: “Onesimos, the singer” (by Marianne Nilsson)
» Overview of Onesimos Nesib’s letters, etc. [work in progress]
Cross-References
» Overview of Onesimos Nesib’s hymnal sources
[and his approach to traditional Oromo melodies (work in progress)].
» Onesimos Nesib on Krapf’s Oromo New Testament