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What Saint Paul said of him:

“May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains, but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me earnestly and found me— may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that Day!—and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus.”

Now, we know Timothy was close to Onesiphorus’s household, for Paul later writes, “Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus.”

So it was natural for Paul to write to Timothy, “May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus”. After all, Timothy knew them and was close enough by to pass on Paul’s words and his regard.

For the rest, all we know is “he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains, but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me earnestly and found me— may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that Day!—and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus.”

So he is not with Paul now, but has at some point traveled from his household to Paul. One POSSIBLE explanation is that he is died before he could return. ANOTHER is that he is traveling - maybe home, maybe elsewhere - and therefor is no longer with Paul.

Nor does praying for the dead, if it is done, imply Purgatory. None of us know the state of one’s soul at death. Shoot, for all I can prove, Teddy Kennedy might have repented in his final moments! And while I see no evidence God is outside time, I do believe He knows the future as certainly as He knows the past...so if I pray for someone who died, He knew about that prayer before the person died.

I’ve prayed for my parents, both of whom are dead. I do not pray for conversion AFTER death, for even Catholics deny that is possible. I do pray that they converted BEFORE death. My Dad died 10 months in to a tour in Vietnam - how do I know what his spiritual state was the day he died? My Mom slipped into senility. There was a time in her life when she was hostile to the Gospel, but she seemed to accept it as death drew near. But how can I know?

So I feel free to pray for their souls, although I have ZERO belief in Purgatory, and equally none in conversion after death.

Maybe Onesiphorus died, and Paul continued to pray for his friend the way I do for my parents. Maybe Onesiphorus was traveling, and Paul prayed for him, knowing the dangers of travel. But there is no reason to believe in Purgatory from those verses.

If Paul believed in Purgatory, he had ample opportunity to discuss it. Right after exhorting Christians to live pure lives would have been a great time...as in “if you do not, you will burn in Purgatory until God decided you have been punished enough for your sin” - a statement that in itself is so utterly contrary to Christianity as to take one’s breath away!