Epaphras

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Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary


EPAPHRAS.—Mentioned by St. Paul in Col_1:7; Col_4:12, Phm_1:23; and described by him as his ‘fellow-servant,’ and also as a ‘servant’ and ‘faithful minister’ of Christ. He was a native or inhabitant of Colossæ (Col_4:12), and as St. Paul’s representative (Col_1:7) founded the Church there (Col_1:7). The fact of his prayerful zeal for Laodicea and Hierapolis suggests his having brought the faith to these cities also (Col_4:13). He brought news of the Colossian Church to the Apostle during his first Roman imprisonment, perhaps undertaking the journey to obtain St. Paul’s advice as to the heresies that were there prevalent. He is spoken of as St. Paul’s ‘fellow-prisoner’ (Phm_1:23), a title probably meaning that his care of the Apostle entailed the practical sharing of his captivity. The Epistle to the Colossians was a result of this visit, and Epaphras brought it back with him to his flock. Epaphras is a shortened form of Epaphroditus (Php_2:25), but, as the name was in common use, it is not probable that the two are to be identified.
Charles T. P. Grierson.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909


Paul's "dear fellow servant, who is for you (the Colossian Christians, Col_1:7) a faithful minister of Christ," perhaps implying Epaphras was the founder of the Colossian church. In Phm_1:23, "my fellow prisoner." Apprehended possibly for his zealous labors in Asia Minor; literally, "fellow captive" (sunaichmalootos), taken in the Christian warfare (Php_2:25), or else more probably designated so as Paul's faithful companion in imprisonment. He had been sent by the Colossians to inquire after and minister to Paul.
Aristarchus is designated Paul's "fellow prisoner" in Col_4:10, and his "fellow laborer" in Phm_1:24 (both epistles were sent at the same time). But, vice versa, Epaphras in the Epistle to Philemon is" his fellow prisoner," and in the Epistle to the Colossians "his fellow laborer." In Col_4:12 Paul thus commends him, "Epaphras who is one of you (a native or resident of Colosse), a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always laboring fervently (agoonizomenos, 'striving as in the agony of a contest') for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God."
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.


Ep'aphras. (lovely). A fellow laborer with the apostle Paul, mentioned in Col_1:7, as having taught the Colossian church, the grace of God in truth, and designated a faithful minister of Christ on their behalf. He was, at that time, with St. Paul at Rome. (A.D. 57). For Paul's estimate of him, see Col_1:7-8; Col_4:12.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863


ep?a-fras (Ἐπαφρᾶς, Epaphrás): A contracted form of Epaphroditus. He must not, however, be confounded with the messenger of the Philippian community. He was with Paul during a part of his 1st Roman imprisonment, joining in Paul's greetings to Philemon (Phm_1:23). Epaphras was the missionary by whose instrumentality the Colossians had been converted to Christianity (Col_1:7), and probably the other churches of the Lycus had been founded by him. In sending his salutation to the Colossians Paul testified, ?He hath much labor for you, and for them in Laodicea, and for them in Hierapolis? (Col_4:13). Epaphras had brought to Paul good news of the progress of the gospel, of their ?faith in Christ Jesus? and of their love toward all the saints (Col_1:4). Paul's regard for him is shown by his designating him ?our beloved fellow-servant,? ?a faithful minister of Christ? (Col_1:7), and ?a bondservant of Christ Jesus? (Col_4:12 margin) . The last designation Paul uses several times of himself, but only once of another besides Epaphras (Phi_1:1).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.


Ep?aphras, an eminent teacher in the church at Colosse, denominated by Paul 'his dear fellow-servant,' and 'a faithful minister of Christ' (Col_1:7; Col_4:12). From Paul's Epistle to Philemon it appears that he suffered imprisonment with the Apostle at Rome. It has been inferred from Col_1:7, that he was the founder of the Colossian Church, and most probably he was one of its earliest and most zealous instructors.
The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.


Epaphras
(Ε᾿παφρᾶς, usually considered a contraction of Epaphroditus, but the last syllable in that case is hardly regular), an eminent teacher in the Church at Colossae, denominated by Paul "his dear fellow-servant," and "a faithful minister (διάκονος) of Christ" (Col_1:7; Col_4:12). A.D. 57. It has been inferred from Col_1:7 that he was the founder of the Colossian Church; and Dr. Neander supposes that the apostle terms him ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν διάκονος Χριστοῦ (a servant of Christ in our stead) because he committed to him the office of proclaiming the Gospel in the three Phrygian cities Colossae, Hierapolis, and Laodicea, which he could not visit himself (Hist. of Planting, 1:200, 373). This language, however, is by no means decisive; yet most probably Epaphras was one of the earliest and most zealous instructors of the Colossian Church (see Alford's prolegomena to that epistle, Gr. Test. 3:35 sq.). Lardner thinks that the expression respecting Epaphras in Coloss. 4:12, ὁ ἐξ ὑμῶν, is quite inconsistent with the supposition of his being the founder of the Church, since the same phrase is applied to Onesimus, a recent convert (Hist. of the Apostles and Evangelists, c. 14; Works, 6:153). But in both cases the words in question seem intended simply to identify these individuals as the fellow-townsmen of the Colossians, and to distinguish them from others of the same name in Rome (see Macknight on Col_4:2). He was at that time with Paul at Rome (Col_4:12), and seems by the expression there used to have been at least a Colossian by birth. We find him again mentioned in the epistle to Philemon (Col_4:23), which was sent at the same time as that to the Colossians. Paul there calls him ὁ συναιχμαλωτός μου, my fellow-prisoner; but some regard the word there as only a tender and delicate expression of Epaphras's attention to the apostle in his imprisonment (comp. Rom_16:13). The martyrologies make Epaphras to have been first bishop of Colossee, and to have suffered martyrdom there. SEE EPAPHRODITUS.

CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.





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