Colossians 4:15-17
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
A Message for the Laodiceans. 15 Give greetings to the brothers in Laodicea and to Nympha and to the church in her house.[a] 16 And when this letter is read before you, have it read also in the church of the Laodiceans, and you yourselves read the one from Laodicea.[b] 17 And tell Archippus, “See that you fulfill the ministry[c] that you received in the Lord.”(A)
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- 4:15 Nympha and…her house: some manuscripts read a masculine for the house-church leader, “Nymphas and…his house.”
- 4:16 The one from Laodicea: either a letter by Paul that has been lost or the Letter to the Ephesians (cf. note on Eph 1:1 in Ephesus).
- 4:17 Fulfill the ministry: usually taken to mean that Archippus, the son of Philemon and Apphia (Phlm 1–2), is “pastor” at Colossae. An alternate interpretation is that Archippus, not Philemon, is the owner of the slave Onesimus and that Paul is asking Archippus to complete the service he has received in the Lord by sending Onesimus back to minister to Paul in his captivity (cf. Phlm 20).
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