Colossae,^1149 once likewise famous, was at the time of Paul the smallest of the three
neighboring cities, and has almost disappeared from the earth; while magnificent ruins of temples,
theatres, baths, aqueducts, gymnasia, and sepulchres still testify to the former wealth and prosperity
of Laodicea and Hierapolis. The church of Colossae was the least important of the churches to
which Paul addressed an Epistle, and it is scarcely mentioned in post-apostolic times; but it gave
rise to a heresy which shook the church in the second century, and this Epistle furnished the best
remedy against it.
There was a large Jewish population in Phrygia, since Antiochus the Great had despotically
transplanted two thousand Jewish families from Babylonia and Mesopotamia to that region. It thus
became, in connection with the sensuous and mystic tendency of the Phrygian character, a nursery
of religious syncretism and various forms of fanaticism.
Paul and the Colossians.
Paul passed twice through Phrygia, on his second and third missionary tours,^1150 but probably
not through the valley of the Lycus. Luke does not say that he established churches there, and Paul
himself seems to include the Colossians and Laodiceans among those who had not seen his face in
the flesh.^1151 He names Epaphras, of Colossae, his "dear fellow-servant" and "fellow-prisoner," as
the teacher and faithful minister of the Christians in that place.^1152 But during his long residence in
Ephesus (a.d. 54–57) and from his imprisonment he exercised a general supervision over all the
churches in Asia. After his death they passed under the care of John, and in the second century they
figure prominently in the Gnostic, Paschal, Chiliastic, and Montanistic controversies.
Paul heard of the condition of the church at Colossae through Epaphras, his pupil, and
Onesimus, a runaway slave. He sent through Tychicus (Col. 4:7) a letter to the church, which was
also intended for the Laodiceans (4:16); at the same time he sent through Onesimus a private letter
of commendation to his master, Philemon, a member of the church of Colossae. He also directed
the Colossians to procure and read "the letter from Laodicea,"^1153 which is most probably the
evangelical Epistle to the Ephesians which was likewise transmitted through Tychicus. He had
special reasons for writing to the Colossians and to Philemon, and a general reason for writing to
all the churches in the region of Ephesus; and he took advantage of the mission of Tychicus to
secure both ends. In this way the three Epistles are closely connected in time and aim. They would
mutually explain and confirm one another.
The Colossian Heresy.
The special reason which prompted Paul to write to the Colossians was the rise of a new
heresy among them which soon afterward swelled into a mighty and dangerous movement in thezeal for martyrdom to sheer obstinacy. The self-reliant, stoic morality of these philosophers, sublime as it is, would have hindered
rather than facilitated their acceptance of Christianity, which is based on repentance and humility.(^1149) Κολοσσαί, Colossae, is the correct reading of the oldest MSS. against the later Κολασσαί, Colossae. Herodotus calls it πόλις
μεγάλη, and Xenophon εὐδαίμων καὶ μεγάλη. In the middle ages it was called Χῶναι. There are few remains of it left two miles
north of the present town of Chonos, which is inhabited by Christians and Turks.
(^1150) Acts 16:6 (τὴν Φρυγίαν καὶ Γαλατικὴν χώραν); 18:23.
(^1151) Col. 2:1; comp. 1:4, 8, 9; and Lightfoot, Com., pp. 23 sqq. and 238.
(^1152) Col. 1:7; 4:12; comp. Philem 23. Hilgenfeld (p. 663) thinks that Paul founded those churches, and uses this as an argument
against the genuineness of the Epistle which implies the contrary. But how easily could a forger have avoided such an apparent
contradiction.
(^1153) Col. 4:16: τὴν ἐκ Λαοδικαίας ἵνα καὶ ὑμεῖς α ̓ναγνῶτε. An abridged expression for "the letter left at Laodicea which you
will procure thence." So Bleek and Lightfoot, in loco.
A.D. 1-100.