The Orthodox Study Bible: Briefly on Colossians 4: 16 The epistle from Laodicea

The Orthodox Study Bible: Briefly on Colossians 4: 16  The epistle from Laodicea

The Orthodox Study Bible, New Testament and Psalms, (1993) Saint Athanasius Orthodox Academy, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee.

15/10/2021 article revised for an entry on academia.edu...2/20/2024.

Preface

Back to Colossians. I have been listening to the King James Version (KJV) on audio over the last several years. The KJV similar to the New King James Version (NKJV), used by The Orthodox Study Bible.

New King James Version (NKJV) Colossians 4: 16 

16 Now when this epistle is read among you, see that it is read also in the church of the Laodiceans, and that you likewise read the epistle from Laodicea.

The Orthodox Study Bible

This text states in the notes (not paraphrased)

4: 16 Paul expected his letters to be read aloud to the churches and at least sometimes to be sent on to neighboring churches. (Colosse and Laodicea are less than 15 miles apart). Paul's letter coming from Laodicea probably is the one we know as Ephesians. (369).

I shall opine that this is a reasonable suggestion...

The timeline works.

Within the Ephesians introduction, this academic bible states 'Paul probably wrote Ephesians from Rome during his imprisonment in A.D. 61-63' (436) and Acts 28: 16-31 is referenced. (436). It is a possibility that as the letter was not just intended for the Ephesians (436) and the context is general (436). It is possible that Ephesians is 'the letter to the Laodiceans' that is mentioned in Colossians 4: 16. (436).

Tuesday, March 19, 2013 Chronology Of New Testament Books

Referenced

Ephesians Robert Gundry, 61-61 A.D. (page 364). 

Colossians Robert Gundry, 61-62 A.D. (page 364). 

Other perspectives

Courson in his commentary series reasons 'We don't have the letter, but it was evidently written by Paul at this time to the Laodicians'. (1328).

N.T. Wright opines that most scholars do not see the letter from Laodicea as written by the church in Laodicia. (160). Scholarship generally reasons that Paul wrote this letter in question. (160). It may have very well been Ephesians. (160). Lightfoot's work being a standard for support that the letter is the Book of Ephesians. (160) (Lightfoot: 375-396). Wright notes that Caird does not agree. (160). Wright explains that within scholarship 'no major arguments' have been raised against the view of Lightfoot (and in agreement, with this study bible from Orthodoxy under review).

Theologically

Theologically, I do not reason that every epistle/letter, or note, written by a New Testament writer in the New Testament era, was necessarily inspired by God, equating to Scripture. If there are lost and/or discarded letters, these could very well be uninspired ones. If the letter in question is not Ephesians, it should not be assumed to be a lost epistle and letter of scripture that actually should be in the Bible, the New Testament canon, but is not. As well, the New Testament remains consistent theologically. There is no significant evidence for the existence of a lost epistle/letter from Paul, or another New Testament writer, within than New Testament era community, that supports a non-gospel theology. The theological integrity of the New Testament remains intact from the manuscript evidence and translations from the books that are extant.

BROWNING, W.R.F. (1997) Oxford Dictionary of the Bible, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

ELWELL, WALTER AND YARBROUGH, ROBERT W., Third Edition (2013) Encountering The New Testament, Grand Rapids, Baker Academic.

CAIRD, GEORGE B. (1977) Paul's Letters from Prison Paperback, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

COURSON, JON (2005) Application Commentary, Thomas Nelson, Nashville.

GUNDRY, ROBERT (1981) A Survey of the New Testament, Grand Rapids, Zondervan.

LIGHTFOOT, JOHN B. (1993) The Destination of the Epistle to the Ephesians in Biblical Essays, New York, Macmillan.

MCRAY, J.R. (1996) ‘Bible, Canon of', in Walter A. Elwell (ed.), Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Grand Rapids, Baker Books.

MCDONALD, H.D. (1996) ‘Bible, Authority of', in Walter A. Elwell (ed.), Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Grand Rapids, Baker Books. 

The Orthodox Study Bible, New Testament and Psalms, (1993) Saint Athanasius Orthodox Academy, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee.

WRIGHT, N.T., Colossians and Philemon, (1986)(1989), IVP, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids.

Colossians 4:16-Bible Hub 

Λαοδικέων of [the] Laodiceans N-GMP (Noun-Genitive, Masculine, Plural) 

Λαοδικείας Laodicea N-GFS (Noun-Genitive, Feminine, Singular)