ESV Global Study Bible :: Footnotes for Colossians 4

Col. 4:1 treat your bondservants justly and fairly. Paul does not approve of the Roman system of servitude. Instead, he provides instructions to believing masters and servants regarding their relationship to each other in the Lord (see note on Eph. 6:5). On bondservants, see esv Preface.

Col. 4:3–4 that God may open to us a door for the word. Paul asks the Colossians to pray that he will have opportunities to share the good news of Jesus Christ (Eph. 6:18–20; 2 Thess. 3:1). to declare the mystery. See note on Col. 1:26–27.

Col. 4:5–6 seasoned with salt. Compare Matt. 5:13. The metaphor suggests giving a powerful and attractive testimony to non-Christians.

Col. 4:7–17 Personal Greetings and Instructions. After praising the “letter carriers,” Paul sends greetings from the ministry associates who are with him during his imprisonment.

Col. 4:7–8 Tychicus was a native of Asia Minor. He was a member of Paul’s ministry team (Acts 20:4). He will carry this letter, as well as Ephesians and Philemon (see Eph. 6:21–22), and bring them news about Paul.

Col. 4:9 Onesimus. This was Philemon’s converted bondservant (see notes on Philemon).

Col. 4:10–11 Mark the cousin of Barnabas. This is the same person as “John Mark.” He went with Paul on his first missionary journey, but suddenly left (Acts 13:13). Paul and Barnabas had a disagreement about taking him again (Acts 15:39). Paul’s view of Mark has changed, probably because Mark has changed. Now Mark ministers with Paul again. Jesus who is called Justus is otherwise unknown. men of the circumcision. Jewish Christians.

Col. 4:13 in Laodicea and in Hierapolis. Towns near Colossae in the Lycus Valley (on Laodicea, see 2:1). Both churches had close relationships with the church at Colossae.

Col. 4:14 Luke the beloved physician is the same Luke who wrote Luke and Acts (see 2 Tim. 4:11; Philem. 24). He went with Paul on some of his journeys. He was apparently with Paul during his imprisonments in Caesarea and Rome. Since Luke is not identified among “the only men of the circumcision” (Col. 4:9–11), he was probably a Gentile. Demas later deserted Paul (2 Tim. 4:10).

Col. 4:15 Nympha and the church in her house. On house churches, see note on 1 Cor. 16:19.

Col. 4:16 when this letter has been read among you. Public reading in the churches points to the authority of Paul’s letters. It also assumes they were written to be understood by ordinary believers. The letter from Laodicea probably refers to a letter Paul wrote to Laodicea that is now lost.

Col. 4:17 Archippus may have been the son of Philemon and Apphia (see Philem. 2).

Col. 4:18 Closing. Paul ends his letter by asking the Colossian Christians to pray for him. I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Timothy has probably been Paul’s secretary to this point (see 1:1). Paul now signs the letter personally (compare 1 Cor. 16:21; 2 Thess. 3:17).