Bible Dictionaries
Laodiceans, Epistle to the

Holman Bible Dictionary

A short letter claiming Paul as its author. The letter was doubtless composed to fill in the gap suggested by Colossians 4:16 . The date of writing is unknown. Jerome (340?-420) warned against this spurious work. Despite Jerome's protests, the letter was accepted as a genuine Pauline Epistle by Pope Gregory the Great (590-604). About one half of the Latin manuscripts of the Pauline Epistles produced between 500,1600 contain the Epistle to the Laodiceans. With the Reformation, the epistle quickly fell into disuse. The epistle was perhaps composed in Greek, though it survives only in Latin. Its 247 words are a patchwork of passages drawn from the authentic Pauline letters, chiefly Philippians, but also Galatians, 1,2Corinthians, and 1,2Timothy. There are also echoes of Matthew and 2Peter.