the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Colossians
People's Dictionary of the Bible
or Colossians (ko-lŏsh'ĭ-ans, or ko-lŏsh'anz), the Epistle to the. Was written by the apostle Paul while he was a prisoner at Rome, Acts 28:16, and apparently, Colossians 4:3-4, before his imprisonment had assumed the more severe character which seems to be reflected in the epistle to the Philippians, Philippians 1:20-21; Philippians 1:30; Philippians 2:27, and which not improbably succeeded the death of Burrus in a.d. 62, and the decline of the influence of Seneca. The epistle was addressed to the Christians of the city of Colossae, and was delivered to them by Tychicus, whom the apostle had sent both to them, Colossians 4:7-8, and to the church of Ephesus, Ephesians 6:21, to inquire into their state and to give exhortation and comfort. The epistle seems to have been called forth by the information Paul had received from Epaphras, Colossians 4:12; Philemon 1:23, and from Onesimus, both of whom appear to have been natives of Colossæ. The main object of the epistle is to warn the Colossians against a spirit of semi-Judaism and a philosophy which was corrupting the simplicity of their belief, and was noticeably tending to obscure the glory and dignity of Christ. The shorter epistle to the Colossians seems to have been first written, and to have suggested the more comprehensive epistle to the Ephesians.
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Rice, Edwin Wilbur, DD. Entry for 'Colossians'. People's Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/rpd/c/colossians.html. 1893.
