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Bible Dictionaries
Epistles
Smith's Bible Dictionary
or Epistles. (Letters; personal correspondence by writing). The twenty-one Epistles of the New Testament took the place of tracts among us. In their outward form, they are such as might be expected from men who were brought into contact with Greek and Roman customs, themselves belonging to a different race, and so reproducing the imported style with only partial accuracy.
They begin, (the Epistle to the Hebrews and 1 John excepted), with the names of the writer and of those to whom the Epistle is addressed. Then follows the formula of salutation. Then the letter itself commences in the first person, the singular and plural being used indiscriminately. When the substance of the letter has been completed, come the individual messages. The conclusion, in this case, was probably modified by the fact that the letters were dictated to an amanuensis [A person whose employment is to write what another dictates.]
When he had done his work, the apostle took up the pen or reed, and added in his own large characters, Galatians 6:11, the authenticating autograph. In one instance, Romans 16:22, the amanuensis in his own name adds his salutation.
An allusion in 2 Corinthians 3:1, brings before us another class of letters which must have been in frequent use in the early ages of the Christian Church, by which travellers or teachers were commended by one church to the good offices of others.
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Smith, William, Dr. Entry for 'Epistles'. Smith's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/sbd/e/epistles.html. 1901.
