St. Epaphras of Colossae

Today the Church remembers one of the companions of St. Paul, St. Epaphras.  Epaphras was an observer of the Apostle Paul mentioned twice in the New Testament epistle of Colossians and once in the New Testament letter to Philemon.

In the first instance he is described as a "fellow servant" (Colossians 1:7) of Paul in his ministry. At the end of the same letter to the Church in Colossae, it is noted that Epaphras is "one of them" and that he sends "greetings" (Colossians 4:12) from his current location to the recipients of the letter. There is a similar refrain in Paul's letter to Philemon, where a person of the same name passes on his "greetings" to Philemon (Philemon 23).

Douglas Moo, in his commentary about Colossians, writes this about Epaphras: "Little is known about him, though we can infer that he was a native of Colossae and that he was perhaps converted by Paul himself during the apostle's ministry in Ephesus. The mention of a co-worker at this point in a Pauline epistle is unusual, and the strength of Paul's endorsement of him is also striking (note also 4:12-13)."