Epaphras (Vulg. Epaphras)

EPAPHRAS (Vulg. Epaphras). - Disciple and collaborator of Paul (Col. 1:7; 4:12; Philem. 23).

That his name (Ἐπασρᾶς) is an abbreviated form of Epaphroditus (v.) seems certain; but the same cannot be said of the opinion that would make the two into a single person, designated now by the full form and now by the diminutive. The distinction is required by the difference in the milieu in which the two operate and in their relations with Paul.

E. had instructed (Col. 1:7; cf. 2:6 f.) the faithful of Colossae (v.; cf. also COLOSSIANS, EPISTLE to). In Col. 4:12 f. E. greets the community to which he belongs, as a native of the same city of Colossae and as its organizer and head. Paul calls him "servant of Christ Jesus," always anxious ("striving," ἀγωνιζόμενος, in prayer) for the good, not only of the Colossians, but also of the faithful of Laodicea and of Hierapolis. It is probable that the foundation and evangelization of these two communities were also due to him. That E. was a Gentile Christian is clear from the decisive way in which he is distinguished from the group named immediately before (Col. 4:10 f.) as "belonging to the circumcision."

While Paul was a prisoner the first time in Rome (with little probability others think rather of Caesarea: v. IMPRISONMENT, EPISTLES of the) E. came to visit him and to bring him on the whole comforting news about the condition of the community of Colossae (Col. 1:4-8). It appears, indeed, that the love for the Apostle, who calls him "beloved fellow servant" (Col. 1:7), impelled him to remain with him, almost a voluntary prisoner; whence the title of "fellow prisoner" in Philem. 23. His stay in Rome must have been prolonged, because the bearers of the letter to the Colossians - perhaps suggested by E. himself - and of that to Philemon were Tychicus and Onesimus. The Martyr. Romanum commemorates him on July 19 as bishop and martyr of Colossae.

Teodorico da Castel San Pietro