What is the epistle to the Laodiceans mentioned in Colossians 4:16?

Answer

In Colossians 4:16, Paul mentions a letter from Laodicea that the believers were to read: “After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea.” This is an important verse because it shows that, from the very beginning, the apostles’ epistles were to be read publicly in the churches and were considered profitable for all «I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren. », (cf: 1 Thessalonians 5:27). There is some conjecture, however, as to what exactly the letter to (or from) the Laodiceans was.

We know there was a church in Laodicea, a wealthy, industrious city in the province of Phrygia in the Lycos Valley, approximately 9 miles from Colossae, in a region now known as Denizli, Turkey. Scholars over the years have offered their opinions on what the “letter to the Laodiceans” actually was. The truth is, we do not know. However, we will look at a few possibilities and weigh their merits:

1. The letter to the Laodiceans was a letter written by Paul in Laodicea and intended for the Colossian church. This idea can be immediately debunked by Colossians 2:1, where Paul states that the Laodiceans had never personally seen him. Therefore, any letter originating in Laodicea was not written by him.

2. The letter to the Laodiceans was a letter from the church itself and not penned by Paul. Although the wording, “letter from Laodicea,” sounds as though it could mean the letter originated there, no evidence exists to suggest anyone resided in Laodicea who could have penned such an authoritative letter. Since Paul himself had never visited that church, it is unlikely that any leader of the Laodicean church could write a letter that Paul equated with his own.

3. The letter to the Laodiceans was a letter written by Paul to the Laodicean church, but it was not preserved as Scripture. This is a possibility, as there are other letters mentioned in the New Testament that were not included in the canon of Scripture. However, without any extant copies of such a letter, we can only speculate about its contents and significance.

The Letter to the Laodiceans is a non-canonical letter written by Paul that has been lost to history. While it is possible, first-century historians do not mention such an “epistle to Laodicea” in extrabiblical writings. Most likely, there was no such letter by Paul.

The letter to the Laodiceans was, in fact, what we now refer to as Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. When Paul wrote to Colossae, the Epistle to the Ephesians was circulating among the churches and was also in Laodicea. This theory is the most plausible, as the letters to the Colossians and Ephesians share great similarity and are clearly Paul’s work. It is probable that a copy of the letter in question was carried by Paul’s assistant, Tychicus “All my state shall Tychicus declare unto you, who is a beloved brother, and a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord:”, (Colossians 4:7), from Ephesus to the Laodiceans with instructions to pass it on to the Colossians after reading it.

In a few years, the church at Laodicea would receive another letter, a rebuke from Jesus Himself through the apostle John. The Laodiceans had become lukewarm in their devotion to Christ and were at risk of facing severe discipline (Revelation 3:14-22). The letter in the Book of Revelation was written long after Paul wrote the Book of Colossians, so it cannot be the letter referred to in Colossians 4:16.