Colossians 4:16 – Read Elsewhere as Well

16 And whenever the epistle should be read to you, cause that it should be read in the Laodicean ecclesia also, and that you also may be reading that out of Laodicea.

The letter we know as ‘Colossians’ was, of course, intended first of all for the ecclesia in Colosse. It was to be read there. But Paul then explicitly instructs that the same letter also be read in Laodicea. This fits with what we saw earlier: Epaphras had much concern not only for the Colossians, but also for the believers in Laodicea (4:13).

Paul’s letters had a specific destination, but that did not mean their validity was limited. This is strikingly evident from the address of 1 Corinthians. Paul writes “to the ecclesia of God which is in Corinth,” but immediately adds: “together with all” who invoke the name of the Lord, “in every place” (1 Cor. 1:2). The apostle’s word was not the exclusive possession of those originally addressed.

Peter later also speaks of “all the epistles” of Paul (2 Peter 3:15, 16). This gives the impression that by then his letters were being collected and circulated as such. Colossians 4:16 shows us concretely how this worked. A letter was delivered somewhere, but then found its way onward. What was received in one ecclesia was also intended to be read elsewhere.

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