Colossians 4:16 – That Out of Laodicea

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.

What letter does Paul mean by “that out of Laodicea”? Remarkably, he does not say the letter to Laodicea, but “that out of Laodicea.” The Colossians apparently were to read a letter that would reach them from Laodicea. Paul does not say which letter that was. Yet there are strong indications that it was the letter we know as ‘Ephesians’.

In important ancient manuscripts, the words “in Ephesus” are absent from Ephesians 1:1. This fits the idea that ‘Ephesians’ was originally a circular letter. Its general character is also striking. Although Paul spent years in Ephesus, personal greetings are almost entirely absent. Moreover, the two letters run remarkably parallel. The Ephesian letter highlights the body of the Head, while the Colossian letter emphasizes the Head of the body. Both letters were conveyed by Tychicus (Eph. 6:21,22; Col. 4:7,8).

None of this constitutes proof, but the indications are remarkably strong. If ‘Ephesians’ was indeed a circular letter being read in Laodicea at that time, Paul’s wording is actually exactly fitting. The Colossians were then not to receive a separate “Laodicean letter,” but to read the letter that would come to them from Laodicea.

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