Epaphras

Overview

• Testament: New
• Role: Founder of the church at Colossae; brought Paul news about that congregation; labored in prayer for the Colossians, Laodiceans, and Hierapolitans
• Family: From Colossae; his background not specified beyond being a co-worker of Paul
• Key Books: Colossians, Philemon

Biography

Epaphras was a native of Colossae (Colossians 4:12: “one of yourselves”) who served as the founding evangelist of the church there and possibly the churches at Laodicea and Hierapolis as well. Paul describes him as “our beloved fellow servant” and “a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf” (Colossians 1:7), indicating that Epaphras had been working in close association with Paul, likely during Paul’s extended stay in Ephesus (Acts 19), when the gospel spread throughout the surrounding province of Asia.

The Colossian church had never been visited by Paul personally (Colossians 2:1), which means Epaphras was its primary apostolic connection. He had apparently traveled to find Paul — likely during Paul’s Roman imprisonment — and brought a report of the Colossian church’s faith, love, and spiritual condition (Colossians 1:8). This report was both encouraging and troubling: the church was facing a syncretistic philosophical and religious challenge that Paul addresses throughout the letter.

Paul’s description of Epaphras’s prayer life is one of the most vivid portraits of intercession in the New Testament: “Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God” (Colossians 4:12). The word “struggling” (Greek: agonizomai) is the same root used for athletic contest and warfare — Epaphras’s prayers were intense, costly, and passionate.

In Philemon 23, Paul refers to Epaphras as his “fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus,” suggesting that Epaphras had been imprisoned alongside Paul, either voluntarily to serve the apostle or as a result of his own witness. Whether “prisoner” is literal or metaphorical (a “prisoner of Christ”) is debated, but the proximity to Paul and his clear concern for churches he founded make him one of the most affecting minor figures in the Pauline correspondence.

Key Events

• Founds the church at Colossae (implied by Colossians 1:7; 4:12–13)
• Travels to find Paul and reports on the Colossian church’s condition (Colossians 1:8)
• Described by Paul as a “faithful minister of Christ” on the Colossians’ behalf (Colossians 1:7)
• Labors in prayer for the churches at Colossae, Laodicea, and Hierapolis (Colossians 4:12–13)
• Referred to as Paul’s “fellow prisoner” in Philemon (Philemon 23)

Relationships

• Paul - apostolic partner; shared imprisonment
• Philemon - member of the Colossian community; shared letter recipient
• Onesimus - fellow Colossian referenced in the same letters

Important Verses

• Colossians 1:7–8
• Colossians 4:12–13
• Philemon 23

Cross-References

• Colossians 1 - Described as faithful minister who reported to Paul
• Colossians 4 - Prayer life described; greetings sent
• Philemon 23 - Named as fellow prisoner

Notes

• Epaphras is an example of a church planter who remained deeply invested in his congregation even after his own work there was done — his sustained intercession for three whole cities is remarkable
• The term “struggling” (agonizomai) in Colossians 4:12 places prayer in the same category as combat or athletic effort, one of the most intense descriptions of prayer in the New Testament
• The Colossian correspondence owes its existence to Epaphras’s initiative in seeking out Paul and reporting the church’s situation — without him, the letter may never have been written