Colossians and Philemon. Michael F. Bird

      Juvenal

      Sat. Satirae (Satires)

      Livy

      Hist. History of Rome

      1–4 Macc 1–4 Maccabees

      Mishnah (m.)

      Abod. Zar. Abodah Zarah

      Ber. Berakhot

      Odes Sol. Odes of Solomon

      Origen

      Cels. Contra Celsum (Against Celsus)

      Philo

      Conf. De confusione linguarum (On the Confusion of Tongues)

      Decal. De decalogo (On the Decalogue)

      Det. Quod deterius potiori insidiari soleat (That the Worse Attacks the Better)

      Flacc. In Flaccum (Against Flaccum)

      Fug. De fuga et inventione (On Flight and Finding)

      Gig. De gigantibus (On Giants)

      Hypoth. Hypothetica

      Leg. Legum allegoriae (Allegorical Interpretation)

      Legat. Legatio ad Gaium (On the Embassy to Gaius)

      Migr. De migratione Abrahami (On the Migration of Abraham)

      Mos. De vita Mosis (On the Life of Moses)

      Opif. De opifico mundi (On the Creation of the World)

      Plant. De plantatione (On Planting)

      Prob. Quod omnis probus liber sit (That Every Good Person Is Free)

      QE Quaestiones et solutions in Exodum (Questions and Answers on Exodus)

      Sacr. De sacrificiis Abelis et Caini (On the Sacrifices of Cain and Abel)

      Somn. De somnis (On Dreams)

      Spec. De specialibus legibus (On the Special Laws)

      Philostratus

      Vit. Apoll. Vita Apollonii

      Plato

      Tim. Timaeus

      Pliny the Younger

      Ep. Epistolae

      Pss. Sol. Psalms of Solomon

      Sir Sirach

      Seneca

      Ep. Epistulae morales

      Strabo

      Geogr. Geographica (Geography)

      T. Ab. Testament of Abraham

      T. Isaac Testament of Isaac

      T. Job Testament of Job

      T. Levi Testament of Levi

      Tacitus

      Agr. Agricola

      Hist. Historiae

      Tertullian

      Jejun. De jujunio adversus psychicos (On Fasting, against the Psychics)

      Tob Tobit

      Wis Wisdom

      Xenophon

      Anab. Anabasis

      Series Editors:

      Michael F. Bird (Highland Theological College, Dingwall, Scotland)

      Craig Keener (Palmer Seminary, Philadelphia, USA)

      Revelation Gordon Fee

      Ephesians Lynn Cohick

      James Pablo Jimenez

      1–3 John Sam Ngewa

      John Jey Kanagaraj

      Pastoral Epistles Aída Besançon-Spencer

      Mark Kim Huat Tan

      Acts Youngmo Cho

      Forthcoming titles (in order of projected publication):

      Titles in this series:

      Romans Craig Keener

      Luke Jeannine Brown

      2 Peter and Jude Andrew Mbuvi

      Matthew Joel Willits

      1 Peter Eric Greaux

      Philippians Linda Belleville

      Hebrews Tom Thatcher

      Galatians Brian Vickers

      2 Corinthians David deSilva

      Introduction to Colossians and Philemon

When I open the chapel doors of the Epistle to the Colossians it is as if Johann Sebastian himself sat at the organ.1

The singular loftiness of the mind of Paul, though it may be seen to greater advantage in his other writings which treat of weightier matters, is also attested by this Epistle [to Philemon], in which, while he handles a subject otherwise low and mean, he rises to God with his wonted elevation. Sending back a runaway slave and thief, he supplicates pardon for him. But in pleading this cause, he discourses about Christian forbearance with such ability, that he appears to speak about the interests of the whole Church rather than the private affairs of a single individual. On behalf of a man of the lowest condition, he demeans himself so modestly and humbly, that nowhere else is the meekness of his temper painted in a more lively manner.2

      City of Colossae

Colossae was a city in the Lycus Valley located within southwestern Phrygia in the interior of Asia Minor. Colossae was once a densely populated and wealthy city according to Xenophon, a city through which Xerxes and his army passed in 480 BCE.3 The Greek geographer Strabo described Colossae in his time as a polisma, or small city.4 In 133 BCE the last king of Pergamum bequeathed his kingdom to the Romans who later reorganized it as the province of Asia. The Lycus Valley was eventually incorporated into the Roman Empire and remained so for many centuries. By Paul’s time Colossae was dwarfed by the larger cities of Hierapolis and Laodicea also in the Lycus Valley.

There was a sizable Jewish population in the Lycus Valley. Seleucus Nicator (ca. 358–281 BCE), the founder of the Seleucid kingdom encompassing Asia Minor, granted civic rights to the Jews in all the cities that he founded and Antiochus II (ca. 286–46 BCE) planted Jewish colonists in the cities of Ionia.5 Antiochus III (ca. 241–187 BCE) settled some two thousand Jewish families from Babylon and Mesopotamia in the regions of Lydia and Phrygia, and Philo refers to the large population of Jews in every city of Asia Minor.6 Laodicea in particular was a collection point for payment of the temple tax by Jews living in the region, and in 62 BCE the proconsul of Asia Lucius Valerius Flaccus attempted to seize the collection, which, according to Cicero, consisted of twenty pounds of gold.7 If the temple tax was a half shekel or two drachmae, that could represent a collection from Jewish males numbering as many as ten thousand, though a slightly lower figure might be more cautious.8 Like other Anatolian cities, Colossae probably had a substantial Jewish population (possibly between one and two thousand persons) and at least one synagogue or prayer house. A number of Jewish sarcophagi in Hierapolis have been collected together by Walter Ameling, indicating a sizable Jewish presence in the Lycus Valley.9 Hierapolis and Laodicea suffered extensive