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Selected Verse: Colossians 4:13 - King James
Verse |
Translation |
Text |
Col 4:13 |
King James |
For I bear him record, that he hath a great zeal for you, and them that are in Laodicea, and them in Hierapolis. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
a great zeal--The oldest manuscripts and Vulgate have "much labor."
for you--lest you should be seduced (Col 2:4); a motive why you should be anxious for yourselves.
them that are in Laodicea . . . Hierapolis--churches probably founded by Epaphras, as the Church in Colosse was. Laodicea, called from Laodice, queen of Antiochus II, on the river Lycus, was, according to the subscription to First Timothy, "the chiefest city of Phrygia Pacatiana" (Ti1 6:21). All the three cities were destroyed by an earthquake in A.D. 62 [TACITUS, Annals, 14.27]. Hierapolis was six Roman miles north of Laodicea. |
Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
For I bear him record - Paul had had abundant opportunity to know what were his feelings in regard to these churches.
A great zeal for you - A great desire to promote your welfare.
And them that are in Laodicea - Laodicea was the capital of Phrygia, and not far from Colossae, There was a church there. See the Introduction, and the notes at Col 4:16.
And them in Hierapolis - This was also a city in Phrygia, and not far from Laodicea and Colossae. It was situated under a hill to the north, and had on the south a large plain about five miles over. On the south of that plain, and opposite to Hierapolis, was Laodicea, with the river Lycus running between them, nearer to Laodicea than to Hierapolls. This place is now called by the Turks Pambuck-Kulasi, or the Cotton-Tower, on account of the white cliffs which lie round about it. It is now utterly forsaken and desolate, but the ruins are so magnificent as to show that it was once one of the most splendid cities in the East. It was celebrated for the hot springs in its vicinity; and on account of the numerous temples erected there, it received the name of Hierapolis, or the holy city. The principal deity worshipped there was Apollo. See Travels by T. Smith. B. D. 1678. Compare the notes at Col 4:16. From the allusion to it here, it would seem that there were Christians there in the time of Paul, though there is no mention of a church there. It is nowhere else mentioned in the New Testament. |
Vincent's Word Studies, by Marvin R. Vincent [1886] |
Zeal (ζῆλον)
Read πόνον labor, which occurs elsewhere only in Rev 16:10, Rev 16:11; Rev 21:4, in the sense of pain. Πονος labor is from the root of πένομαι to work for one's daily bread, and thence to be poor. Πόνος toil, πένης one who works for his daily bread, and πονηρός wicked, have a common root. See on wickedness, Mar 7:22. In their original conceptions, κόπος labor (Co1 15:58; Co2 6:5) emphasizes the fatigue of labor: μόχθος hard labor (Co2 11:27; Th1 2:9), the hardship: πόνος the effort, but πόνος has passed, in the New Testament, in every instance but this, into the meaning of pain.
Hierapolis
The cities are named in geographical order. Laodicaea and Hierapolis faced each other on the north and south sides of the Lycus valley, about six miles apart. Colossae was ten or twelve miles farther up the stream. Hierapolis owed its celebrity to its warm mineral springs, its baths, and its trade in dyed wools. It was a center of the worship of the Phrygian goddess Cybele, whose rites were administered by mutilated priests known as Galli, and of other rites representing different oriental cults. Hence the name Hierapolis or sacred city. |
Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
He hath a great zeal for you - Instead of ζηλον πολυν, much zeal, ABCD**, several others, with versions and fathers, read πολυν πονον, much labor; they are here nearly of the same meaning, though the latter appears to be the better and genuine reading.
Laodicea, and - Hierapolis - These were both cities of Phrygia, between which Colosse, or the city of Colassa, was situated. See Col 2:1. The latter was called Hierapolis, or the holy city, from the multitude of its temples. Apollo, Diana, Esculapius, and Hygeia, were all worshipped here, as appears by the coins of this city still extant. |
21 Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen.
4 And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words.
16 And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea.
16 And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea.
9 For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.
27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
5 In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings;
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
1 For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh;