Bible Person
Meaning: covered with foam · Male · 3 cross references
Epaphras is one of Paul's close coworkers and likely a founding or formative figure for the churches in the Lycus Valley, especially Colossae. He appears as a pastorally burdened intercessor as well as a messenger. First appears in Col 1:7.1
AI summary: Epaphras matters because the cross references present him not just as a companion but as someone deeply invested in the spiritual maturity of particular congregations. Paul describes his labor in prayer and his faithful ministry, which gives him a distinctly pastoral profile. Taken together, the material presents Epaphras as a devoted coworker whose prayerful concern strengthens the churches under Paul's care.1
Central Figure
Epaphras
Meaning: covered with foam
Lovely, spoken of by Paul (Col.
Lovely, spoken of by Paul (Col. 1:7; 4:12) as “his dear fellow-servant,” and “a faithful minister of Christ.” He was thus evidently with him at Rome when he wrote to the Colossians. He was a distinguished disciple, and probably the founder of the Colossian church. He is also mentioned in the Epistle to Philemon (1:23), where he is called by Paul his “fellow-prisoner.” 3
AI-assisted summary prepared for ai-BIBLE and stored as page content, based on dictionary material, person metadata, and linked Bible cross references.
Alistair de Blacquiere-Clarkson, “ai-BIBLE Bible Names JSON Factsheet Aggregating Material from Smith’s Bible Dictionary & Hitcocks’s New and Complete Analysis of the Bible.” ai-BIBLE electronic edition, version 1.0.
M.G.Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, ai-BIBLE electronic edition, version 1.0.
Robert Rouse, “Theographic Bible Information,” Theographic-Bible-Metadata, 2020, https://github.com/robertrouse/theographic-bible-metadata.