Colossians 1:2
Context1:2 to the saints, the faithful 1 brothers and sisters 2 in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you 3 from God our Father! 4
Colossians 4:15
Context4:15 Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters 5 who are in Laodicea and to Nympha and the church that meets in her 6 house. 7
1 tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated (cf. Eph 1:1). See ExSyn 281-82.
2 tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).
3 tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”
4 tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א A C F G I [P] 075 Ï it bo), read “and the Lord Jesus Christ” at the end of this verse, no doubt to conform the wording to the typical Pauline salutation. However, excellent and early witnesses (B D K L Ψ 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 al sa) lack this phrase. Since the omission is inexplicable as arising from the longer reading (otherwise, these
5 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.
6 tc If the name Nympha is accented with a circumflex on the ultima (Νυμφᾶν, Numfan), then it refers to a man; if it receives an acute accent on the penult (Νύμφαν), the reference is to a woman. Scribes that considered Nympha to be a man’s name had the corresponding masculine pronoun αὐτοῦ here (autou, “his”; so D [F G] Ψ Ï), while those who saw Nympha as a woman read the feminine αὐτῆς here (auth", “her”; B 0278 6 1739[*] 1881 sa). Several
7 tn Grk “the church in her house.” The meaning is that Paul sends greetings to the church that meets at Nympha’s house.