Discovery BoxColossians 4:12-14 
Context4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you and a slave 1 of Christ, 2 greets you. He is always struggling in prayer on your behalf, so that you may stand mature and fully assured 3 in all the will of God. 4:13 For I can testify that he has worked hard 4 for you and for those in Laodicea and Hierapolis. 4:14 Our dear friend Luke the physician and Demas greet you.
1 tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.
2 tc ‡ Strong Alexandrian testimony, along with some other witnesses, suggests that ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou, “Jesus”) follows Χριστοῦ (Cristou, “Christ”; so א A B C I L 0278 33 81 365 629 1175 2464 al lat), but the evidence for the shorter reading is diverse (Ì46 D F G Ψ 075 1739 1881 Ï it sy Hier), cutting across all major texttypes. There can be little motivation for omitting the name of Jesus; hence, the shorter reading is judged to be original. NA27 has ᾿Ιησοῦ in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.
3 tn Or “filled.”
4 tn Grk “pain.” This word appears only three times in the NT outside of this verse (Rev 16:10, 11; 21:4) where the translation “pain” makes sense. For the present verse it has been translated “worked hard.” See BDAG 852 s.v. πόνος 1.
