Colossians 4:16

Verse 16. Read you that which is of the Laodiceans. [1] Some expound these words of an epistle which Saint Paul wrote to the Laodiceans, which is lost, for that now extant is no more than a collection of sentences out of Saint Paul. By the Greek text is rather signified a letter writ from Laodicea, and might be a letter sent from the Laodiceans to Saint Paul, which he had a mind the Colossians should read. Witham.—This opinion does not, however, seem well founded. Hence it is more probable, that Saint Paul wrote an epistle from Rome to the Laodiceans about the same time that he wrote to the Colossians, as he had them both equally at heart, and that he ordered that epistle to be read by the Colossians for their instruction; and, being neighbouring cities, they might communicate to each other what they had received from him: as one epistle might contain some matters not related in the other, and would be equally useful for their concern; and more particularly as they were equally disturbed by intruders and false teachers, against whom the apostle was anxious to warn them, lest they should be infected by their pernicious doctrine. Challoner.—It is the most common opinion, both amongst the ancients and moderns, that the epistle here alluded to was one written by the Laodiceans to Saint Paul, which he sent to Colossus with this, and not one which he himself had written to the Laodiceans. It is however now lost. This exposition agrees best with the Greek. Calmet.