Difference between revisions of "Archippus"

<p> (Ἄρχιππος) </p> <p> An office-bearer of the [[Apostolic]] Church referred to in &nbsp;Colossians 4:17 as exercising a ministry ‘in the Lord,’ <i> i.e. </i> in fellowship with, and in the service of, Christ. He is addressed by St. Paul as ‘fellow-soldier’-a designation possibly occasioned by some special service in which the two had been engaged together during St. Paul’s three years’ abode at Ephesus, where the [[Apostle]] had severe conflicts with assailants (&nbsp;1 Corinthians 15:32). More probably, however, the expression refers to the general fellowship of the two men in evangelistic work (cf. &nbsp;Philippians 2:25). The military figure may have been suggested by the Apostle’s environment at Rome. </p> <p> [[Archippus]] may have been a presbyter bishop, a leading deacon, an evangelist, or a prominent teacher at the time when St. Paul wrote. From &nbsp;Philemon 1:2 he appears to have been a member of Philemon’s household, and be is regarded by most commentators (after [[Theodore]] of Mopsuestia) as his son. Accordingly, it is generally supposed (after Chrysostom) that Archippus was an office bearer of the Colossian Church. Against this inference Lightfoot adduces (1) the mention of Archippus in Col. immediately after a reference to Laodicea; (2) the alleged unlikelihood of Archippus being addressed in &nbsp;Colossians 4:17 indirectly instead of directly, if he were himself an official of the Church to which St. Paul was writing; (3) the tradition (embodied in the <i> Apost. Constitutions </i> , vii. 46) that Archippus became ‘bishop,’ or presiding presbyter, of Laodicea. Lightfoot infers that Archippus fulfilled his ministry at Laodicea, which was not many miles from Colossae: and the mention of him in Philem. is accounted for by supposing that St. Paul (through Tychicus, the bearer of his letter to Philemon) might have suggested that [[Onesimus]] should be employed not in the city where he had lived as a slave, but in the [[Laodicean]] Church under Archippus. The usual supposition, however, that Archippus lived with Philemon at [[Colossae]] and also laboured there, appears, on the whole, more natural and probable. </p> <p> The message conveyed to Archippus (‘Take heed [look] to the ministry,’ etc.) is held by Lightfoot ( <i> Coloss </i> .3 42f.) to imply a rebuke, as if Archippus had been remiss or unfaithful in the discharge of official duty; and Lightfoot, believing that Archippus held office at Laodicea, compares the admonition to him with the censure on account of lukewarmness administered in Revelation 3 to the angel and church of the Laodiceans. The message, however, to Archippus can hardly be regarded as necessarily suggesting more than that his work was specially important and arduous, demanding from himself earnest watchfulness, and from an older ‘fellow-campaigner,’ like St. Paul, the incentive of sympathetic exhortation and warning. Theophylact, in his commentary, supposes that the apostolic message is purposely made public, instead of being conveyed in a private letter, riot so much to suggest Archippus’ special need of admonition, as to enable him, without offence, to deal in like manner with brethren under himself. </p> <p> In the Greek Martyrology, Archippus appears (in the <i> Menœa </i> under Nov. 22) as having been stoned to death, along with Philemon, at Chonae, near Laodicea. His alleged eventual ‘episcopate’ or presiding presbyterate at [[Laodicea]] is at least possible, and even probable; but the inclusion of his name in the pseudo-Dorothean list (6th cent.) of the Seventy of Luke 10 is quite incredible. </p> <p> Literature.-J. A. Dietelmaier. <i> de Archippo </i> , Altdorf, 1751; J. B. Lightfoot, <i> Colossians </i> 3, 1879, pp. 42f., 308ff.; sea also Literature under Philemon. </p> <p> Henry Cowan. </p>

<p> (῎Αρχιππος, "''Master Of'' the ''Horse"),'' a Christian minister, whom the Apostle Paul calls his "fellow-soldier" (&nbsp;Philemon 1:2), and whom he exhorts to renewed activity (&nbsp;Colossians 4:17), A.D. 57. As the former epistle, which concerns a private matter, is addressed to him jointly with Philemon and Apphia, and as "the Church in their house" is also addressed, it seems necessary to infer that he was a member of Philemon's family. From the latter reference (so Jerome, Theodoret, and OEcumenius) it would seem that Archippus had exercised the office of evangelist sometimes at Ephesus, sometimes elsewhere (at Laodicea, according to the ''Apostolical Constitutions,'' 7:46), and that he finally resided at Colossae, and there discharged the office of presiding presbyter or bishop when Paul wrote to the Colossian Church (see Dietelmaier, ''De Archippo,'' Altdorf. 1751). The exhortation given to him in this epistle has, without sufficient grounds, been construed into a rebuke for past negligence. Tradition states that he had been one of Jesus's 70 disciples, and that he suffered martyrdom at Chonae, near Loadicea ''(Menalog. Graec.'' 1, 206). </p>

<p> '''''ar''''' -'''''kip´us''''' ( Ἀρχίππος , <i> '''''Archı́ppos''''' </i> ): Addressed by Paul in his letter to Philem, as "our fellow-soldier"; probably a member of Philem's family circle, holding some official position in the church (&nbsp;Colossians 4:17; &nbsp;Philippians 1:2 ). See [[Apphia]] . The tradition that he was one of the seventy disciples, became bishop of Laodicea and later became a martyr, seems to have little historical foundation. </p>