Difference between revisions of "Colossae"

<p> Although Colossae was on the main highway from Syria to Ephesus, Paul apparently did not visit the church there during his missionary travels recorded in Acts (&nbsp;Colossians 1:4; &nbsp;Colossians 2:1). Colossae was situated in a part of the province of Asia where Paul was forbidden to preach during his second missionary journey (&nbsp;Acts 16:6-8; for map see [[Asia]] ). </p> <p> The church in Colossae was probably founded during Paul’s stay in Ephesus on his third missionary journey, when the [[Ephesian]] converts took the gospel to the towns of the surrounding countryside (&nbsp;Acts 19:8-10). Epaphras appears to have been the person chiefly responsible for the establishment of the church in Colossae (&nbsp;Colossians 1:7). At the time Paul wrote his letter to the Colossian church, it met in the home of Philemon (&nbsp;Colossians 4:9; Philem 1-2,10-12; see COLOSSIANS, [[Letter]] TO THE). </p>

<p> (Κολοσσαί, &nbsp;Colossians 1:2; but the preponderance of MS. authority is in favor of Κολασσαί, ''Colasse'' , a form used by the Byzantine writers, and which perhaps represents the provincial mode of pronouncing the name. On coins and inscriptions [see Eckhel, Doct. Num. I, 3, 147], and in classical writers [see Valcken. ad Herod. 7:30], we find Κολοσσαί ), a city of Phrygia Pacatiana, in the upper part of the basin of the Maeander, on one of its affluents named the Lycus. Hierapolis and Laodicea were in its immediate neighborhood (&nbsp;Colossians 2:1; &nbsp;Colossians 4:13; &nbsp;Colossians 4:15-16; see &nbsp;Revelation 1:11; &nbsp;Revelation 3:14). Colossae fell as these other two cities rose in importance. At a later date they were all overthrown by an earthquake. Herodotus (7, 30) and Xenophon (Anab. 1:2, 6) speak of it as a city of considerable consequence (comp. Pliny, v. 29). Strabo (12:576) describes it as only a πόλισμα, not a πόλις; yet elsewhere (p. 578) he implies that it had some mercantile importance; and Pliny, in Paul's time, describes it (5, 41) as one of the "celeberrima oppida" of its district. Colossae was situated close to the great road which led from Ephesus to the Euphrates. Hence our impulse would be to conclude that Paul passed this way, and founded or confirmed the Colossian Church on his third missionary journey (&nbsp;Acts 18:23; &nbsp;Acts 19:1). He might also have easily visited Colossse during the prolonged stay at Ephesus, which immediately followed. The most competent commentators, however, agree in thinking that &nbsp;Colossians 2:1, proves that Paul had never been there when the epistle was written (but see the Stud. u. Krit. 1829, 3. 612 sq.). (See [[Paul]]). </p> <p> Theodoret's argument that he must have visited Colossas on the journey just referred to, because he is said to have gone through the whole region of Phrygia, may be proved fallacious from geographical considerations; Colossae, though ethnologically in Phrygia (Herod. ''L. C.'' ; Xen. ''L. C.'' ), was at this period politically in the province of Asia (see Rev. ''L. C.'' ). That the apostle hoped to visit the place on being delivered from his Roman imprisonment is clear from &nbsp;Philemon 1:22 (compare &nbsp;Philippians 2:24). Philemon and his slave [[Onesimus]] were dwellers in Colossae. So also were [[Archippus]] and Epaphras. From &nbsp;Colossians 1:7; &nbsp;Colossians 4:12, it has been naturally concluded that the latter [[Christian]] was the founder of the Colossian Church (see Alford's Prolegomena to Gr. Test. 3. 35). (See Epaphras). </p> <p> The worship of angels mentioned by the apostle (&nbsp;Colossians 2:18) curiously reappears in Christian times in connection with one of the topographical features of the place. A church in honor of the archangel Michael was erected at the entrance of a chasm in consequence of a legend connected with an inundation (Hartley's ''Researches In Greece'' , p. 52); and there is good reason for identifying this chasm with one which is mentioned by Herodotus. This kind of superstition is mentioned by [[Theodoret]] as subsisting in his time; also by the Byzantine writer Nicetas Choniates, who was a native of this place, and who says that Colossse and Chonae were the same (Chronicles p. 115). The probability is that under the later emperors, Colossae, being in a ruinous state, made way for a more modern town, Chonae (Χῶναι, so Theophylact. [[Ad]] &nbsp;Colossians 2:1), situated near it. The neighborhood (visited by Pococke) was explored by Mr. Arundel ([[Seven Churches]] , p. 158; [[Asia Minor]] , 2:160); but Mr. [[Hamilton]] was the first to determine the actual site of the ancient city, which appears to be at some little distance from the modern village of Chonas (Researches in Asia Minor, 1:508). The huge range of Mount Cadmus rises immediately behind the village, close to which there is in the mountain an immense perpendicular chasm, affording an outlet for a wide mountain torrent. The ruins of an old castle stand on the summit of the rock forming the left side of this chasm. There are some traces of ruins and fragments of stone in the neighborhood, but barely more than sufficient to attest the existence of an ancient site (Pococke, East, 3. 114; Schubert, Reise, 1:282; see generally Hofmann, Introd. in lection. ep. ad Colos. Lips. 1749; Cellarii Notit. 2:152 sq.; Mannert, Geogr. VI, 1:127 sq.; Smith, Dict. of Class. Geogr s.v.). (See Colossians (Epistle To The).) </p>

<p> '''''kō̇''''' -'''''los´ē''''' ( Κολοσσαί , <i> '''''Kolossaı́''''' </i> , "punishment"; the King James Version Colosse ): A city of Phrygia on the Lycus River, one of the branches of the Meander, and 3 miles from Mt. Cadmus, 8, 013 ft. high. It stood at the head of a gorge where the two streams unite, and on the great highway traversing the country from Ephesus to the [[Euphrates]] valley, 13 miles from Hierapolis and 10 from Laodicea. Its history is chiefly associated with that of these two cities. Early, according to both Herodotus and Xenophon, it was a place of great importance. There Xerxes stopped 481 bc (Herodotus vii.30) and [[Cyrus]] the [[Younger]] marched 401 bc (Xen. <i> Anab </i> . i.2, 6). From &nbsp;Colossians 2:1 it is not likely that Paul visited the place in person; but its Christianization was due to the efforts of Epaphras and Timothy (&nbsp; Colossians 1:1 , &nbsp;Colossians 1:7 ), and it was the home of Philemon and Epaphras. That a church was established there early is evident from &nbsp;Colossians 4:12 , &nbsp;Colossians 4:13; &nbsp;Revelation 1:11; &nbsp;Revelation 3:14 . As the neighboring cities, Hierapolis and Laodicea, increased in importance, Colosse declined. There were many Jews living there, and a chief article of commerce, for which the place was renowned, was the <i> collossinus </i> , a peculiar wool, probably of a purple color. In religion the people were specially lax, worshipping angels. Of them, Michael was the chief, and the protecting saint of the city. It is said that once he appeared to the people, saving the city in time of a flood. It was this belief in angels which called forth Paul's epistle (&nbsp;Colossians 2:18 ). During the 7th and 8th centuries the place was overrun by the Saracens; in the 12th century the church was destroyed by the Turks and the city disappeared. Its site was explored by Mr. Hamilton. The ruins of the church, the stone foundation of a large theater, and a necropolis with stones of a peculiar shape are still to be seen. During the Middle Ages the place bore the name of Chonae; it is now called Chonas. </p>