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  • From: "David Inglis" <david AT colonialcommerce.com>
  • To: corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: The Destination Of Ephesians
  • Date: Thu, 9 May 2002 16:07:14 -0400


To all:

I am in the process of writing a (non-scholarly) book that discusses
several of the 'unsolved' issues regarding the creation of the NT. I am
including in this book a couple of pages regarding the intended
destination of Ephesians, and would appreciate any comments anyone may
have regarding my thoughts.

Please excuse the format, but (as I stated) it is intended to be read by
non-scholars.

Thank you in advance


Introduction

Paul wrote Ephesians to the church in Ephesus, didn’t he? That’s why it’s
called Ephesians! This is a perfectly reasonable view, especially as
verse 1:1 specifically states that it is to people in Ephesus. The
problems are that some MSS do not include the words “in Ephesus” in 1:1,
there are none of Paul’s traditional greetings, and the whole tone of the
letter is much more formal than would be expected. After all, he had
previously spent three years in Ephesus (Acts 19), and must have known
many people there very well.

When was Ephesians written?

Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter (Eph 6:20). Philemon and
Colossians were also written at approximately the same time, and the
generally accepted view is that all three of these letters were written
during Paul’s first imprisonment in Rome (Acts 28:30-31), around 60-62 AD.

Was the letter actually sent to Ephesus?

Not only does this letter omit the usual salutations from Paul, but the
language in some places leaves little doubt that Paul does not know the
intended readers: “For this reason, since I have heard of your faith in
the Lord Jesus …” (1:15); “If indeed you have heard of the stewardship of
God's grace that was given to me for you” (3:2). It also seems very
unlikely that Paul would actually have written such an impersonal letter
to people with whom he had spent three years. In fact, the style of
Ephesians is so different to Paul’s other letters that many people believe
that it was not written by Paul (Although if so, who actually wrote it is
not known).

In several important MSS containing Ephesians (P46, Vaticanus, 1739) the
words “in Ephesus” are not present in verse 1:1, and in Sinaiticus these
words were added by a later corrector. It is therefore possible that
these words were not in Ephesians as originally written, and this supports
the idea that Paul intended it as a more formal letter, to be read by
churches in other parts of Asia, not just by the people in Ephesus. In
this case several different copies would have been created, and a
different destination may have been added to each copy. It is possible
that P92 (parts of Ephesians and 2 Thessalonians) includes one of these
copies, since the MS is defective here and Eph 1:1 is not present. If
Ephesians was a ‘circular’, then the style issue can be simply understood
as a result of the different purpose of this letter, and it is not
necessary to invent a different author.

The letter from Laodicea

Colossians, Ephesians and Philemon were all taken to their respective
destinations by Onesimus and Tychicus (Col 4:7-9, Eph 6:21 and Phm 12) as
part of the same trip. Assuming that the letter bearers sailed from Rome
to Ephesus, it would then make sense to pass through Laodicea on the way
to Colosse (or Colossae) . In this case copies of ‘Ephesians’ would have
most likely been delivered first to the church in Ephesus, then to
Laodicea, and then to Colosse, with appropriate appellations (e.g. “in
Ephesus”) being added as required.

If the letter came to Colosse “from Laodicea”, then this makes it possible
that a copy of Ephesians is actually “the letter from Laodicea” referred
to in Col 4:16. Marcion may have thought that this was the case, since he
referred to Ephesians as Laodiceans. In 63 AD Colosse, Laodicea and
Hieropolis were all destroyed by an earthquake, and both because of this
and the relative importance of Ephesus it is much more likely that copies
of this letter would have been preserved in Ephesus than in Laodicea or
Colosse.

As a result, if Marcion did see a Laodicean copy, or knew someone who knew
that a copy had been sent to Laodicea, then this copy was not preserved.
In this regard it is perhaps significant that in his document The
Prescription against Heretics (c. 200 AD) Tertullian refers to apostolic
writings kept at Corinth, Philippi, Thessalonica and Ephesus, but not
Laodicea or Colosse (or for that matter, any other churches in Galatia).

Conclusion

It seems most likely that:
· Paul intended this letter to be read in several churches. This
included
those in Ephesus and Laodicea, probably Thessalonica and Colosse (although
Colosse also had it’s own personal letter), and quite possibly other
churches he had previously visited in Asia Minor;
· Paul’s original copy did not include the words “in Ephesus.” Instead,
Onesimus and Tychicus may have been given instructions that each church
should create their own official copy, with the correct destination (e.g.
“in Ephesus”) being added at the time;
· Marcion either saw (or knew about) a copy of this letter at Laodicea,
but did not know about copies anywhere else;
· The church would not need to preserve multiple copies of the same
letter, and so the only one we now know about for sure is the copy used in
Ephesus.


Dave Inglis
david AT colonialcommerce.com
3538 O'Connor Drive
Lafayette, CA, USA




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