same general occasion, and forwarded at the same
time, though some days may have intervened between the composition of
the first and the last of them. They were all written when Paul was a
prisoner (Eph. 3:1; 4:1; 6:20; Col. 4:10; Philemon 1, 9, 10, 23), and
all sent virtually by Tychicus; for Onesimus, a servant whom Paul sent
back to his master, Philemon of Colosse, with a commendatory letter,
went in company with Tychicus. Eph. 6:21, 22; Col. 4:7-9. The epistle to
the Ephesians contains no salutations; but those of the other two, are,
with a single exception, sent from the same persons--Aristarchus,
Marcus, Epaphras, Luke, and Demas. If any further argument for their
contemporaneousness were needed, it could be found in the remarkable
agreement between the contents of the epistles to the Ephesians and
Colossians, extending not only to the thoughts but to the phraseology
also.

20. It is agreed that these three epistles were written during the
apostle's imprisonment in either _Cesarea_ or _Rome_; but from which of
these two places is a question on which biblical scholars differ, and
which cannot be answered with certainty, though the common opinion has
been that the apostle wrote from Rome. It is not necessary to review the
arguments advanced on the two sides. The reader who wishes to
investigate the matter will find them in commentaries and bible
dictionaries.

21. Another question is: In what _order_ were the epistles to the
Ephesians and Colossians written? Here we have only indirect
indications, and these not decisive. It is manifest, however, from a
comparison of the two epistles, that the apostle had a more specific
occasion for writing to the Colossians than to the Ephesians. It is
natural, therefore, to suppose that he first penned his letter to the
former church, and very soon afterwards, while his heart was yet warm
with the great theme of that letter--the personal glory and dignity of
Christ, and the union through him of both Jews and Gentiles in one holy
family--he wrote to the Ephesians among whom he had so long labored,
going over the same general course of thought, but with more fulness and
in a less argumentative tone. However this may be, it is certain that
the most convenient order of studying these two closely related epistles
is to begin with that to the Colossians and thence proceed to the other.
We propose to consider them in this order.

22. EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. Colosse was a city lying