EPAEXETtJS
EPHESIAN
713
12", Ja 3'*-" RV substitutes 'jealousy,' or its co"rnates, for 'envy.'
For the iliffurence between f^Xot and ^(Jixot see Trench, Syrian, of NT, p. 83 U., and art. Zeal.
A. Stewart.
EPAENETUS CY.nltrro%).—One of the Christians greeted by St. I'aul at the end of the Ep. to the Koinans ( 16'). He is mentioned at the beginning of the list immediately after Prisca and Aquila, is de- scribed as * my beloved ' {t6v aya-r-qrbv /xoy), and as the ' first fruits (airapxh) of Asia unto Christ ' (the read- ing Achaia of TK is clearly wrong, being derived from 1 Co 16"). The name, which is Greek, is not uncommon, occurring in inscriptions both of Rome and Asia. One from the former place mentions an E. who was a native of Ephesus [CIL vi. 17171).
The mention of Prisca, Aquila, and E. forms the basis of the theory that Ro 16*''* was addressed to the Church at Ephesus ; but three names — two of them belonging to persons original Ij' resident at Rome — out of a totnl of more than twenty, are not sufficient evidence for it. It was natural that the Christian body in the capital should consist largely at first of foreigners ; and even one hundred j'ears later, in tlie time of Justin Martyr, out of a body of seven Christians condenmcd to death in Rome, three are foreigners (Acta Justini, § 4).
LrriRATURB.— Kenan, St. Paul, p. Ixv ; Li),'htfoot, Biblical Euaps, p. 301 ; S&nday and tleadlani, iluinanx, p. 421.
A. C. Headlam.
EPAPHRAS ('Ero^pof, a shortened form of "ETa- iPpbiiToi ; see El'APHROiiiTUS) was a native of Colossffi (i ii ii/iJj» Col 4"), and as we learn from the correct reading of Col 1' the founder of the Col. Church (Kaduit iiuiOtre airb 'Ewa(ppd, ' even as ye learned of Epaphras,' where the omission of Kal (also) of Tli makes Epaphras more than an acces-sory teacher). It is prob. that he was also the evangelist of the neighbouring towns of Laodicea and Hierapolis (Col 4''-'^). He visited St. Paul during his first Rom. imprisonment, bringing him an encouraging report of the state of tlie Colossian Church (Col I*''), and for liis zeal would seem to have been condemned to share the apostle's im- prisonment (6 ffwaijyuiXuiTit /iou Pliilem^), though the reference may be to spiritual ratlier than pliysical captivity (cf. Ro 16', Col 4'°). To him alone (except once Timothy, Ph l')doe3 St. Paul apply the designation he uses several times of himself, 'a bond-servant of Jesus Christ' (5ou\os XpiffToC 'iTjffoO Col 4'^) ; while the extent of his services is further proved by the description ' a faithful minister OI Christ' {viaris StiKovos toO XpurroO, Col 1'). G. MiLLlOAN.
EPAPHR0DITU3 (•ETo0p65trot 'handsome' = Lat. ' venustus,' a common name in the Rom. period; see, e.g. Tacit. Ann. xv. 55; Suet. Dumit. 14 ; Jos. Life, § 76), to be distinguished from Epaphras [which see], and known to us only from one or two allusions in the Kp. to the Philiiipians. From these we learn that he visited St. I'aul during his first Roman imprisonment, bringing pecuniary aid to him from the Church at Philippi, and that instead of at once returning home ne remained with the apostle in Rome, devotin" him- self to the ministry under his guiilance (Pli ii**" 4'"""). The strain, however, was too great for him. He lost his health, ami 'was sick nigh unto death'; but the danger pa-iseil. 'God had mercy on liim,' says St. Paul, "and not on him only, but on me also, that I might not have sorrow upon sorrow' (Pli 2-''). On his recovery K. was anxious to return to Philippi to quiet his friends' alarm on his behalf (Ph '2-") ; and this St. Paul api)roveil, making him at the sanu- time the bearer of the Ep. to the Philippians. St. Paul's sense of E.'s services is marked by his description of him as ' my brother
and fellow-worker and fellow-soldier,' the three words being arranged in an aseendini; scale to denote 'common .sympathy, conuuun work, cummon danger and toil and suU'ering ' (Lightfoot on I'h 2").
Literature.— The Coinm. on Ph 2». e«p. Liuhtfoot, p fli ft., 122; Ellicctt, p. 80; Moulc, p. 79; and VinLcnl. |ip. xviii, 75. Also Thayer, AT Lex. t. 'ETaj^it ; Wnier, liWIi.n. ■ E|ia|ihras' ; and lieet in Ezpositur, 3rd Ser. ix. (ISS'J) (il-75, ' Kpa|ihr<Hlicua and the pit (rom Phillppf G. MlLLIQAN.
EPHAH (i?'y).— 1. A son of Midian, descended from Abraliam and Keturah (Gn 'Jo'=lCh 1^), the eponymous ancestor of an Arabian tribe whose identity is uncertain. This tribe appears in Is 6U' as engag'ed in the transport of gold and fraiik- incen.se from Sheba. According to Frd. Delitzsch (Parndie.i, 304), and Schrader (KAT^ 146 f., 613), followed by Hommel (Anc. Ileh. Trad. 2:58 n.), 'Kji/ta/i is ])roperly 'Ayappn, the Kh.ayapj)a Arabs of the time of Tiglatli-pileser III. and Sargon (see further, Dillmann on Gn 25*). 2. A concubine of Caleb, 1 Ch 2". 3. A Judahite, son of Jalidai, 1 Ch 2*'. See Genealoqv. J. A. Selbik.
EPHAH.— See Weights and Measures.
EPHAI, 'B-s (Ij^erS), but Ophai, -eiv {Kethibh) Sept. '\ui(pi, 'Uipi), described in Jer 40 (tir. 47)" av ' the Netophatite,' whose sons were amongst the 'captains of the forces' who joined (iedaliah at Mi/pah, and were murdered alou" with him by Ishmael (Jer 41'). J. A. Selbie.