Audience: To Whom was Paul Writing?

Most scholars hold that Paul wrote Ephesians as a circular letter—not a specific one. That is, a later scribe most likely added the words: “To the saints who are at Ephesus…” There are a number of reasons why Bible-believing scholars hold this view:

First, the earliest manuscripts do not contain the words “who are at Ephesus.” In the earliest manuscripts, we read: “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 1:1). This phrase (“who are at Ephesus…”) is absent from the Chester Beatty papyrus (AD 200), Sinaiticus, and Vaticanus. Bruce comments, “The weight of documentary evidence indicates that the phrase ‘at Ephesus’ is not part of the original wording… Those manuscripts which omit ‘at Ephesus’ put nothing in its place.” This seems to fit with the concept of a circular (encyclical) letter.

Second, Paul had a very personal relationship with the Ephesian church, but he uses very impersonal language in this letter. Paul spent three years with the Ephesians, and he built an intimate relationship with them (Acts 19-20). In fact, when Paul left this church, they wept over him (Acts 20:36-38). However, in his letter to the Ephesians, Paul writes as though he hardly knows them, using very generic language. We might expect him to dote over this church (as he does in his other letters), but he doesn’t. Consider just a few examples:

(Eph. 6:23) Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

This conclusion is quite different than other letters. For instance, in Romans, Paul identifies no fewer than 26 people, but in Ephesians, he doesn’t identify anyone! Paul had never even been to Rome, and he still addressed many people by name.

(Eph. 4:14) As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming.

Paul alludes to false teachers, but he mentions nothing specific.

(Eph. 1:15) For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints.

Paul had “heard” about their faith. This is odd language for a man who had spent three years in this church.

Third, Colossians seems to have been written at the same time as Ephesians, and Colossians might refer to Ephesians being a circular letter. In fact, both letters contain identical words in the Greek language:

(Eph. 6:21-22) Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will make everything known to you. ²² I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know about us, and that he may comfort your hearts.
(Col. 4:7-8) Tychicus, our beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow bond-servant in the Lord, will bring you information. ⁸ For I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts.

Later in Colossians, Paul writes, “When this letter is read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and you, for your part read my letter that is coming from Laodicea” (Col. 4:16). What is this letter that Paul wrote to the Laodiceans? It’s possible that Ephesians had already made its way to the church in Laodicea, and this is what Paul is referring to. Paul likely wrote this letter for all of the churches in Asia Minor, and it was supposed to be passed around (Col. 4:16). Wood writes, “[Ephesians] was not addressed to any particular local congregation, but to all. From Ephesus it was circulated throughout the churches of proconsular Asia, no doubt by means of a courier who may have been Tychicus.”

Fourth, since this was a circular letter in Asia Minor, we still see general application to that region. There are elements in Ephesians that fit with a historical setting in Ephesus. For instance, Jesus’ Lordship over the demonic would fit well with what we know of Ephesus (cf. Eph. 6:10-18 with Acts 19:19). These people were polluted with demonic, idol worship.

Gundry writes, “The phrase ‘in Ephesus,’ which refers to the locale of the addresses (1:1), is missing in the most ancient manuscripts. Thus, Paul omits the geographical location of the addresses altogether.” Robert Gundry, A Survey of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003), 422.

John Stott writes, “The words ‘at Ephesus’ are not to be found, however, in the earliest Pauline papyrus (Chester Beatty 46) which dates from the second century. Origen in the third century did not know them, and they are absent from the great fourth-century Vatican and Sinaitic codices. The matter is further complicated by the fact that Marcion in the middle of the second century referred to Ephesians as having been addressed ‘to the Laodiceans’. Since Paul himself directed the Colossians both to see that his letter to them be read ‘in the church of the Laodiceans’ and that they themselves ‘read also the letter from Laodicea’, some have thought that this so-called ‘letter from Laodicea’ was in fact our ‘Ephesians’, and that he was instructing the churches to exchange the two letters which they had received from him. Certainly Tychicus was the bearer of the two letters.” John Stott, God’s New Society: The Message of Ephesians (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1979), 23-24.

A. Skevington Wood, “Ephesians,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Ephesians through Philemon, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981), 9.

F. F. Bruce, The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1984), 249-250.

A. Skevington Wood, “Ephesians,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Ephesians through Philemon, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981), 12.

Audience: To Whom was Paul Writing? New Testament Ephesians

Audience: To Whom was Paul Writing?

New Testament

Ephesians