Colossians 4
Colossians 4 — Commentary and Meaning
The short answer
Colossians 4 looks, at first glance, like the part of the letter you can safely skim: a final instruction or two, some travel plans, and a long list of names. But the chapter rewards a slower read, because both the opening command and the closing greetings show what Paul thinks life "in Christ" actually looks like on the ground.
The chapter opens with a word to masters: give your servants what is "just and equal," remembering that you answer to a Master in heaven (4:1). This completes the household instructions from chapter 3. For centuries, American preachers quoted the verse addressed to slaves while skipping this one. Formerly enslaved men like William Troy and Leonard Black noticed the omission. Troy said he attended church regularly and never once heard a sermon on the masters' obligation, and Black argued that if the principle of rendering servants what is right were genuinely carried out, slavery itself would collapse. The verse does not abolish the institution, but it plants a demand for justice inside a relationship built on power.
The greetings that close the chapter carry their own quiet surprise. Paul names his coworkers, and verse 11 rounds off a group described as being "of the circumcision"—that is, Jewish believers. Verse 12 then begins a new list, which naturally reads as a list of Gentiles. Luke, "the beloved physician" of 4:14, falls in that second group. From this small seam in the text, William Barclay draws a striking conclusion: Luke was a Gentile, which would make him the only Gentile author in the New Testament.
Read together, the command and the name list make the same point. The gospel in Colossians is not abstract. It reshapes how the powerful treat the vulnerable, and it builds working friendships across the deepest social divide of Paul's world.
What scholars say
These excerpts answer two questions Colossians 4 quietly raises. Barclay shows how the seam between verse 11 and verse 12 leads to the conclusion that Luke was a Gentile, while Powery and Sadler recount how William Troy and Leonard Black pressed 4:1—the command to masters—against preachers who quoted only the verses addressed to slaves.
“About Luke, we really know very little; there are only three references to him in the New Testament – Colossians 4:14, Philemon 24 and 2 Timothy 4:11. From these, we can say two things with certainty. First, Luke was a doctor; second, he was one of Paul’s most valued helpers and most loyal friends, for he was a companion of Paul in his last imprisonment. We can deduce the fact that he was a Gentile. Colossians 4:11 concludes a list of mentions and greetings from those who are ‘of the circumcision’, that is, from Jews; verse 12 begins a new list, and we naturally conclude that the new list is of Gentiles. So we have the very interesting fact that Luke is the only Gentile author in the New Testament.”
“William Troy, whose father was enslaved but whose mother was free, exclaimed, “I used to go to church regularly, but never heard them preach from, ‘Masters, render unto your servants that which is just and equal.’” 34 Leonard Black, who escaped enslavement in 1837, recalled the larger literary context of Ephesians 6:5: “Should we not remember them that are in bondage as bound with them? Say not only slaves be obedient to your masters according to the flesh, but also say, masters, render unto your servants that which is right; and if that principle were carried out, slavery would be abolished.” 35 Troy, Black, and others recognized that Colossians 4:1 and its parallel provided the potential for fairer treatment, even if it did not abolish the institution itself.”
What it means for you
Two habits follow from this chapter. First, read whole texts. The abolitionists' complaint was not that the Bible was quoted, but that it was quoted selectively—the slaves' duty preached, the masters' duty ignored. Whenever scripture is used to keep someone in their place, ask what the surrounding verses ask of the person holding the power.
Second, take the names seriously. Paul's closing list is a snapshot of a real community: Jewish and Gentile, prominent and obscure, working side by side. Faith today still takes that shape—less in grand statements than in who you pray for, greet, work alongside, and treat justly.
Colossians 4 in context
Colossians 4 closes Paul's letter. Chapter 3 laid out what the new life in Christ means for households—wives and husbands, children and parents, servants and masters—and 4:1 finishes that sequence with the word to masters. Paul then turns to prayer and watchfulness (4:2-4), wise conduct toward outsiders, and speech "seasoned with salt" (4:5-6). The rest of the chapter handles practical matters: Tychicus and Onesimus carrying the letter, greetings from coworkers including Aristarchus, Mark, Epaphras, Luke, and Demas, and final instructions about sharing letters between churches.
Passages we cover in this chapter