Illustration created for this project.
Apphia
A Christian of Colossae greeted by Paul alongside Philemon, traditionally his wife.
What we know — and how we know it
Bible — stated in scripture (with verse) · 1
Scholarly — supported scholarly belief · 2
Family & lineage
Death & legacy
ScholarlyLater Byzantine martyrologies commemorate Apphia together with Philemon and Archippus as martyrs stoned at Colossae under Nero. This is a late hagiographic tradition, centuries after the fact, not contemporary evidence for her.
Tradition preserved in the Menologion of Basil II and Byzantine synaxaria (feast commemoration), framed as late tradition.
Name & titles
ScholarlyApphia (Greek Apphia) is a distinctively Phrygian-Anatolian term of endearment rather than a typical Greek or Semitic name, and it is abundantly attested in local inscriptions throughout Phrygia. This onomastic profile fits neatly with a woman addressed in a letter to Colossae, in the Lycus valley of Phrygia.
Onomastic: the name's dense epigraphic distribution across Phrygian inscriptions (standard NT commentary on Philemon, e.g. Moule, Dunn).