Apostle 1st century

Apostle Nymphas of the Seventy

Also known as Nymphan of Laodicea

One of the Seventy Apostles, mentioned by St. Paul (Col 4:15) as host of a house-church at Laodicea. He labored in the early apostolic mission.

Feast Day

February 28

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Commemorated as

The Holy, Glorious and All-Praised Apostle Nymphas of the Seventy

Life

Nymphas is a first-century figure of the apostolic age, numbered by Orthodox tradition among the Seventy Apostles and commemorated on February 28. He is known from a single greeting in the New Testament, where the Apostle Paul sends his salutations to him and to the church that gathered in his house.

In the Epistle to the Colossians (4:15), written from Rome to the Church of Colossae, Paul writes: "Greet Nymphas and the church that meets in his house." Tradition holds him to have been a Christian of Laodicea, in the Lycus Valley of Asia Minor, who gave space in his home for the community's worship and was esteemed as a person of standing within that church.

Contributions & Legacy

2 contributions Read Hide

Scriptural Witness and Tradition

The only direct record of Nymphas in Scripture is Paul's greeting in Colossians 4:15, sent together with greetings to the brethren at Laodicea. From this the tradition describes him as a resident of Laodicea who hosted a house-church, the assembly that met in his home for weekly worship at a time when Christians had no separate buildings. Synaxaria characterize him as a person of worth and importance in the Church of Laodicea who showed generous Christian character in providing this hospitality.

The form of the name has been read in different ways in the manuscript tradition: some early Greek witnesses point to a feminine "Nympha," others to a masculine "Nymphas," and modern textual scholarship remains divided. The Orthodox liturgical tradition reads the name as the masculine Nymphas and counts him among the Seventy Apostles whom Christ sent out (Luke 10:1-16), a number understood not as a rigidly fixed list but as a body of early disciples honored under that name. The Seventy are commemorated collectively on January 4.

Commemorated With Eubulus

Nymphas is commemorated on February 28 together with the Apostle Eubulus of the Seventy, both remembered as disciples of the Apostle Paul. Eubulus is named in the Second Epistle to Timothy (4:21), "Eubulus greets you," and tradition recalls him as one of the Roman Christians who remained faithful to Paul during the Apostle's second imprisonment, when others had abandoned him. A synaxarion verse joins the two: "The two apostles of Christ were planted by Christ, Eubulus and Nymphas together being associated with Christ."

The surviving record preserves no account of a particular bishopric, of further apostolic journeys, or of the manner of Nymphas's death; what is handed down is his scriptural greeting, his hospitality to the church at Laodicea, and his place among the Seventy.

Commemorated with Read Hide

The Seventy Apostles

Commemorated together · Jan 4

Notes

Commemorated Feb 28 with Apostle Eubulus of the Seventy.

Sources: J. Sanidopoulos, johnsanidopoulos.com; GOARCH calendar