Bible Encyclopedias
Apphia

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

af´i -a , ap´fi -a ( Ἀπφίᾳ , Apphı́a , dative case of Apphı́a ; in Philippians 1:2 , though Apphı́a , Amphı́a , and Appı́a , also occur): A C hristian of Colosse, probably the wife of Philemon; certainly a member of his household, greeted as "the sister" the Revised Version, margin. In the Greek church, November 22 is sacred to her memory. It has been supposed, since this epistle concerns one household exclusively, that Apphia was Philemon's wife and the mother or sister of Archippus (which see). She was stoned to death with Philemon, Onesimus, and Archippus in the reign of Nero. (See Lightfoot, Col ., 372.)