With this verse Paul asks the Colossians to extend his greetings to the brothers in Laodicea, and also to Nympha and the church that meets in her house. It must be assumed that Nympha and the Christians associated with her are also in Laodicea, which would mean that besides the Christian group in Laodicea addressed as “the brothers,” there is also this other Christian community. Beare suggests that Nympha and her group were possibly the church at Hierapolis or a rural congregation in the neighborhood.

It is uncertain whether the person named is a woman, Nympha or a man, “Nymphas.” The decision rests on whether the pronoun to be read is “his” or “her”; the name itself in the Greek text can be accented either as a feminine or a masculine noun. Most commentators and translations prefer the feminine (Moule prefers the masculine). There is another variant reading, “their house,” which Lightfoot prefers and explains as the house of Nymphas and his friends. For other examples of home-groups, see Rom 16.5 and 1 Cor 16.19 (Priscilla and Aquila); Philemon 2 (Philemon). Early Christians had no special houses of worship and met for worship in homes.

Give our best wishes to the brothers in Laodicea may be rendered as “tell the brothers in Laodicea how much we wish the best for them.”

In this context the rendering of church must obviously refer to a group of believers. It cannot refer to a building. However, the church as a group of believers implies worshiping together, and therefore by redistributing some of the meaningful components of this term, it is possible to translate the church that meets in her house as “the believers who regularly worship God in her house.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Colossians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1977. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .