ACC ~ Philemon 1 v23

ALSO FROM COLOSSAE. CHRYSOSTOM: Epaphras was sent by the Colossians, so that from this it appears that Philemon was also at Colossae. And Paul calls him his “fellow prisoner,” showing that he was also in great tribulation, so that if not on his own account, yet on account of Epaphras, it was right that he should be heard. HOMILIES ON PHILEMON 3.

JEROME: Concerning the identity of Epaphras, Paul’s coprisoner, we accept a story. Some say that the apostle Paul’s parents were from Giscala in Judea and that when the province was devastated by the Romans and the Jews scattered, they emigrated to Tarsus in Cilicia, where Paul was born. Here he inherited as a young man the personal status of his parents. Thus he could state: “They are Hebrews, but so am I; they are Israelites, so am I; they are Abraham’s seed, so am I.”And again, “I am a Hebrew of the Hebrews.” These indicate that he felt himself more of a Jew than a citizen of Tarsus. Because this was so, we can guess that Epaphras was captured and imprisoned about the same time and that with his parents in Colossae, a city of Asia, he later received the word about Christ. COMMENTARY ON PHILEMON.

Philem