4:7-8 Paul sent Tychicus with this letter for two primary purposes. He wanted to provide more information about himself and his present ministry than he felt led to record in this letter. He also wanted to encourage the Colossians. In relation to all other Christians Tychicus was a beloved brother. In relation to Christ he was a faithful servant. In relation to Paul he was a fellow bondslave either both as a prisoner of Rome and to the will of God, or just to the will of God. Tychicus' name occurs five times in association with Paul in the New Testament (Acts 20:4; Eph. 6:21; Col. 4:7; Titus 3:12; 2 Tim. 4:12).
"Someone has said that the greatest ability in the world is dependability, and this is true."178
4:9 Onesimus had been a slave in the household of Philemon and a member of the Colossian church, had run away to Rome, and Paul had led him to Christ there. Paul sent him back to Colosse with Tychicus, not in chains but as a beloved brother in Christ who had proved himself faithful (cf. Phile.).
These men traveled from Rome to Colosse, probably by way of Ephesus and Laodicea, with the epistle to the Ephesians (Eph. 6:21-22). They probably also carried one to the Laodiceans (cf. v. 16), and the epistle to Philemon (Phile. 2:23-24), as well as this epistle.
