Νυμφᾶς G3564
Nympha or Nymphas, a Christian in whose house a church met, greeted by Paul
Paul closes Colossians 4:15 with greetings: 'Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters in Laodicea, and to Nympha (Νύμφαν) and the church in her house.' Textual variants and the ambiguity of Greek accusative forms leave uncertain whether this is Nympha (feminine) or Nymphas (masculine). The name derives from 'nymph' or 'bride.' Most modern translations prefer the feminine, picturing a woman hosting a house church in Laodicea. If so, Nympha joins other female leaders like Phoebe, Priscilla, and Lydia who provided space and resources for the early Christian movement. House churches were the norm before Constantine; someone's generosity in opening their home was essential infrastructure for the gospel's spread.
Senses
1. sense 1 — A personal name identifying the host of a house church in Laodicea, likely a woman. The multilingual glosses preserve 'Nympha' or 'Nýmfa' uniformly (Spanish 'Nýmfa', French preserving the Greek form), though the gender ambiguity persists. The domain (Names of Persons and Places) is correct; the ecclesial role (hosting a congregation) enriches the social history of early Christianity. 1×
AR["نِمفاسَ"]·ben["নুম্ফানকে"]·DE["Nympha"]·EN["Nympha"]·FR["Νύμφαν"]·heb["נוּמְפָא"]·HI["नुमफ"]·ID["Nimfa"]·IT["numphan"]·jav["Nimfa"]·KO["눔바"]·PT["Ninfa"]·RU["Нимфу"]·ES["a-Nýmfa"]·SW["Nimfa"]·TR["Nimfan'i"]·urd["نمفاس"]
Related Senses
G3588 1. definite article (18298×)H0853 1. definite direct object marker (10915×)G2532 1. (8312×)H3068 1. YHWH (the divine name) (6522×)H0834a 1. relative pronoun (who/which/that) (4839×)H3588a 1. causal: because, for (3498×)G1161 1. and (2806×)H3478 1. Israel (proper name and nation) (2507×)G4771 1. you (plural address) (1853×)H1931 1. personal pronoun he/she/it (1431×)G3739 1. relative pronoun who/which/that (1149×)H1732 1. David (proper name) (1075×)H2088 1. this, this one (demonstrative) (1059×)G1063 1. (1047×)G3778 1. this thing, these things (1003×)H???? 2. (1002×)G2424 1. (924×)G3754 1. that (content clause) (881×)H2009 1. presentative particle: behold, look (881×)H0589 1. I (first person singular pronoun) (874×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
Νυμφᾶς, -ᾶ, ὁ (WH, R, mg., Νύμφα, which see), Nymphas: Col.4:15, R, txt. (cf. ICC, Lft., in l).† Νύμφα (Rec., R, txt., Νυμφᾶς, which see), -ης, ἡ, Nympha (see M, Pr., 48): Col.4:15, WH, R, mg.† (From Abbott-Smith. LSJ has no entry)