Study note

Colossians 4:18

This greeting is in my own hand—Paul: The letter to the Colossians, like most ancient letters, was probably not written entirely by Paul himself. Instead, Paul likely spoke the words while a scribe wrote them down. This scribe is also called an amanuensis (a person trained to write neatly and clearly). To show that the letter was truly from him, Paul added his own greeting at the end in his own handwriting. This was his way of proving the letter was authentic and not a fake (compare Paul's comment in 2 Thessalonians 2:2).