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Tychicus, the bearer of the letter, had a relationship with Paul traceable as far back as Ac 20:4. There, along with Trophimus, he is one of the representatives from Asia (the Western text says Ephesus) with Paul at the time of his departure from Corinth near the end of the third journey. Evidently Tychicus was a Gentile, and in accompanying Paul to Jerusalem he represented the gentile churches that had collected funds for the Judean believers. Whether Tychicus stayed with the Ephesian elders following Paul’s speech at Miletus (Ac 20:17-35) or accompanied him to Jerusalem as Trophimus did, is not clear from the text, but probably Tychicus witnessed Paul’s arrest in Judea (Ac 21:29). He appears as “a fellow servant” (syndoulos) in Col 4:7, in phrasing nearly identical to that here, and is named again in the Pastorals (2Ti 4:12; Tit 3:12) as a messenger of the writer. As envoy to the Asian churches, he will not only carry this letter and others, but he will tell about Paul. Perhaps his appearance in Ephesus is calculated to head off the revolt against Paul’s authority and Gospel.