EPISTLE (Gr. epistole, letter, epistle). Written correspondence, personal or official.

The OT abounds with evidence of widespread written letters, among the best known being David's letter to Joab concerning Uriah (2 Sam 11:14-15), Jezebel's letter regarding Naboth (1 Kings 21:8-9), and Sennacherib's letter to Hezekiah (2 Kings 19:14); the NT also abounds (Acts 9:2; Rom 16:1ff.; 1 Cor 7:1).

The term is, however, almost a technical one, referring particularly to the 21 epistles of the NT, written by 5 (possibly 6) writers.

Paul wrote 13 (or 14, if Hebrews is by him); John, 3; Peter, 2; James, 1; and Jude, 1.

According to the custom of the time, they usually began with the name or title of the writer and that of the addressee or addressees; then followed words of greeting, the message of the epistle; and at the end the author usually gave his name.

It was Paul's usual practice to employ a secretary to write from dictation.

Seven epistles are called General Epistles, because they were written to the church at large.

The influence of the NT epistles on the literature of Christianity is seen in the writings of the next century, which were mostly epistolary in form. Indeed, heretics wrote epistles in the name of the apostles. Not all of the epistles of the apostles have survived (1 Cor 5:9; Col 4:6).

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