by language difference was overcome, because their minds were filled with the common or mutual language of the truth. (Eph. 4:25) Thus, the promise at Zephaniah 3:9 saw fulfillment as Jehovah God gave “peoples the change to a pure language, in order for them all to call upon the name of Jehovah, in order to serve him shoulder to shoulder.” (Compare Isaiah 66:18; Zechariah 8:23; Revelation 7:4, 9, 10.) For this to be so, they should “all speak in agreement” and be “fitly united in the same mind and in the same line of thought.”—1 Cor. 1:10.

The ‘purity’ of the language spoken by the Christian congregation was also to result due to its freedom from words expressing malicious bitterness, anger, wrath, screaming and similar abusive language, as well as being free from deceit, obscenity and corruptness. (Eph. 4:29, 31; 1 Pet. 3:10) Christians were to put language to its most exalted use, praising their Creator and upbuilding their neighbor with wholesome, truthful speech, especially the good news about God’s kingdom.—Matt. 24:14; Titus 2:7, 8; Heb. 13:15; compare Psalm 51:15; 109:30.

The Bible began to be written in the Hebrew language, and some portions were later recorded in Aramaic. Then, in the first century of the Common Era, the remainder of the Sacred Scriptures were written in the koine or Common Greek (though Matthew reportedly wrote his Gospel first in Hebrew). By then a translation had also been made of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. Called the “Septuagint Version,” it was not an inspired translation but, nevertheless, was used by the Christian writers of the Bible in numerous quotations. (See INSPIRATION.) So, too, the Christian Greek Scriptures and eventually the whole Bible came to be translated into other languages, among the earliest being Latin, Syriac, Ethiopic, Arabic and Persian. As of the present time the Bible, in whole or in part, is available in 1,337 or more languages. This has facilitated the proclamation of the good news and thus has contributed to overcoming the barrier of language divisions for the purpose of uniting people of many lands in pure worship of their Creator.

LAODICEA, LAODICEANS

(La·o·di·ceʹa[ns]) [perhaps, judgment of the people].

A city in the western part of Asia Minor, the ruins of which lie near Denizli, over ninety miles (145 kilometers) E of Ephesus. Known earlier as Diospolis and Rhoas, Laodicea was probably refounded in the third century B.C.E. by the Seleucid ruler Antiochus II and named after his wife Laodice. Situated in the fertile valley of the Lycus River (a tributary of the Meander [Menderes]), Laodicea lay at the junction of major trade routes and was linked by roads with cities such as Ephesus, Pergamum and Philadelphia.

Laodicea enjoyed great prosperity as a manufacturing city and as a banking center. Indicative of the city’s great wealth is the fact that, when it suffered extensive earthquake damage in the reign of Nero, it was able to rebuild without any financial assistance from Rome. (Tacitus’ Annals, Book XIV, sec. 27) The glossy black wool of Laodicea and the garments made therefrom were widely known. The seat of a famous medical school, this city probably also produced the eye medicine known as “Phrygian powder.” Understandably, therefore, one of the main deities venerated at Laodicea was Aesculapius, a god of medicine.

This city had a major disadvantage. Unlike the nearby Lycus valley cities of Hierapolis, with its hot springs famed for their healing properties, and Colossae, with its refreshing cold water, Laodicea had no permanent water supply. From a considerable distance away, water had to be piped to Laodicea and likely was lukewarm on reaching the city. For the initial part of the distance the water was conveyed by means of an aqueduct and then, closer to the city, through cubical stone blocks that were bored through the middle and cemented together.

Laodicea seems to have had a considerable number of Jews. According to a letter from Laodicean magistrates (as quoted by Josephus), the Jews, in compliance with the injunction of Caius Rubilius, were allowed to observe their sabbaths and other sacred rites. (Antiquities of the Jews, Book XIV, chap. X, par. 20) At least some of the Jews there were quite wealthy. This may be inferred from the fact that, when Governor Flaccus ordered the confiscation of the annual contributions for the temple at Jerusalem, the amount contributed by the Jews of Laodicea reportedly was found to be more than twenty pounds of gold.

In the first century C.E. a Christian congregation existed at Laodicea and apparently met in the home of Nympha, a Christian sister there. Doubtless the efforts of Epaphras contributed to the establishment of that congregation. (Col. 4:12, 13, 15) Also, the effects of Paul’s work at Ephesus likely reached as far as Laodicea. (Acts 19:10) Although not ministering there personally, Paul was nevertheless concerned about the Laodicean congregation and even wrote a letter to them. (Col. 2:1; 4:16) However, some scholars believe that Paul’s letter may have been simply a duplicate of the one he sent to Ephesus. Of course, that is only a theory, an effort to account for the fact that the Bible contains no letter from Paul ‘to the Laodiceans,’ although Paul wrote to them. The letter to Laodicea may simply have contained information not necessary for us today, or it may have repeated points adequately covered in other canonical letters.

The congregation at Laodicea was one of the seven in Asia Minor to which the glorified Jesus Christ, in a revelation to John, addressed personal messages. (Rev. 1:11) At that time, toward the close of the first century C.E., the Laodicean congregation had little to commend it. Though materially rich, it was spiritually poor. Instead of the literal gold handled by the Laodicean bankers, instead of the garments of glossy black wool made locally, instead of the eye medicine doubtless produced by the Laodicean medical profession, instead of the boiling hot medicinal waters from the springs of nearby Hierapolis, the Laodicean congregation needed things like these in a spiritual sense. It needed “gold refined by fire” to enrich its personality (compare 1 Corinthians 3:10-14; 1 Peter 1:6, 7), white outer garments to give it an irreproachable Christian appearance with no unchristian features that were as shameful as bodily nakedness. (Compare Revelation 16:15; 19:8.) It needed spiritual “eyesalve” to be applied to take away its blindness to Bible truth and Christian responsibilities. (Compare Isaiah 29:18; 2 Peter 1:5-10; 1 John 2:11.) It could buy these things from Christ Jesus, the One knocking at the door, if it let him in hospitably to entertain him. (Compare Isaiah 55:1, 2.) It needed to become stimulatingly hot (compare Psalm 69:9; 2 Corinthians 9:2; Titus 2:14) or refreshingly cold (compare Proverbs 25:13, 25), but not stay lukewarm.—Rev. 3:14-22.

LAPPIDOTH

(Lapʹpi·doth) [flames, torches].

The husband of the Israelite prophetess Deborah.—Judg. 4:4.

LASEA

(La·seʹa).

A Cretan city near the harbor called Fair Havens. (Acts 27:8) Lasea is usually identified with ruins situated about five miles (8 kilometers) E of modern Kalous Limionas (Fair Havens).

LASHA

(Laʹsha).

A place mentioned in the earliest Canaanite boundary description. (Gen. 10:19) Its exact location is uncertain. Lasha was either “near Zeboiim” (NW; JP [1962 ed.]) or else the Canaanite boundary extended from the area around Zeboiim “as far as” Lasha. (AT; JB; RS) On the basis of Jerome’s identification and Jewish tradition, many place Lasha at Callirhoe, near the eastern shore of the Dead Sea.