ἐπιστολή

Acts 9:2 ἐπιστολὰς letters

and requested letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women belonging to the Way, he could bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

Here: Official letters of authorization and introduction, not personal correspondence. They name Saul as the high priest's agent and ask the Damascus synagogues to cooperate. The plural suggests one per congregation, or a set of documents.

Acts 15:30 ἐπιστολήν. letter.

So the men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they assembled the congregation and delivered the letter.

Here: An official letter from the apostles and elders. Its bearers would read it aloud and explain it to the gathered community (see 15:27).

Acts 22:5 ἐπιστολὰς letters

as the high priest and the whole Council can testify about me. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and I was on my way to apprehend these people and bring them to Jerusalem to be punished.

Here: Official letters of authorisation and introduction addressed to the synagogues of Damascus (Acts 9:2). They are not 'epistles' in the later sense of New Testament books.

Acts 23:25 ἐπιστολὴν a letter

And he wrote the following letter:

Acts 23:33 ἐπιστολὴν letter

When the horsemen arrived in Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and presented Paul to him.

Romans 16:22 ἐπιστολὴν letter

I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord.

1 Corinthians 5:9 ἐπιστολῇ letter

I wrote you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people.

Here: An ordinary letter or written message sent by a courier. In the first century it did not mean a formal religious "epistle." Here it means a real letter to Corinth that is now lost.

1 Corinthians 16:3 ἐπιστολῶν letters

Then, on my arrival, I will send letters with those you recommend to carry your gift to Jerusalem.

Here: Letters of introduction and credentials for the journey, the ordinary way to vouch for travellers to people who had never met them. These are not letters of teaching like 1 Corinthians itself.

2 Corinthians 3:1 ἐπιστολῶν letters

Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you?

Here: An ordinary letter. In verse 2 the word becomes a metaphor: the Corinthians themselves are Paul's letter.

2 Corinthians 3:2 ἐπιστολὴ letter

You yourselves are our letter, inscribed on our hearts, known and read by everyone.

2 Corinthians 3:3 ἐπιστολὴ a letter

It is clear that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

Here: An ordinary written letter. In context (3:1) it means the letter of recommendation a traveling teacher carried to prove who he was. The Corinthian church is that letter.

2 Corinthians 7:8 ἐπιστολῇ, ἐπιστολὴ letter,, letter

Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Although I did regret it—for I see that my letter caused you sorrow, but only for a short time—

2 Corinthians 10:9 ἐπιστολῶν. letters.

I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you by my letters.

Here: Real, practical letters Paul had sent to Corinth: the earlier letter mentioned in 1 Cor 5:9, 1 Corinthians itself, and the painful 'letter of tears' (2 Cor 2:4; 7:8). In v. 10 his critics call these letters 'weighty and forceful'.

2 Corinthians 10:10 ἐπιστολαὶ letters

For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but his physical presence is unimpressive, and his speaking is of no account.”

Here: An ordinary word for letters. It carries no idea of 'scripture'. These are the messages Paul sent while away, which stood in for him when he could not be there.

2 Corinthians 10:11 ἐπιστολῶν letters

Such people should consider that what we are in our letters when absent, we will be in our actions when present.

Colossians 4:16 ἐπιστολή, letter,

After this letter has been read among you, make sure that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans, and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea.

1 Thessalonians 5:27 ἐπιστολὴν letter

I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.

2 Thessalonians 2:2 ἐπιστολῆς letter

not to be easily disconcerted or alarmed by any spirit or message or letter seeming to be from us, alleging that the Day of the Lord has already come.

Here: A written letter, delivered by a courier and read aloud to the gathered church.

2 Thessalonians 2:15 ἐπιστολῆς letter

Therefore, brothers, stand firm and cling to the traditions we taught you, whether by speech or by letter.

Here: A letter sent and read aloud to the gathered church. It most likely means 1 Thessalonians, and possibly this letter too.

2 Thessalonians 3:14 ἐπιστολῆς, letter,

Take note of anyone who does not obey the instructions we have given in this letter. Do not associate with him, so that he may be ashamed.

Here: A letter sent and read aloud in the assembly, which stood in for the apostles being there in person. Compare 2:15, "by word or by our letter."

2 Thessalonians 3:17 ἐπιστολῇ· letter;

This greeting is in my own hand—Paul. This is my mark in every letter; it is the way I write.

2 Peter 3:1 ἐπιστολήν, letter,

Beloved, this is now my second letter to you. Both of them are reminders to stir you to wholesome thinking

Here: The ordinary word for a letter sent to someone. It carries no special religious weight here. "Epistle" is simply the older English form of the word.

2 Peter 3:16 ἐπιστολαῖς letters

He writes this way in all his letters, speaking in them about such matters. Some parts of his letters are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.

Here: An ordinary word for a sent letter. 'His' is implied from v.15. The word does not mean a formal or sacred 'epistle'.