APPHIA ăf’ ĭ ə (̓Απφία, G722, meaning not known; inscrs. indicate it is prob. native Phrygian. Douay VS form, Appia). A lady included in the salutation of the Epistle to Philemon (v. 2), designated “our sister” (ἡ ἀδελφή, “the sister”) in the Christian sense (KJV “our dearly beloved” follows TR). The position of her name implies that she was the wife of Philemon; his sister (literally) is grammatically possible. As a member of the household, she would be directly involved in the decision concerning Onesimus.

Tradition says she was stoned to death under Nero, along with Philemon and Archippus. November 22 is sacred to her memory in the Greek Orthodox Church.

Bibliography J. B. Lightfoot, Colossians and Philemon (1900), 304-306; T. Zahn, Introduction to NT (1909), I, 458; MM (1949), 73.