Meaning of the Name Nympha
Nympha is related to the Greek nymphe. Depending on context this word can mean "bride," "young woman," or in classical usage a kind of nature being; in the setting of a personal name, the safest explanation is along the lines of "bride" or "young woman." The personal-name context should therefore control the interpretation.
Origin
The name Nympha is of Greek origin.
Who is Nympha in the Bible?
Nympha is mentioned together with a church that met in her house. At the end of Colossians, Paul sends greetings to her and to the congregation in her home. This shows that Nympha was a hospitable and central figure for a local body of believers.
The story of Nympha in the Bible
Nympha appears in Scripture among the closing greetings of Paul's letter to the Colossians. While sending greetings to the believers in Laodicea, the apostle makes a point of naming Nympha and the church that gathered in her house. Even this single sentence makes an important reality visible: in the first century, believers met not in dedicated church buildings but in homes, and Nympha was one of those hosts who opened her door to such a community. That her house served as a meeting place suggests she was hospitable, trusted, and central to the local fellowship. Similar greetings in Paul's letters — such as his salute to the church in Philemon's house — show that these house churches formed the backbone of early Christian life. Scripture offers no further details about Nympha, yet her name endures as a lasting emblem of believers who made room for the community, serving the spread of the gospel by sharing their roof and their table.
Is Nympha mentioned in the Quran?
The name Nympha does not appear in the Quran; it belongs to a believing woman in whose house a church gathered, mentioned in the New Testament in Paul's letter to the Colossians.
Verses where Nympha appears
- Colossians 4:15 —
Greet the brothers who are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the assembly that is in his house.
- Philemon 1:2 —
to the beloved Apphia, to Archippus, our fellow soldier, and to the assembly in your house: