was written by the apostle St. Paul during his first captivity at Rome, (Acts 28:16) apparently immediately after he had written the Epistle to the Colossians [COLOSSIANS, THE EPISTLE TO THE, EPISTLE TO], and during that period (perhaps the early part of A.D. 62) when his imprisonment had not assumed the severer character which seems to have marked its close. This epistle was addressed to the Christian church at Ephesus. [EPHESUS] Its contents may be divided into two portions, the first mainly doctrinal , ch. 1-3, the second hortatory and practical .