Charles Ellicott Commentary Colossians 4:14

"Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas salute you." — Colossians 4:14 (ASV)

Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas. Compare Philemon 1:24. The original is even more emphatic: “Luke the physician, the beloved one.” Demas, on the contrary, is barely named. It is impossible not to pass on in thought to the last notice of the two by St. Paul (2 Timothy 4:10), Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world... only Luke is with me.

On the relation of St. Luke to St. Paul, see Introduction to the Acts. Here we need only remark that the emphatic mention of him as “the beloved physician” suggests the idea that it was both as physician and as friend that St. Luke, now, as in the last captivity, was with the Apostle. Though the captivity was not, according to ancient ideas, severe, it must have taken a toll on his weak and shattered health.