But I commend to you Phoebe, our sister, who is minister of the assembly which is in Cenchrea;
The letter that unfolds the gospel more fully than any other closes not with doctrine but with a woman's name. Paul is writing to a church he had never visited. The first person he names is a sister from a small port town. Why does she come first, and what does he mean by calling her a "servant"?
Paul opens the chapter with a commendation, and it had a practical purpose.
Phoebe appears to have been the one who carried the letter. Paul works in this word of commendation about her so that the believers at Rome would receive her freely and without question. She had helped many and even Paul himself in the course of her service at Cenchrea.
Writers see a pattern here for welcoming a believer who arrives from another church.
Paul commends her to the saints at Rome, and her right to fellowship with them is clear. Such an example is meant to be followed today: we should receive no one without clear knowledge of the person. This is simply proper care. It is lovely also to notice that this is no mere formal letter of introduction. It is a warm commendation of one whose service to the saints, and to Paul himself, deserved special mention.
Notice what Paul does not say. He does not rest her welcome on her being in fellowship at Cenchrea.
Nothing could be more striking than the fine distinction that marks this beautiful Scripture. First of all, notice how Paul commends Phoebe to the church at Rome. "I commend to you our sister Phoebe." On what ground? Is it that she is "breaking bread" or "in fellowship" at Cenchrea? No; but "she is a servant of the church"; and "she has been a patron of many and of myself as well."
The Greek word behind "servant" is diakonos, the root of our word "deacon." Commentators differ over what it means here. Some read it as a recognised position:
We know from elsewhere that older women, and widows in particular, held a position, official or close to it. In it they served the church where they lived. A deaconess such as Phoebe was distinct from these widows, but the one illustrates the other. Phoebe was one of these in the church at Cenchrea, the port of Corinth. Indeed, in every time and place some things are better done by a godly woman than by any man, however pure-minded or elderly.
Others hold back from that conclusion:
The word for "servant" is diakonos, "deaconess," but it may not imply any official service.
Paul also tells Rome what she had done. She had money, and she used it for others.
Phoebe was a servant to the church in Cenchrea. Yet Paul shows that she was wealthy, and she shared her resources with the Lord's people. She was a patroness — a helper — to many, including the apostle, whom she had probably met in Cenchrea. We see that her wealth did not make her proud; she gave willing and humble service. There is much for sisters to do, for the work of the testimony is wide and varied. There is no reason for any sister or brother to say, "there is nothing for me to do."
Her name appears nowhere else in the Bible. We know almost nothing about her beyond these two verses. Yet her service is not forgotten.
She was a devoted woman, whose service is recorded on high. Mentioned here, she stands out as an encouragement to others. Their service may be quiet, and little known beyond the circle of those who benefit from it. Still, it is not unnoticed by Him who will repay them with His "Well done" in a coming day.
Paul himself had been shown the deepest counsels of God. He ends his greatest letter by remembering what people had done for him.
By grace he had searched into all the counsels of God. He had been allowed to see what could not be made known to man here below. Yet he remembered all that these humble Christians — these devoted women — had done for him and for the Lord. This is love; it is the real proof of the power of the Spirit of God; it is the bond of love.
- Named. Phoebe appears nowhere else in Scripture. Paul still names her first in his closing chapter and calls her "our sister."
- Serving. "Servant" translates diakonos. Commentators differ over whether it marks a recognised position or just describes her work. All agree the work was real.
- Sending. She most likely carried the letter to Rome. That is why the commendation comes first.
- Receiving. Paul asks Rome to welcome her on the ground of her service, not her status. That is still the pattern for receiving one another.
- Rewarded. Paul noticed her quiet help, Scripture records it, and heaven keeps it for a coming day.
that ye may receive her in [the] Lord worthily of saints, and that ye may assist her in whatever matter she has need of you; for *she* also has been a helper of many, and of myself.
Paul ends his letter to Rome with names rather than doctrine, and Phoebe's comes first. He asks the Christians there to welcome a woman they have never met and to help her — so what gives anyone a claim on that help?
Phoebe was travelling from Cenchreae, the port near Corinth, to a city where nobody knew her. Paul's few lines are her introduction. Commentators read them as a pattern that still holds.
But first we see the careful order observed in connection with the visit of Phebe at Rome. She evidently was the bearer of this letter, her home assembly being at Cenchrea. So Paul commends her to the saints at Rome, and her title to fellowship with them is clear. Such an example is clearly meant to be followed today. There should be no reception without clear knowledge of the person.
How did scattered assemblies of Christians know that a stranger was one of their own?
If a Christian moved from one place to another, he carried a letter of commendation signed by trusted people. He presented it to the assembly, and they knew him to be a member of another assembly. Here was a method that bound them together and they were known in their movements with each other... Romans 16:1-2 is Paul's letter of commendation for that beloved sister, Phoebe. Dear friends, this is the word of God; it is not a custom of one group, it is a Scriptural practice.
The welcome Paul asks for is not a formality. It must match what saints are, and it must reach beyond spiritual matters.
Phoebe served in the assembly at the port of Corinth — Cenchreae. The Lord had honoured her there, and His chief servants recognised her, in the ordinary circle of her Christian duty. So the apostle now introduces her to the saints at Rome. They were to receive her in a becoming way — not only in spiritual things, but in whatever business she might need their help.
The same call to act "worthily" runs through Paul's letters.
And the Spirit of God presses home on us this need to behave in a worthy way. "Receive her in the Lord worthily of saints." Rom. 16:2. "I urge you to walk worthily of the calling." Eph. 4:1. "Walk worthily of the Lord." Col. 1:10. "Walk worthily of God." 1 Thess. 2:12.
Those lines follow an older translation, which repeats one word, "worthily." The ESV has "in a way worthy of the saints."
The help in view is everyday and practical. The wording below follows an older translation: "helper" where the ESV has "patron."
"A helper of many." Clearly this was in temporal things. She was to be received in the Lord, in that relationship. And what beautiful love and care. She is to be assisted in whatever business she has in Rome. It might then be said, See how these Christians love one another.
Paul gives a reason for his request. She had cared for many others, and for him. Her claim rests on that record, not on where she belonged.
In touching, forceful words he gives the moral basis of her claim on the hospitality and help of the assembly. To say that a person is "breaking bread" is, sadly, no guarantee of personal devotedness. It ought to be; but it is not. And so to expect the sympathy, help, and confidence of the Lord's people on that ground is unwarranted.
Most service like Phoebe's is seen by only a handful of people.
She was a devoted woman, whose service is recorded on high. Mentioned here, she stands as an encouragement to others. Their service may be quiet and little known beyond the circle of those who benefit by it. Even so, He notices it, and He will repay them with His "Well done" in a coming day.
Did such deep knowledge of God make Paul forget ordinary people?
By grace he had searched into all the counsels of God. He had been allowed to see what could not be made known to man here below. Yet he remembered all that these humble Christians — these devoted women — had done for him and for the Lord. This is love; it is the real proof of the power of the Spirit of God; it is the bond of love.
- Commended. Phoebe carried the letter and her own commendation. Know a person before you receive them.
- Received. The welcome is "in the Lord" and worthy of saints — the same standard as walking worthily of the calling, of the Lord, of God.
- Assisted. The help is open-ended and practical — whatever business she has in Rome.
- Deserved. Her claim rests on the help she gave others, not on formal standing. Breaking bread is no guarantee of devotedness.
- Remembered. Quiet service is recorded on high. Paul, who had searched the counsels of God, still remembered what one woman did for him.
Salute Prisca and Aquila, my fellow-workmen in Christ Jesus,
Paul ends his letter to Rome with a long list of greetings, and the first names on it belong to a married couple who shared his trade. Why does a letter that has just laid out the whole gospel end with personal greetings, and what does "fellow workers" mean here?
A government decree first threw this couple into Paul's path. One writer sees God's hand behind it.
The harsh decree of Claudius worked to throw them across Paul's path. This led to their conversion, and then to their later service, which earned the high praise of Romans 16:3-4. God overruled the decree of expulsion for good, making the wrath of man to praise Him.
They did not stay in one place. Their moves can be traced from letter to letter.
From the same chapter we learn that after Paul's ministry had ended they went to Ephesus. From 1 Corinthians 16:19 we learn that they were still there when that letter was written. But in writing to the Romans Paul greets them. So they had travelled back to Rome, and were in happy fellowship with the Roman assembly. 2 Timothy 4:19 tells us that once more they were back in Ephesus, where Timothy lived. Prisca is a shortened form of Priscilla. They were indeed strangers and pilgrims, but blessed to know that their wanderings were by the Lord.
Paul and Aquila shared the same trade as tent-makers. Yet the name Paul puts on them here is not drawn from that shared craft.
Here the apostle stamps them as his fellow workers in Christ Jesus. He does it all the more carefully because Aquila and he had worked in the same trade of tent-makers. But the everyday job disappears from view, however rightly it is noticed in its own place. Grace acknowledges this converted godly Jew and his wife, not only as workers in Christ Jesus, but as fellow workers with the apostle.
The same word is used of several others in Paul's letters, and it carries real weight because of who is handing it out.
Paul alone has given us his name, and in Philemon 24 he described him by the honourable title of "fellow worker." An honourable title we say, considering who Paul was, but one shared with others, as we see in that letter and elsewhere (Rom. 16:3, 9, 21; Phil. 2:25; 4:3; Col. 4:11).
The order of the two names is unusual, and commentators differ on what it means. One reads it as a mark of her spiritual leadership.
Two things strike us here. One is that Priscilla's name comes before her husband's. That was unusual at that time in the world's history, and in that part of the world. We note the same order in Romans 16:3. We can only conclude that the wife was more devoted spiritually, and the leader in the things of the Lord.
Another counts the six mentions and reads the varying order as a picture of a partnership in balance.
This couple are mentioned six times in the New Testament. Three times Aquila is mentioned first (Acts 18:2, 26; 1 Cor. 16:19) and three times Priscilla is mentioned first (Acts 18:19; Rom. 16:3; 2 Tim. 4:19), showing the balance this delightful couple kept — husband and wife, united in the interests of the Lord.
The greeting sits inside a letter recommending Phoebe to the church at Rome — Paul uses the occasion to name others too.
It is well to stress that this verse comes in Paul's letter of commendation for Phoebe. As she was visiting the Roman assembly, Paul took the opportunity to commend others for their service and their love, and also to greet the saints.
What made this couple useful shows most clearly in how they handled Apollos, a gifted speaker whose understanding was incomplete.
Aquila and Priscilla took him to themselves. I think this means they took him home with them. There, in the quiet, the privacy, the love and the hospitality of their home, they opened up the way of God to him more fully. What a delightful attitude this was! It was not an overbearing attitude, but an attitude of love.
Paul had never known this church as a gathered body, yet he names its people one by one.
Paul had never known the Roman Christians as an assembly, so he sends many personal greetings. This was the link that held. We see how touchingly his heart dwells on all the details of service that attached him to those who had given it. By grace he had searched into all the counsels of God. He had been allowed to see what could not be told to man here below. Yet he remembered all that these humble Christians — these devoted women — had done for him and for the Lord. This is love.
These greetings also show what was not in Paul.
He was highly gifted as an apostle. Yet his heart was large, and he delights to recognise others in the service of the Lord. In the apostle there was no unworthy pettiness — the jealous kind that lifts up self by putting others down. Nor does he think so highly of himself as to treat any kindness as simply his due.
- Moved. A hostile government decree pushed Aquila and Priscilla into Paul's path; God overruled it for good, and their later travels were "by the Lord."
- Named. Paul does not call them tent-makers but fellow workers in Christ Jesus — grace names them by the work they shared with him.
- Balanced. Priscilla stands first here. Some read that as her leading in the things of the Lord; others as the balance of a couple united in one work.
- Opened. In their home they taught Apollos the way of God more fully — not overbearing, but loving.
- Remembered. Paul had seen what could not be told to man here below. Yet he remembered every small service done for him, and named the people who did it.
(who for my life staked their own neck; to whom not *I* only am thankful, but also all the assemblies of the nations,)
Paul opens his long list of greetings in Rome with a married couple, and they come first because they once stood between him and death. Two questions follow: what does it mean to stake your neck for someone, and why do far-off churches give thanks?
Paul and Aquila shared a trade — both made tents. But the title Paul gives them in the verse before lifts them well above that.
Here the apostle stamps them as his fellow workers in Christ Jesus. He does it the more carefully because Aquila and he had worked at the same trade of tent-making. But the natural occupation drops out of sight, however rightly it is noticed in its own place. Grace acknowledges this converted godly Jew and his wife, not only as workers in Christ Jesus, but as fellow workers with the apostle.
Scripture never tells us what they did. But the wording shows they chose the danger with open eyes. (Older translations read "laid down their own necks.")
We don't know exactly what they did, but we learn that they were willing to put their necks on the block to save or help the apostle Paul. The words "they have for my life laid down their necks" show that they did not simply end up in a dangerous situation. They knowingly did what could well have led to their death.
Their act reaches the outer edge of what love can do. That edge is not only for heroes.
They had laid down their lives on Paul's behalf, though in God's mercy their lives had been preserved to them. This is the limit of human love according to the Lord's words in John 15:13. It is also what every Christian ought to do if the occasion arises, according to 1 John 3:16. We are here not only to show human kindness. As those who share in the divine nature, we are here to show divine love.
The law set one limit: love your neighbour as yourself. The same writer says what took this couple past it.
To love one's neighbour as oneself is the limit under the law. Only under grace is it possible to go a step beyond this, as for instance Aquila and Priscilla did.
Paul's thanks are personal, but he widens them. The reason is whose life they saved: no one else carried the apostleship to the Gentiles.
He owed them his life, and gladly announced that debt. He did it to their praise, so that the church of God would hold them in higher esteem. But once we see the value of the life they rescued, this smaller feeling — more natural in a way, though most precious — grows and sobers into solemn thanksgiving to God. The expression "all the churches of the Gentiles" is very full. Yet it was even so. To no one else had the Lord committed the apostleship to the Gentiles.
Husband and wife acted as one. Their names appear across the New Testament in a pattern that puts neither one ahead of the other.
The testimony at that time was above all in the hand of Paul, and Priscilla and Aquila staked their neck on his behalf. They had one neck. Scripture mentions this man and wife six times: three times the man first, three times the woman. That shows how fully they shared the things of God. The Spirit of God held them together with one mind and one desire. How blessed to serve like this in response to divine love.
No one handed this couple their place at the head of Paul's list. They earned it.
They had gained for themselves a good standing. They had worked their way into the confidence and esteem of the apostle and of all the assemblies. So it must be. We cannot jump into people's confidence and affection all in a moment. We must commend ourselves by a life of practical righteousness and personal devotedness.
Paul knew the deepest counsels of God. That never made him forget small kindnesses done to him.
By grace he had searched into all the counsels of God. God let him see what could not be made known to man here below. Yet he remembered all that these humble Christians — these devoted women — had done for him and for the Lord. This is love; it is the real proof of the power of the Spirit of God; it is the bond of love.
- Risked — they did not stumble into danger; they chose a path that could have cost their lives.
- Limit — laying down your life is the furthest love reaches, and every Christian ought to do it if the moment comes.
- Beyond — the law's limit was loving your neighbour as yourself; grace took this couple a step past it.
- Owed — the life they saved carried the Lord's work among the Gentiles, so churches that never met them give thanks.
- Remembered — trust like theirs grows out of a life of practical righteousness and devotedness, and Paul never forgot it.
and the assembly at their house. Salute Epaenetus, my beloved, who is [the] first-fruits of Asia for Christ.
Paul ends his letter to Rome by greeting a church that met in a private home, and one man remembered as the first convert of his region. Two questions follow: what does "in their house" mean, and why does Paul name a single convert?
Many homes belonged to Christians. Only some of them had a church in them.
This does not mean only the Christian members of the household, but those who were used to meeting there as gathered to the Lord's name. That seems to be the force of the phrase wherever it occurs (Rom. 16:5, 1 Cor. 16:19, Col. 4:15). There were many Christian households; but the assembly in any given house meant that there was a meeting in the house.
The setting was plain. Even in the capital of the empire, believers met in a private home.
The blessed Lord instituted His supper, not in a magnificent temple, but in "a large upper room." The church (or assembly) in the imperial city of Rome met in the humble house of Priscilla and Aquila (Rom. 16:5). The church was not a great building of stone or brick, but the believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Aquila and Priscilla made tents. The trade needed a large room, and the room had a second use.
Further, he greets the assembly also in their house. The trade of tent-maker, if carried on at Rome, would naturally give him a large room, where quite a number could meet. We know that for a long time after this Christians regularly met like that.
What happened there was plain Christian life, and it leaves a question for any believer with a home.
In their house a company of people gathered. They worshipped the Lord there, they met for prayer, they met to read the word of God, and they met to do the things that pleased God and Christ… Is your house suitable for Christians to come and gather to the name of the Lord? Would the setting and the atmosphere of that house help people to gather to the name of the Lord? Would it help them to worship Him, pray to Him, and do everything proper to a Christian company? This is a very solemn thing to consider.
Paul greets the assembly in their house, not the whole church of the city.
An assembly met in the house of Priscilla and Aquila in Rome (Rom. 16:3-5), and an assembly met in the house of Philemon in Colosse; but we need not suppose that all the saints in those cities met in those particular houses. Others could meet elsewhere.
Older English versions read "the firstfruits of Achaia." Commentators here judge that the true reading is Asia. They point to a different household as the first converts in Achaia.
The reading "Achaia" in the traditional Greek text is wrong. The household of Stephanas were the first-fruits there, as we know from 1 Corinthians 16:16. The apostle could not say that Epaenetus devoted himself in an orderly way to the service of the saints as the Achaian household did. But in any case he is not without honour in the Lord, nor without the apostle's special affection.
Paul calls Epaenetus "my beloved." He uses the same words later in the chapter of a man named Stachys.
Paul describes him, like Stachys (v. 9), as "my beloved," which suggests to me that they were personal friends of his. Brotherly love reaches all believers. But there is room for personal closeness, and it in no way weakens the wider responsibility towards the brotherhood.
The word is a farming term. The first fruit gathered is only a sample of the crop. The comment below keeps the older reading, "Achaia."
He is "the firstfruits of Achaia" — a little picture, shall we not say, of the Church brought to glory. He is "a kind of firstfruits of His creatures" (James 1:18), just the beginning of the harvest still to be reaped. "Then each one will receive his commendation from God" is a fitting comment here (1 Cor. 4:5).
Behind the whole list of names lies a settled habit of remembering people one by one.
His heart, too, had for nearly all of them a description or a remembered service, which went straight to their heart, and made the remembrance personal and real… The fruits will come later… None of them are forgotten before God.
- House. A church "in their house" means people gathered there to the Lord's name. It does not just mean a Christian family lived there.
- Room. Their tent-making trade gave Aquila and Priscilla a large room. The question it leaves is whether your home could serve the same use.
- Limit. The assembly in one house was not all the believers in Rome; others could meet elsewhere.
- Reading. Commentators here read Asia, not Achaia, since Stephanas' household were the first converts in Achaia.
- Harvest. One first convert, loved and named, is the sample of a much larger harvest. God forgets none of them.
Salute Maria, who laboured much for you.
Paul had never met the church at Rome as a gathered company, yet he closes his most weighty letter with a roll of names. One commentator draws attention to what that says about the man writing:
By grace he had searched into all the purposes of God. God had let him see things that cannot be told to anyone here on earth. Yet he remembered all that these humble Christians — these devoted women — had done for him and for the Lord. This is love. It is the real proof of the power of the Spirit of God. It is the bond of love.
These greetings are not mere politeness. Another writer reads the chapter as an account book of love:
The other circle is the inner one, in the last chapter. Here the apostle is busy drawing up a long list of debts of love. He owed them to his friends and to those who had suffered with him, and he knew he could never repay them... He also admits that he is a debtor to Mary, saying, "Greet Mary, who has worked hard for us."
Commentators differ here, because the Greek manuscripts differ: some read "on us," others "on you." The difference decides whether Mary served Paul personally or served the saints at Rome — and one writer notes that either way Paul is glad:
"Greet Maria" (or Mary; the reading differs), "who worked hard for you." (v. 6.) It is a question whether it should not read "for us." Much as the apostle would have valued work done for himself, his loving heart delighted in her abundant work for them.
Another writer takes the reading as settled, and links her with others who bore the name:
There was Mary, who worked hard for you — that is how we should read it, not "for us." Like others who bore that name, devoted service seems to have been her mark.
Paul does not just say she worked. He says she worked much. One writer treats such small additions as part of the inspired record:
Next we have "the well beloved Epaenetus," and "Mary," who gave not just labour but "much labour" for the apostle. It would not have expressed the mind of the Spirit, or the heart of Christ, to say only that Epaenetus was "beloved," or that Mary had given "labour." No. The two small words "well" and "much" were needed to show the exact place of each.
The Bible tells us nothing more about her. One writer notes her name, then turns her example into a question for the reader:
Maria was not the only Hebrew here, but she is the only one in this chapter with a Hebrew name. She had worked hard among them... His friends Prisca and Aquila may well have brought Paul the news of her work. The question is this: are we known for devoted and tireless work in the cause of Christ?
Her name also points the other way from the work she did:
"Greet Mary, who has worked hard for us." Here we have the blessed truth that God lifts up those who humble themselves (compare Luke 14:11). She had made herself a humble worker, by the love that delights to serve — yet her name means "exalted."
Mary is one of several women singled out in this chapter, and none of the mentions is careless:
Not only the brothers came in for notice. Romans 16 mentions many sisters, and none in a careless or random way. Phebe is a servant of the church at Cenchrea. Priscilla, named before her husband, is a helper... Mary gave much labour. The beloved Persis worked hard in the Lord.
One writer sets this chapter beside another record where every worker is named:
Everyone who worked in this good work is named, one by one, just as in Romans 16 the Lord takes pleasure in recording the faith and work of many people... So some stood out, others were only recorded, but all were recognized. The judgment seat of Christ will show the work of all believers, and some will receive more reward than others.
- Labour. Mary is remembered for one thing: hard work for God's people. That was enough to put her name in Scripture for ever.
- Much. "Much labour," not just "labour" — the extra word marks the exact size of what she gave.
- For whom. The text reads "for us" or "for you." Commentators differ, but Paul valued her work either way.
- Hidden. Nothing else about her is known. She stands among several women honoured here, and God notices none of them in a careless way.
- Recorded. What God records here, He will read out there. The judgment seat will bring every believer's work into the light.
Salute Andronicus and Junias, my kinsmen and fellow-captives, who are of note among the apostles; who were also in Christ before me.
Paul ends a letter full of doctrine with a list of names. Verse 7 gives two of them, and every phrase raises a question: who were Andronicus and Junia, how were they known among the apostles, and what does it mean that they were "in Christ" before Paul?
The greeting is short, but nothing in it is dropped in carelessly.
We see how the apostle delights in noticing every distinctive form of service, relation, or fellowship.
Paul's list reaches far past these two.
The apostle forgot no service done to himself, and none done to the Lord. For nearly all of them he had a word of description or a remembered service. It touched their hearts, and it made his remembrance personal and real… Notice how many here served faithfully, in different ways, in the place where God had put them. They range from those of note among the apostles to Phoebe, the deaconess or servant of the church at Cenchrea, who had helped many. None of them are forgotten before God.
How literally should "fellow prisoners" be taken?
We do not have enough reason to say that Andronicus, Junias and Epaphras were actually bound in a chain, as the apostle was for Christ's sake. Yet it is a strong word: it means a captive, or a prisoner of war.
The family tie is not the highest thing Paul can say about them.
The claims of family are not forgotten. But with Andronicus and Junias, the higher claim to be remembered is that they had suffered with the Apostle as "fellow-prisoners".
The ESV reads "well known to the apostles"; older translations read "of note among the apostles." Commentators differ over the phrase. One writer weighs the options, and starts by asking what "kinsmen" means.
Andronicus and Junias were Paul's kinsmen. We cannot now tell whether this means they were fellow Israelites or even close relatives. They were of note among the apostles. This may mean they stood out among the messengers known in the churches, and that their ministry had something apostolic about it. But this might suggest there were more than twelve. And if Junia is the preferred reading, we might have a female apostle! That is not very likely, not least because Paul speaks of kinsmen. Perhaps it is easier to take the commendation this way: they had come to the special notice of those known as apostles, because they had served the Lord and His people well.
Another writer takes the title in its wider, plainer sense.
Barnabas was an apostle. Junius and Andronicus were of note among the apostles… In truth the word 'apostle,' though it has a fixed sense now, does not properly carry that sense. It simply means one who is sent, a missionary. The original calls the messenger of the Church "your apostle."
The last clause settles more than a date.
Some have claimed that those who are in Christ were always in Christ. That is not correct; they confuse God's purpose with redemption. We are told that we were all "by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind." The apostle seems glad to admit that he knew some who had been brought into this wonderful blessing before he was.
The phrase does not cover everybody.
All mankind is not "in Christ." Born into this world, the offspring of a fallen race, we are all "in Adam." To be "in Christ" means to be saved, to believe in the Lord as Saviour. Christians can look back to the moment in their life when they put their faith in the Lord and passed from death to life.
That these two believed before Paul fits how the church in Rome began.
God in His wisdom ordered that no apostle should plant the gospel in the imperial city. Rome cannot truly claim a church that began through an apostle, as Jerusalem, Philippi, Corinth, Ephesus and many smaller places can. We know that on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was first given, Roman Jews were staying in Jerusalem and heard the gospel there. (Acts 2; compare also Rom. 16:7.)
- Noticed. Paul marks out every kind of service, relation and fellowship. From those of note among the apostles down to Phoebe, none is forgotten.
- Kin. Paul honours the family tie, but he names something higher: these two shared his prison. His word means a war captive.
- Note. Commentators differ over "of note among the apostles." Some read "apostle" in the wider sense of a sent one, or missionary. Others read praise from the recognised apostles.
- Named. The second name reads as either Junia or Junias. That, with Paul's word "kinsmen," is why one writer calls a female apostle here unlikely.
- In Christ. Nobody was always in Christ; the phrase starts at faith. That is why two relatives could enter it before Paul did, and why the gospel was in Rome before he wrote.
Salute Amplias, my beloved in the Lord.
Scripture tells us nothing else about this man — no work, no journey, no famous deed. Only a name, and Paul's love for him. Paul had never known the Christians at Rome as an assembly, yet he stops to have this one man greeted. (Older translations spell the name "Amplias," and the writers quoted below use that spelling.)
His name carries a meaning:
The next name, Amplias, means "enlarged," and Paul calls him "my beloved in the Lord." Surely this stands in contrast to "the day of small things." In glory we shall know even as we are known (1 Cor. 13:12). Brought into a large place, our vision and our service will be enlarged.
We can trace names like his outside the Bible. They belong to the emperor's household in Rome — a huge staff of slaves and freed servants:
There is much proof that "the household of Caesar" included a vast number of people — slaves, former slaves and freemen — who filled every sort of post, from the lowest to the highest. All of them were people in the emperor's service. A burial place on the Appian Way, kept for the ashes of the emperor's freemen and slaves, and other sites like it, all datable with near certainty to about the middle of the first century, give us these names: Amplias, Urbanus, Stachys, Apelles, Tryphoena, Tryphosa, Rufus, Hermes, Hermas, Philologus, Julius, Nereis.
Paul does not just call him beloved. He calls him my beloved. He uses the same phrase of Epaenetus and Stachys, and one writer reads it as a mark of close friendship:
Epaenetus, like Stachys (v. 9), is described as "my beloved," which suggests to me that they were personal friends of Paul. Love between believers goes out to all the saints. But there is still room for close personal friendship, and it takes nothing away from our wider responsibility to all believers.
Paul describes each person in his list a little differently. Those differences are not accidental:
The reader will notice the shades of difference that love marks out. Love is unselfish, so it sees clearly. It promotes love and honour among the saints, and it rises above the unworthy pettiness that runs down what we may not have ourselves, or dislikes others having it.
Paul adds three words: "in the Lord." One writer weighs that phrase against another Paul uses, "in Christ":
There may be a difference between this and being "in Christ." "In Christ" would take us up to our union with Christ in heaven, while "in the Lord" seems to think of us as His slaves here below. But both are in Him… Paul's every thought and word and deed seems to come from Christ. He could truly say, "For to me to live is Christ." So he could speak of love "in the Lord" (Rom. 16:8), boasting "in the Lord" (2 Cor. 10:17), labour "in the Lord" (1 Cor. 15:58), and standing fast "in the Lord" (Phil. 4:1).
Love between believers is a command. But Paul's words about this man point past duty:
Amplias was Paul's "beloved in the Lord." God commands us to love one another — it is our duty — but how wonderful when we show those attractive graces seen in Christ. Then that love flows more freely, and we can express it more fully.
Paul closes this letter by naming ordinary people one by one:
Paul had never known the Roman Christians as an assembly, so he sends many personal greetings. This was the link between them. See how tenderly his heart dwells on every detail of the service that bound him to those who had done it. By grace he had searched into all the counsels of God. He had been allowed to see what could not be made known to man here below. Yet he remembered all that these humble Christians — these devoted women — had done for him and for the Lord. This is love. It is the real proof of the power of the Spirit of God. It is the bond that love makes.
- Named. This one line is all we know of Amplias. His name means "enlarged," and the same name appears on burial stones of the emperor's slaves and freed servants in Rome.
- Loved. Paul says "my beloved," not just "beloved." Close friendship takes nothing away from the love we owe every believer.
- Grounded. The tie is "in the Lord." Paul uses that phrase across his letters for those who serve Christ here below.
- Discerning. Unselfish love sees clearly. It gives each person his own honour, and it never resents what others have.
- Recorded. Paul had searched into the deepest counsels of God, yet he remembered humble people by name. That is the proof of the Spirit's power.
Salute Urbanus, our fellow-workman in Christ, and Stachys, my beloved.
Two believers in Rome get a line each here, in a letter to a church Paul had never visited. One is marked by his work, the other by affection — and the difference is deliberate.
Urbanus is not described by rank or gift but by the work he shared. One writer draws out that the work was the same work, done in a different place from Paul's.
Urbanus was a fellow-workman in Christ. As Paul served the Lord elsewhere, so Urbanus served the same Lord in the city of Rome. Stachys was also in Paul's memory, and again he writes "my beloved." It shows the apostle's delight in those who were faithful to the present truth of Christianity, and who went on in the freshness of first love to Christ.
The words "in Christ" run through this letter, and they turn up again in these greetings. (The writer quotes an older translation, which has "helpers in Christ" where the ESV has "fellow worker.")
At the end of Romans 8 we learn of "the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Nothing can separate us from it... Then, in chapter 16, those who help in the service of Christ are spoken of as "helpers in Christ" (Rom. 16:3, 9); those who were Christians before Paul "were in Christ before me" (Rom. 16:7), and a faithful Christian was viewed as "approved in Christ" (Rom. 16:10).
Neither title is a formality. Paul weighed both, and did not give them to everyone he knew.
In Philemon 24 Paul gives Luke the honourable title of "fellow-labourer." We call it honourable, considering who Paul was, but others share it too (Rom. 16:3, 9, 21; Phil. 2:25; 4:3; Col. 4:11)... Of the saints in Rome, Epaenetus, Ampliatus, Stachys and Persis are called "beloved." Aquila and Priscilla are not, though he knew them well and valued them much... Clearly, then, the term "beloved" was applied to individuals with discrimination.
The greetings are not all alike, and one writer says love itself draws the distinctions.
Notice the shades of difference that love marks out. Because love is unselfish, it can see clearly, and it promotes love and honour among the saints. It rises above mean pettiness. That pettiness runs down what we lack ourselves, or what we would rather others did not have.
Stachys is called "my beloved," and nothing else is added. One writer finds meaning in what is left out: the name of the Lord.
Epaenetus and Stachys are called "beloved," and the name of the Lord is not added. This seems to show that they were personal friends of the apostle. Brotherly love takes in all saints. But inside that limit there is room for close personal friendship, and it does no harm to the wider love that holds it.
The greetings were public, and the writer sees a purpose in that.
It is most interesting to notice how hard he works — and he is speaking in the Spirit — to turn the hearts of the various saints towards each other. It shows a precious trait of Christ in the apostle. Some of them were to be greeted publicly, people whose names and worth had perhaps been little known before. The aim was fuller communion: knitting the saints he wrote to more closely together in love. Nothing is more easily upset than Christian fellowship.
Paul was still a stranger at Rome, yet nearly every name here comes with something remembered.
His heart, though still a stranger at Rome, is at home with many there. No forgetting of service done to himself, nor of service done to the Lord, marked the apostle's spirit. For nearly all he had a description or a remembered service. It went to their heart and made the remembrance real and personal... None of them are forgotten.
Paul's memory is not the last word. Another writer points to a day when the whole record will be brought out.
We know little about all these names. But their records are on high. At the judgment seat of Christ, they and their abundant labours and sufferings will be brought to light.
- Same Lord. Urbanus worked in Rome while Paul worked elsewhere. Both served the same Lord, and both are named "in Christ."
- Weighed words. "Fellow-labourer" is an honourable title. Paul used "beloved" with care, and held it back even from friends he valued much.
- Two kinds of tie. Work links Urbanus to Paul; personal closeness links Stachys. Brotherly love takes in all saints, and still leaves room for particular friendships.
- Read aloud on purpose. Paul greeted people publicly whose worth was little known. That drew hearts together, and nothing is upset more easily than Christian fellowship.
- Nothing lost. We know little about these names. Their record is on high, and the judgment seat of Christ will bring their labours to light.
Salute Apelles, approved in Christ. Salute those who belong to Aristobulus.
This verse holds two greetings. Paul names one man and gives him a title. He greets a second group only by the household they belonged to, and never names its head. Why does a letter to the capital of the empire end with names like these?
The word attached to Apelles is not a compliment about personality. It points back to something he came through, and the city he lived in supplies the likely reason.
Apelles is said to be a proved one in Christ. Had this brother undergone some spiritual testing? There was much hostility to the faith of the Christians in Rome, the centre of adulation for the Emperor. Theirs was the sect everywhere spoken against.
The opposite of the word shows its force. Paul feared that negative form for himself in his own service.
Paul kept his body under control, so that, though he had preached to others, he himself should not be a castaway (1 Cor. 9:27). The same word is translated "reprobate" in Rom. 1:28; 2 Cor. 13:5-7; 2 Tim. 3:8; Titus 1:16, and "rejected" in Heb. 6:8. It is the negative form of "approved," Rom. 16:10.
Paul's greetings are not a flat list of polite words. He weighs each person and greets each one differently.
Still we find love, but it is discriminating as well as sincere. The one who had stood trial for Christ is mentioned with honour; but Paul's kinsman is not forgotten.
Some have wanted to make Apelles a more famous figure. Kelly notes the guess and rejects it: Origen suggested he might be Apollos, "without the smallest reason except the similarity of the name and the distinction attached to it."
The second half of the verse greets a whole group by the name of the man whose house they belonged to. They even had a name of their own — the aristobuli. Paul does not greet Aristobulus himself.
The aristobuli were, it seems, members of the household of Aristobulus. Presumably he had either died or was not then living in Rome, but some of his family or some from his household continued to walk in the truth. A large number of people may have made up such a household, with only these few marked by Christian faith.
Commentators read these household greetings in different ways. Another writer compares the phrase with similar wording elsewhere. He draws a warmer conclusion.
"The Household of Aristobulus" in Romans 16:10, and "The House of Chloe" in 1 Cor. 1:11, are similar in wording to that of the household of Narcissus. They are two more witnesses to a blessed fact. In those early days the heads of the households brought their households with them to follow the Lord.
These names also turn up outside the Bible. They appear on burial inscriptions of slaves and free men in the emperor's service.
A burial place on the Appian Way was kept for the ashes of free men and slaves in the emperor's service. That place and others like it can be dated with practical certainty to about the middle of the first century. They yield the following names: Amplias, Urbanus, Stachys, Apelles, Tryphoena, Tryphosa, Rufus, Hermes, Hermas, Philologus, Julius, Nereis.
A letter full of the counsels of God ends with a list of ordinary names. That is not a fall from the heights.
We see how tenderly his heart dwells on every detail of the service that bound him to those who gave it. By grace he had searched into all the counsels of God. He had been allowed to see what could not be made known to man here below. And he remembered all that these humble Christians — these devoted women — had done for him and for the Lord. This is love; it is the real proof of the power of the Spirit of God.
- Tested. "Approved" means proved — Apelles had likely been through real testing in a city hostile to the faith.
- Not rejected. The same word with a negative prefix gives "castaway" and "reprobate." To be approved is to come through the test and not be cast away.
- Honoured. Paul's love is discriminating as well as sincere. He names with honour the one who stood trial for Christ, and forgets no one else.
- Household. Paul greets only part of Aristobulus's large household. Writers differ: had Aristobulus died or moved away, or had heads of houses brought their people with them to the Lord?
- Remembered. The man who had searched into the counsels of God ends his letter recalling what humble Christians did for him. That love is the real proof of the Spirit's power.
Salute Herodion, my kinsman. Salute those who belong to Narcissus, who are in [the] Lord.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
Salute Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who labour in [the] Lord. Salute Persis, the beloved, who has laboured much in [the] Lord.
Near the end of his letter to Rome, Paul greets a long list of people. Among them are three women named only by their work, and one small change of wording sets the third apart from the first two.
Paul does not put the three on the same level. One writer draws out the difference.
Look at the delicate touch in verse 12. See how finely he tells them apart! Why does he not group all three together? The reason is plain: two had only laboured, while the third had laboured much. Each one gets his and her place, according to what they were, and according to what they had done.
The two verbs are not the same. Two of the women are still working; Persis has her work behind her.
Three women are mentioned with honour: Tryphaena, Tryphosa, and Persis. The first two are still at work in Christian service. Persis is mentioned as if her day of active service had ended, for a time or for ever. "Who labour" is said of the first two; "who laboured," of the last. We are in danger of letting those who are set aside from active service slip out of our memory. Not so the apostle. He did not forget Persis, but reminded them that she had laboured much in the Lord.
That leads straight to a question about who we pray for.
There is a real danger that we only think about and pray for those serving the Lord now. Service done for the Lord, out of love to Him and according to His will, has lasting value. Think of the older believers: some bedridden, some housebound, counted as nothing in this world. They may well have laboured much harder than you or I have, and they still carry on the vital work of prayer for God's people.
The same phrase, "in the Lord," is used of all three. Other passages show how wide that work can be, and that God does not forget it.
"Your work of faith and labour of love" are remembered along with "the patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of God and our Father" (1 Thess. 1:3). "God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love that you have shown toward His Name, in that you have ministered to the saints and still do" (Heb. 6:10). Labour in the Lord truly has many areas for its activity.
Paul calls Persis "the beloved," and adds a word about her work that he adds to no one else here. One writer sets this beside the record of the men who rebuilt Jerusalem's wall.
Thus by adding two words in his greeting to Persis, he gives her a special place before God, as well as in his affections and the affections of the saints, and a higher commendation. So in the record of the wall we read, "After him Baruch the son of Zabbai earnestly repaired the other piece" (v. 20). It tells us how closely God looks at His people. He notes with care the state of their hearts and the character of their service. He welcomes every display of devotion to His glory. Such commendations come from God, not from man, so they cannot be wrong. On one hand they look forward to the judgment seat of Christ. On the other, they should stir us all up to seek the same zeal and tireless diligence in the Lord's service.
The verse honours three women for their work. That raises a question about how much room there is for such service.
This scripture gives us not necessarily what man saw, but what God saw… The examples already given are enough to teach that there is plenty of room in the church of God, and also in the world, for women's fullest energy and devotion to Christ, as long as it is shown in subjection to Him and to His word.
- Labour — Paul names these three by their work alone. That is how the verse honours them.
- In the Lord — that is what gives the work its worth. It covers many kinds of service, not a narrow few.
- Much — one added word sets Persis apart. God notes not only that we serve Him, but how much.
- Remembered — the change from "labour" to "laboured" shows Persis set aside, yet still named. Those who can no longer serve must not slip from our memory or our prayers.
- Commended — these verdicts come from God, not from man, so they are exact. They point on to the judgment seat of Christ, and should stir the same diligence in us.
Salute Rufus, chosen in [the] Lord; and his mother and mine.
This line comes in a list of greetings, and it names a man Paul had probably never met and a woman he never names. Two phrases carry the weight: the title given to Rufus, and the claim Paul makes on his mother.
Mark records that the man forced to carry the cross of Jesus was "the father of Alexander and Rufus." Commentators link that Rufus with the one greeted here, and read the connection as God's reply to a service that was compelled rather than chosen.
God had not forgotten Simon of Cyrene, who was passing by. As he came in from the field, the crowd of soldiers and others forced him to carry the cross, while they led Jesus out to be crucified. The Lord repaid the burden of that day with interest. Compare Mark 15:21. Rufus stands before us here as chosen in the Lord, and his mother had been a mother to the apostle. Salvation came to that house.
One writer works out what that link would have meant for the Christians in Rome.
This Rufus was presumably the son of Simon, who carried the cross for the Lord Jesus (Mark 15:21). If so, the Romans had among them one who could confirm the facts of the crucifixion on his own father's authority. That father, I assume, had by now fallen asleep in Jesus. What a day that had been. It seems to have resulted in the conversion of three in the household.
Every believer greeted in the chapter was chosen, so the title raises a question: why single out Rufus? Commentators differ, and none claims certainty. One suggestion is pastoral — the words were aimed at a struggling conscience.
Rufus is greeted as "chosen in the Lord" (verse 13). So were they all. I would suppose that this form of address met some doubt or difficulty in his mind about election. I see nothing improbable in this. Certainly such a greeting would do much to strengthen the faith of a tested soul. Satan may have been attacking and darkening his mind on this point.
Another writer lists the possibilities without settling them, then turns to the reader.
By sovereign grace Rufus could be counted among the elect. Are we to assume that his brother was not converted? Or was Rufus chosen for some distinctive but now unknown role? The readers, or rather the hearers, of the letter would know what the reference meant. God speaks personally to the readers of His Word. May our ears be open to His voice speaking personally to us today.
Paul had no family home of his own. Another household took him in, and the mother's service there was ordinary and daily.
His mother was as a mother to Paul in her care for the apostle. How he had valued such care in the home. Paul's own mother and father were presumably not converted. But here was a family who took in the lonely Paul and made him a member of their own family circle. How many of the Lord's servants have left everything, including the opportunity of marriage, for His name's sake! There is a service to be given to such people. We should not neglect them. The unnamed mother of Rufus served in this way, in unpretentious domestic chores and routine.
Such care has a recognised place among God's people.
There are also "mothers" in the church. They have the Lord's interests at heart in the welfare of the saints. Paul called the mother of Rufus his own mother also.
Paul does not greet the group with one blanket phrase. Every believer in the list receives a description fitted to them alone.
The apostle shows a wonderful discrimination in his greetings. This one is a relative, that one a helper, another is chosen in the Lord. Again, these are beloved, that one is well-beloved, and these are of note among the apostles. Some have laboured and others have laboured much. In the largeness of his spiritual affections he had a definite link with each one.
These greetings are not just Paul's own praise. They point forward to the day when the Lord Himself weighs His people's service.
It tells us how closely, if we may say so, God surveys His people. He notes the state of their hearts and the character of their service. And He welcomes every display of devotedness to His glory. These commendations come from God, not from man, so they cannot be mistaken. On one hand they look ahead to the judgment seat of Christ. On the other, they should stir us all up to seek the same zeal and tireless diligence in the Lord's service.
- Cross. Soldiers forced Simon to carry the cross of Jesus. God repaid that burden with interest, and his son now stands in this letter as "chosen in the Lord."
- Chosen. The title was true of every believer in the list. Commentators differ on why Rufus alone receives it: a doubt to settle, or a role now unknown.
- Household. Salvation came to that whole house — father, son, and the mother whose care reached Paul himself.
- Mother. She gave a lonely servant of Christ a home and daily care. That service earns her the name "mothers in the church."
- Record. God surveys His people in detail, name by name. That points ahead to the judgment seat, and gives a reason to serve now.
Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brethren with them.
Romans 16 closes with a long list of greetings, and five of the names here come with no description at all — no service, no title, no story. Why does Paul end his greatest letter by greeting people we know nothing else about?
One writer notes the silence over these names, and also corrects a long-standing case of mistaken identity:
These Christians' names follow with no further comment. One of them is the man many have credited with the allegory called the "Shepherd," which was read in the assemblies of the third and fourth centuries. But Origen and Eusebius are wrong to identify him in this way. Hermas the author wrote about a century after the Epistle to the Romans, and his brother Pius was bishop of Rome at that time.
The silence about their work does not mean there was none:
Paul refers next to Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the brothers with them. No particular service is named here. Still, we may conclude that a company of brothers worked together in some unknown way for the good of the assembly.
The added phrase points beyond the five to a wider circle around them. One writer sees a hint here that believers in Rome met in more than one place:
Paul names several brothers and sends them greetings, and he greets the brothers with them too. This may show that several companies of saints met in different parts of the city.
Different houses did not mean different churches. The way Paul greets them also raises a question about who led them:
Down to verse 16 we find various companies of saints, who appear to belong to different houses, all forming the one assembly of God in Rome. See verses 14 and 15: "and the brothers who are with them"; or, "all the saints who are with them." Some men then took oversight of these several companies of brothers, or saints. Other early letters call such men elders, or overseers. But why does Paul address no Bishop of Rome? Simply and clearly because there was no such person.
The name Hermas attracted centuries of guesswork because of a well-known early writing:
A Christian to whom Paul sent greetings in his letter to the Romans. Rom. 16:14. Some have judged him to be one of the Apostolic Fathers, and the writer of a treatise called "THE SHEPHERD OF HERMAS," which was highly esteemed in the early church. It is a sort of allegory, and has been compared to Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. Parts of it are very trivial, and some scarcely decent.
Paul had not yet reached Rome, which makes this personal list of names striking:
Paul had never known the Roman Christians as an assembly, so he sends many personal greetings. This was the link between them. We see how his heart dwells with tenderness on every detail of service that tied him to those who had served him. By grace he had searched into all the counsels of God. He had been allowed to see what could not be told to anyone here below. Yet he remembered everything these humble Christians — these devoted women — had done for him and for the Lord. This is love. It is the real proof of the power of the Spirit of God. It is the bond of love.
That same love leaves no room for jealousy:
Love shines in all these greetings, though it is a discerning love. The Apostle was greatly gifted, yet his heart was large, and he delights to recognise others in the service of the Lord. In the Apostle there was no unworthy pettiness that grows jealous and lifts up self by belittling others.
Being listed with nothing said about you is not a rebuke. It is an invitation to think about what will be said later:
But what can we say of "Quartus, a brother"? Can we say nothing in his favour, except that he is a brother? It seems not. Let these thoughts stir us all to serve the Lord. Then, when the Judgment Seat of Christ comes and the Lord examines all our lives, we may earn the blessing: "Well done, good and faithful servant" (Matt. 25:23).
Commentators differ on how far to press these names. One writer treats each group in the chapter as a picture, and starts here with the meaning of the first name:
Asyncritus stands first, as well he might, for his name means "incomparable." … Then indeed will their eyes behold with rapture the incomparable glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Named — Five men appear with no service named, yet Scripture keeps their names.
- Grouped — "The brothers with them" widens the greeting to a whole company. Several such companies may have met in different parts of Rome.
- United — Those companies formed the one assembly of God in the city. Paul greets no Bishop of Rome, because there was none.
- Loved — Paul had never known these Christians as an assembly, yet he remembered each one. Such love proves the power of the Spirit of God.
- Rewarded — Service no one records now still meets the Lord at His Judgment Seat. Live for the "Well done."
Salute Philologus, and Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints with them.
Paul's greetings end here with five names and a wider phrase that covers people he never names. We know nothing else about any of them. So why does Scripture keep them?
These believers appear once and never again. One writer treats them as a unit and suggests why they belong together:
Next come Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and the saints who are with them. They may have been co-workers. Or perhaps they represented a company meeting as an assembly in a suburb of Rome. Still, they were members of the one assembly of God in that city. By including them here we see that they too were counted worthy as having served Christ and the saints.
The closing phrase points past these names to a wider group. One writer finds in verses 14 and 15 separate gatherings in different houses across the city, all belonging together:
Up to verse 16 we have various companies of saints, which appear to belong to different houses, all forming the one assembly of God in Rome. There were those then who took oversight of these several companies of brothers, or saints. Other early letters call such men elders, or overseers. But why is no Bishop of Rome addressed? Simply and clearly because there was no such person.
The same writer lists what was missing from that church, and what was there:
No pope or bishop of Rome, no cardinals, no clergy, no monks or nuns; not a single priest performing mass; no grand buildings called churches. But we would find different gatherings of saints by calling. They knew their sins were forgiven. They were justified from all things, at peace with God, and able to instruct one another. All these assemblies, in certain houses or places, were under the care of the Holy Spirit. Labouring brothers are named in each company. They were all members of the one body of Christ.
Nereus carried the name of a pagan sea-god, and Paul greets him without asking him to change it. One writer draws the same lesson from Epaphroditus:
The name of this devoted servant of the Lord is said to come from Aphrodite, or, in Latin, Venus, the goddess of love. That may surprise some. But the remarkable thing is that Epaphroditus did not change his name, and we have no suggestion that Paul thought he should. We have other examples in the Scriptures, such as Phoebe (Rom. 16:1), whose name comes from the sun-god, and Nereus (Rom. 16:15), from an ancient sea-god who was to rule the Mediterranean Sea; but again, there is no suggestion that they should find other names.
The names of Nereus and Olympas both belonged to Greek gods. One writer treats that as a picture of God's wider dealings, offered as a suggestion and not a settled point:
No one has established the meaning of his name with any certainty. However, this was the name of the Greek god of games. That stirs interest when it comes right after Nereus, a sea-god. So if we see in Nereus the conversion of the world's treasures, does Olympas perhaps teach us that there will also be a change in its pleasures? At any rate, this surely points to the triumph of the Lord Jesus over the pagan gods.
One writer explains what lies behind such a long list of names:
Paul had never known the Roman Christians as an assembly, so he sends many personal greetings. This was the link between them. See how tenderly his heart dwells on every detail of service that bound him to those who did it. By grace he had searched into all the counsels of God. God had allowed him to see things that could not be told to man here below. Yet he remembered all that these humble Christians — these devoted women — had done for him and for the Lord. This is love; it is the real proof of the power of the Spirit of God; it is the bond of love.
And what Paul remembered, the Spirit wrote down:
The Holy Spirit observes the smallest details of the service of the saints. He delights to set down touching features of individual believers. Every name carries the memory of some service done in a humble, unshowy way. He notes not great and eloquent preaching, but quiet deeds of loving service. Notice too how many of the greetings go to women.
- Noticed. The Holy Spirit records quiet service, not just great preaching. Every name here carries the memory of something done for Christ.
- Named. These five appear nowhere else in Scripture. Yet they were counted worthy as having served Christ and the saints.
- Unnamed. "All the saints who are with them" sweeps in a whole company with no names given. Unnamed to us is not unnoticed by God.
- Gathered. Verses 14 and 15 point to several companies meeting in different houses. Together they formed the one assembly of God in Rome, with overseers — but no bishop of Rome.
- Kept. Nereus bore the name of a pagan sea-god, and Paul never asks him to change it. Scripture gives no hint that a new life needs a new name.
Salute one another with a holy kiss. All the assemblies of Christ salute you.
Paul has just run through a long list of names. Now he turns to what the believers in Rome are to do for each other, and he passes on a greeting from every assembly he represents. Two questions follow. What love does he command? And why do whole churches send greetings to people most of them had never met?
Paul tells the believers in Rome to show their love, not just feel it. The greeting he passes on comes from the One who wrote through him.
The Roman saints were told to show mutual love in the Lord. The apostle sends greeting from all the assemblies of Christ. Who knew their minds and hearts better? He who worked and wrote through Paul. In His grace He would keep the saints in the exchange of true and warm but holy affection.
Christians did not invent the kiss. It was how relatives greeted each other. The church took it up and gave it a new character.
The church adopted this common way of greeting among relatives, and that adoption makes it holy. Five of the Epistles close with the exhortation to greet one another with a holy kiss, or kiss of love. Rom. 16:16; 1 Cor. 16:20; 2 Cor. 13:12; 1 Thess. 5:26; 1 Peter 5:14.
One word is added to an everyday act. It rules out pretence, and it rules out anything impure.
(v. 16). Paul urges everyone to show love to one another by greeting "with a holy kiss". Christians can use the ordinary customs of the country for showing affection, but in their case it must be genuine and "holy".
Paul and Peter gave the same charge to believers of very different backgrounds. They had the same reason for it.
It was fitting in this world of selfishness and sin for the apostle Paul to invite the saints in Rome, Corinth, and Thessalonica to greet one another with a holy kiss. It was no less fitting that Peter should tell the Christian Jews, scattered in lands given over to dark paganism, to greet one another with a kiss of love. The affections easily grow cold as the world's spirit takes hold. Jews needed the reminder as well as Greeks and Romans.
Commentators differ on how far the gesture itself carries across cultures. Some treat it as a fitting Christian action still; others hold that the outward form belongs to its setting while the affection behind it does not.
As to the open expression of their brotherly affection, it may be said that holiness and love are things of God. But the actions which show them may vary with the habits and social customs of people.
Where the custom itself has died out, the affection still needs an outlet.
In western nations, of course, this is little accepted. Yet let us encourage every true expression of holy affection in the Lord between saints.
The second half of the verse says whose these local companies are. Where the ESV says "churches", some writers keep the older word "assemblies".
The apostle Paul indeed describes local assemblies as belonging to Christ. (Rom. 16:16.) This is true of all of them. Further, the same apostle describes the assemblies which were in Judea as in Christ. (Gal. 1:22.)
The plural wording is worth weighing. One phrase appears in Scripture; a similar one never does.
Moreover, "the church of Christ" is a phrase never found in the New Testament. It stands neither for a single local assembly nor for the church as a whole. In these senses it is always "the church of God." We do meet the expression "the churches of Christ," and strikingly enough in the Epistle to the Romans (Rom. 16:16).
The verse joins two things: love between believers, and the fellowship of whole churches.
Here is warm personal fellowship with fitting holiness on the one hand, and full corporate fellowship on the other. How important to maintain both of these according to truth and holiness. We must not neglect the first as though the second included it. Nor must we dare to sacrifice the second under the excuse of maintaining the first.
- Greet — Paul does not ask for love that stays inside. He commands an outward act of welcome.
- Custom — the kiss was an everyday family greeting. The church took it up; it did not invent it.
- Holy — one word makes the Christian difference. Keep the ordinary form, but let the love be genuine and pure.
- Cold — Rome, Corinth, Thessalonica and scattered Jewish believers all got the same charge. Affection fades wherever the world's spirit spreads.
- Wider — the greeting does not stop in one room. Whole churches, belonging to Christ, send their love. Personal warmth and fellowship between churches stand or fall together.