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.