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.