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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0;"/><title>Romans 16 Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</title><link rel="canonical" href="https://biblehub.com/commentaries/expositors/romans/16.htm" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001com.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-LR4HSKRP2H"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-LR4HSKRP2H'); </script><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/romans/16.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="//biblehu.com/bmcom/romans/16-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="/commentaries/">Commentary</a> > <a href="../">Ellicott</a> > <a href="../romans/">Romans</a></div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../romans/15.htm" title="Romans 15">◄</a> Romans 16 <a href="../1_corinthians/1.htm" title="1 Corinthians 1">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</div><div class="chap"><span class= "bld">XVI.</span><p>It has been observed as strange that of all the Epistles of St. Paul, this to the Romans and that to Colossians, contain the greatest number of personal salutations, though these were precisely the two churches that he had never seen up to the date of his writing. A few critics, headed by Baur, have used this as an argument against the genuineness of the portion of the Epistles in question. But reasoning like this may safely be dismissed, as these very portions are just those which it would be most senseless and aimless to forge, even if it were possible on other grounds to think of them as a forgery.<p>On the other hand, there is some truth in the suggestion that the Apostle might think it invidious to single out individuals for special mention in the churches where he was known, while he would have no hesitation in naming those with whom he happened to be personally acquainted in churches where he was not known.<p>Besides this, it should be remembered that the Christians at Rome had been recently in a state of dispersion. All Jews by birth had been expelled from Rome by Claudius. It was this fact which had brought Aquila and Priscilla to Corinth and Ephesus, where St. Paul fell in with them, and he would naturally meet with other members of the dispersed church in the same way.<p>We are apt to underrate the amount of rapid circulation which went on in these early Christian communities. We know from Pagan writers that there was a great tendency all along the shores of the Mediterranean to gravitate towards Rome, and the population thus formed would naturally be a shifting and changing one, loosely attached to their temporary dwelling-place, and with many ties elsewhere. It will be noticed how many of the persons mentioned in the list had some prior connection with St. Paul, quite apart from their relation to the church at Rome. Andronicus, Junias, and Herodion, are described as his “kinsmen.” Aquila and Priscilla, and we may add, almost with certainty, Epænetus, he had met in Asia. Of Amplias, Urban, Stachys, Persis, and Rufus, he speaks as if with personal knowledge. If the Received reading were correct (“us” for “you”), Mary would have to be added to this list, and possibly also Apelles.<p>Analysing these lists of names from another point of view, two further general conclusions appear to be borne out. (1) The church at Rome did not consist to any great extent of native Romans. The only strictly Latin names are Amplias (for Ampliatus), and Urbanus. Julia, in <a href="/romans/16-15.htm" title="Salute Philologus, and Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints which are with them.">Romans 16:15</a>, merely marks a dependant upon the court. Aquila and Priscilla, Andronicus and Junia (or Junias), Herodion, and probably Rufus, appear to be Jews. The name Apelles, though not confined to Jews, was proverbially common among them. Aristobulus may be the Herodian prince of that name; in which case his household would be likely to be in great part Jews. The rest of the names are Greek. And this would tally with the fact that from the first there seems to have been a large Greek element in the church at Rome, so much so, that out of the twelve first bishops, only three seem to have borne Roman names, while the literature of the church, until some way into the third century, was Greek. (2) The names seem to belong in the main to the middle and lower classes of society. Many are such as are usually assigned to slaves or freed-men. Some are especially frequent in inscriptions relating to the imperial household; and this, taken in connection with the mention of “Cæsar’s household” in <a href="/philippians/4-22.htm" title="All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar's household.">Philippians 4:22</a>, may lead to the inference that Christianity had at this early date established itself in the palace of the emperor, though only among the lower order of servants.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/romans/16-1.htm">Romans 16:1</a></div><div class="verse">I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea:</div>(1) <span class= "bld">Phebe.</span>—As the Roman Church is especially exhorted to receive Phebe, it has been inferred that she was one of the party to which St. Paul entrusted his Epistle, if not the actual bearer of it herself.<p><span class= "bld">Our sister</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> in a spiritual sense—a fellow-Christian.<p><span class= "bld">Servant.</span>—Rather, <span class= "ital">a deaconess,</span> keeping the technical term. Deacons were originally appointed to attend to the wants of the poorer members of the Church. This is the first mention of women-deacons, in regard to whom instructions are given to Timothy (<a href="/1_timothy/3-11.htm" title="Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.">1Timothy 3:11</a>). The necessity for an order of deaconesses would gradually make itself felt where women were kept in a stricter seclusion, as in Greece and some parts of the East.<p><span class= "bld">Cenchrea.</span>—The port of Corinth, at the head of the Eastern or Saronic Gulf, about nine miles from the city.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/romans/16-2.htm">Romans 16:2</a></div><div class="verse">That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also.</div>(2) <span class= "bld">In the Lord.</span>—With the consciousness that you are performing a Christian act, subject to all those serious obligations implied in the name.<p><span class= "bld">As becometh saints.</span>—As Christians ought to receive a fellow-Christian.<p><span class= "bld">Succourer.</span>—Patroness or protectress, in the exercise of her office as deaconess.<p><span class= "bld">Of myself also.</span>—Perhaps in illness.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/romans/16-3.htm">Romans 16:3</a></div><div class="verse">Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus:</div>(3) <span class= "bld">Priscilla.</span>—The correct reading here is Prisca, of which form Priscilla is the diminutive. It is rather remarkable that the wife should be mentioned first. Perhaps it may be inferred that she was the more active and conspicuous of the two.<p>Aquila was a Jew of Pontus, whom St. Paul had found with his wife at Corinth (<a href="/acts/18-1.htm" title="After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth;">Acts 18:1</a>). They had there been converted by him, and afterwards appear in his company at Ephesus (<a href="/acts/18-18.htm" title="And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brothers, and sailed there into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow.">Acts 18:18</a>; <a href="/acts/18-26.htm" title="And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him to them, and expounded to him the way of God more perfectly.">Acts 18:26</a>; <a href="/1_corinthians/16-19.htm" title="The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.">1Corinthians 16:19</a>). At the time when this Epistle was written they were at Rome, but later they seem to have returned to Ephesus (<a href="/2_timothy/4-19.htm" title="Salute Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus.">2Timothy 4:19</a>).<p>The Jew Aquila, who rather more than a century later made a translation of the Old Testament, critically compared with the LXX. in the <span class= "ital">Hexapla</span> of Origen, also came from Pontus.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/romans/16-4.htm">Romans 16:4</a></div><div class="verse">Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.</div>(4) <span class= "bld">Laid down their own necks.</span>—Whether this expression is to be taken literally or figuratively we do not know, neither can we do more than guess at the event to which it refers. It may have something to do with the tumult at Ephesus, and with that “fighting with beasts” mentioned in <a href="/1_corinthians/15-32.htm" title="If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantages it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.">1Corinthians 15:32</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/romans/16-5.htm">Romans 16:5</a></div><div class="verse">Likewise <i>greet</i> the church that is in their house. Salute my wellbeloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ.</div>(5) <span class= "bld">The church that is in their house.</span>—A party of Christians seem to have been in the habit of meeting in the house of Aquila and Priscilla for purposes of worship at Rome, as previously at Ephesus (<a href="/1_corinthians/16-19.htm" title="The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.">1Corinthians 16:19</a>). Similar instances may be found in <a href="/acts/12-12.htm" title="And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying.">Acts 12:12</a>; <a href="/colossians/4-15.htm" title=" Salute the brothers which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house.">Colossians 4:15</a>; <a href="/philemon/1-2.htm" title="And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house:">Philemon 1:2</a>.<p><span class= "bld">Salute.</span>—The same word in the Greek is translated indifferently by “salute” and “greet,” an unnecessary caprice.<p><span class= "bld">Firstfruits of Achaia.</span>—For “Achaia” we ought certainly to read “Asia”<span class= "ital">—i.e.,</span> the Roman province of Asia, a broad strip of territory including the whole western end of the peninsula of Asia Minor, from the Propontis in the north, to Lycia in the south. Ephesus was the capital, and the seven “churches in Asia” to which St. John wrote in the Apocalypse—Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea—were the most central and important of its cities.<p>By “firstfruits of Asia” is meant one of the first converts won over to Christianity in Asia. (Comp. “firstfruits of Achaia,” in <a href="/1_corinthians/16-15.htm" title="I beseech you, brothers, (you know the house of Stephanas, that it is the first fruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints,)">1Corinthians 16:15</a>, through the parallelism of which the text of our own passage became corrupted.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/romans/16-6.htm">Romans 16:6</a></div><div class="verse">Greet Mary, who bestowed much labour on us.</div>(6) <span class= "bld">On us.</span>—The true reading seems to be, <span class= "ital">on you.</span> The readers would know to what the Apostle referred. It is useless for us to attempt to conjecture.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/romans/16-7.htm">Romans 16:7</a></div><div class="verse">Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellowprisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.</div>(7) <span class= "bld">Junia.</span>—Or, possibly, “Junias” (for Junianus), a man’s name.<p><span class= "bld">My kinsmen.</span>—From the number of persons (six in all, and those not only in Rome but also in Greece and Macedonia) to whom the title is given in this chapter, it would seem as if the word “kinsmen” was to be taken in a wider sense than that which it usually bears. It probably means members of the same nation—Jew like myself.<p><span class= "bld">Fellow-prisoners.</span>—It is not at all known to what this refers. The only imprisonment of St. Paul recorded in the Acts after this date would be that at Philippi, but allusions such as those in <a href="/2_corinthians/6-5.htm" title="In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings;">2Corinthians 6:5</a>; <a href="/2_corinthians/11-23.htm" title="Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.">2Corinthians 11:23</a>, at once show the defectiveness of the narrative, and point to occasions when the persons mentioned might easily have shared imprisonment with him.<p><span class= "bld">Of note among the apostles.</span>—An ambiguous expression, which <span class= "ital">might</span> mean, and, judging by the word alone, would perhaps more naturally be taken to mean, “distinguished <span class= "ital">as</span> Apostles themselves.” This sense is not to be disregarded as absolutely impossible, for the title “Apostles” does not appear to have been limited to the Twelve. It is decidedly more probable that James, the Lord’s brother, who is called an Apostle in <a href="/galatians/1-19.htm" title="But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother.">Galatians 1:19</a>, and elsewhere, was not identical with James the son of Alphæus. And, however this may be, there can be no question about Barnabas, who is called an Apostle in <a href="/acts/14-14.htm" title="Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out,">Acts 14:14</a>. St. Paul himself seems to draw a distinction between “the Twelve” and “all the Apostles,” in <a href="/1_corinthians/15-7.htm" title="After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.">1Corinthians 15:7</a>. Still, on the whole, it seems best to suppose that the phrase “of note among the Apostles” means, “highly esteemed by the apostolic circle.”<p><span class= "bld">Were in Christ. . . .</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> became Christians.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/romans/16-8.htm">Romans 16:8</a></div><div class="verse">Greet Amplias my beloved in the Lord.</div>(8) <span class= "bld">Amplias.</span>—The three oldest MSS. have “Ampliatus,” for which “Amplias” would be in any case a contracted form. The name is a common one, in several instances found in connection with the imperial household.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/romans/16-9.htm">Romans 16:9</a></div><div class="verse">Salute Urbane, our helper in Christ, and Stachys my beloved.</div>(9) <span class= "bld">Urbane.</span>—Urbanus, or Urban; the final “e” should not be sounded. Like Ampliatus, a common name found among members of the household.<p><span class= "bld">Our helper in Christ.</span>—The “helper,” that is, both of St. Paul and of the Roman Church by her efforts in spreading the gospel.<p><span class= "bld">Stachys.</span>—A rarer name than the last two; it appears as that of a court physician in the inscriptions of about the date of this Epistle.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/romans/16-10.htm">Romans 16:10</a></div><div class="verse">Salute Apelles approved in Christ. Salute them which are of Aristobulus' <i>household</i>.</div>(10) <span class= "bld">Apelles.</span>—This name is also found among the dependents of the emperor. Horace, in the well-known phrase, “Credat Judæas Apella” (<span class= "ital">Ep. </span>1, v. 100) takes it as a typical Jewish name.<p><span class= "bld">Approved in Christ.</span>—Whose fidelity to Christ has been tried, and has stood the test.<p><span class= "bld">Aristobulus’ household.</span>—Aristobulus, a grandson of Herod the Great, was educated and lived in a private station at Rome. From the friendly terms on which he stood with the Emperor Claudius, it seems not unlikely that, by a somewhat common custom, his household may have been transferred to the emperor at his death. In that case, his slaves would be designated by a term such as we find in the Greek.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/romans/16-11.htm">Romans 16:11</a></div><div class="verse">Salute Herodion my kinsman. Greet them that be of the <i>household</i> of Narcissus, which are in the Lord.</div>(11) <span class= "bld">My kinsman.</span>—See the Note on <a href="/romans/16-7.htm" title="Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellow-prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.">Romans 16:7</a>.<p><span class= "bld">Them that be of the household of Narcissus.</span>—A phrase similar to that which is translated, “Them which are of Aristobulus’ household,” above. Narcissus, too, is an historical name. There had been a famous Narcissus, a freed-man and favourite of Claudius, who had been put to death three or four years before this Epistle was written. His household would naturally pass into the hands of the emperor, though still keeping his name. In the case of Aristobulus, the transference would be effected by bequest, in that of Narcissus by confiscation. Many instances of both methods occur in the history and records of the time.<p>The interpretation here given, and the identification of Aristobulus and Narcissus with the historical bearers of those names, is some way short of certain, but may be said to have some degree of probability.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/romans/16-12.htm">Romans 16:12</a></div><div class="verse">Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labour in the Lord. Salute the beloved Persis, which laboured much in the Lord.</div>(12) <span class= "bld">Tryphena and Tryphosa.</span>—Probably sisters or near relatives. They, too, may have been attached to the court.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/romans/16-13.htm">Romans 16:13</a></div><div class="verse">Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.</div>(13) <span class= "bld">Rufus.</span>—Simon of Cyrene is described in St. Mark’s Gospel (<a href="/mark/15-21.htm" title="And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.">Mark 15:21</a>) as “the father of Alexander and Rufus,” and as there is a substantial tradition, favoured by some internal indications, that this Gospel was written at Rome, it is not unlikely that the same Rufus may be meant.<p><span class= "bld">Chosen in the Lord.</span>—An eminent Christian.<p><span class= "bld">His mother and mine.</span>—His mother, who has also been like a mother to me.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/romans/16-14.htm">Romans 16:14</a></div><div class="verse">Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren which are with them.</div>(14) Of the names in this and the next verse, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, Philologus, Julia, Nereus (with the corresponding female name Nereis) all occur with more or less frequency in inscriptions relating to the household. Hernias and Hermes are very common. The first is a contraction from several longer forms. Patrobas is contracted from Patrobius. We find that a freed-man of Nero’s who bore this name was put to death by Galba; but the person saluted by St. Paul is more likely to have been a dependent of his than the man himself.<p>Taking the list of names as a whole, and comparing them with the inscriptions, we may—without going so far as to identify individuals, which would be precarious ground—nevertheless, note the general coincidence with the mention of “Cæsar’s household” in <a href="/philippians/4-22.htm" title="All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar's household.">Philippians 4:22</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/romans/16-16.htm">Romans 16:16</a></div><div class="verse">Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you.</div>(16) <span class= "bld">Salute one another.</span>—As a mark of brotherly feeling among themselves, St. Paul desires those who are assembled at the reading of his Epistle to greet each other in a Christian way. It is to be their own act and not a salutation coming from him.<p><span class= "bld">With an holy kiss.</span>—A common Eastern and Jewish custom specially consecrated in Christianity. (Comp. <a href="/1_corinthians/16-20.htm" title="All the brothers greet you. Greet you one another with an holy kiss.">1Corinthians 16:20</a>; <a href="/2_corinthians/13-12.htm" title="Greet one another with an holy kiss.">2Corinthians 13:12</a>; <a href="/1_thessalonians/5-26.htm" title="Greet all the brothers with an holy kiss.">1Thessalonians 5:26</a>; <a href="/1_peter/5-14.htm" title="Greet you one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen.">1Peter 5:14</a>.)<p><span class= "bld">The churches of Christ.</span>—The word “all” should be inserted. As being the Apostle of the Gentiles, and knowing as he did the interest which all would take in the church of the great metropolis, St. Paul feels himself fully justified in speaking for all the churches of his foundation.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/romans/16-17.htm">Romans 16:17</a></div><div class="verse">Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.</div>(17-20) Here the Epistle would naturally end, but an afterthought occurs to the Apostle, His experience of other churches, especially those at Corinth and in Galatia, suggests to him that he should warn his readers against false teachers, though such had not as yet obtained any great hold among them.<p>(17) <span class= "bld">Cause divisions and offences.</span>—Set traps in the way of the unwary, so as to entice them into false doctrine and schismatical practices.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/romans/16-18.htm">Romans 16:18</a></div><div class="verse">For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.</div>(18) <span class= "bld">Their own belly.</span>—Compare the description in <a href="/context/philippians/3-18.htm" title="(For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:">Philippians 3:18-19</a>, where the Apostle is also denouncing certain persons who made “a god of their belly.” It is not, however, quite clear that the class of persons intended is precisely the same. There the Apostle is condemning Antinomian extravagances which professed to be based on his own teaching; here he would seem to have in view some more radical divergence of doctrine, “contrary to” that which they had learned. Selfish indulgence is unfortunately a common goal, to which many diverse ways of error will be found to lead.<p><span class= "bld">By good words and fair speeches.</span>—The difference, perhaps, is between “insinuating” or “specious” address, and “fine phrases” in a rhetorical sense.<p><span class= "bld">Simple.</span>—Literally, <span class= "ital">guileless.</span> Those who have no evil intentions themselves, and do not readily suspect others of them.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/romans/16-19.htm">Romans 16:19</a></div><div class="verse">For your obedience is come abroad unto all <i>men</i>. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.</div>(19) No harm has been done as yet. Still it is well to be upon your guard.<p><span class= "bld">Simple concerning evil.</span>—This is not at all the same word as that which is translated “simple” above. The first is that freedom from dishonest motives which makes a man an unsuspecting and easy prey for designing persons, and applies rather to natural bent and disposition. The second refers rather to the confirmed habit of one who has come in contact with evil, and is still uncontaminated by it; who has resisted all the plots and schemes that have been laid for him; and whose love for what is good and hatred of evil, has only been strengthened and disciplined. The word for “simple” here means “unmixed,” “uncontaminated,” “pure and clear.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/romans/16-20.htm">Romans 16:20</a></div><div class="verse">And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ <i>be</i> with you. Amen.</div>(20) <span class= "bld">The God of peace.</span>—We can well understand how the Apostle, in the midst of “fightings without and fears within,” should look forward with joyous confidence to the time when both for him and his readers all this turmoil and conflict would give way to “peace.” The reference seems to be to his near expectation of the Messiah’s return, and with it the final victory of the faith. The Romans have not begun to feel the bitterness of divisions as yet; he foresees a time when they will do so. but beyond that he foresees a further time when all will be hushed and quelled, and the Great Adversary himself for ever overthrown.<p><span class= "bld">Bruise.</span>—With reference to <a href="/genesis/3-15.htm" title="And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.">Genesis 3:15</a>.<p><span class= "bld">The grace. . . .</span>—The more correct reading of the benediction is simply. <span class= "ital">The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you,</span> the other words being omitted. The four principal Græco-Latin Codices omit the benediction here altogether and insert it in <a href="/romans/16-24.htm" title="The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.">Romans 16:24</a>, where it also appears in the Received text, though wanting in MSS. of the best type.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/romans/16-21.htm">Romans 16:21</a></div><div class="verse">Timotheus my workfellow, and Lucius, and Jason, and Sosipater, my kinsmen, salute you.</div>(21-23) The companions of St. Paul add their own greetings to the Roman Church.<p>(21) <span class= "bld">Timotheus.</span>—Timothy had been sent on in advance from Ephesus (<a href="/acts/20-22.htm" title="And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there:">Acts 20:22</a>). He would seem to have gone on into Greece and to Corinth itself (<a href="/1_corinthians/4-17.htm" title="For this cause have I sent to you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church.">1Corinthians 4:17</a>; <a href="/1_corinthians/16-10.htm" title="Now if Timotheus come, see that he may be with you without fear: for he works the work of the Lord, as I also do.">1Corinthians 16:10</a>). He had thence rejoined St. Paul on his way through Macedonia (<a href="/2_corinthians/1-1.htm" title="Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia:">2Corinthians 1:1</a>), and he was now with him again in Greece.<p>In the other Epistles (2 Cor., Phil., Colossians , 1 and 2 Thess., and Philem.), when Timothy was present with St. Paul at the time of his writing, he is joined with him in the salutation at the outset. Why his name does not appear in the heading of the present letter we can hardly say. Perhaps he happened to be away at the time when it was begun; or, St. Paul may have thought it well that a church which was entirely strange to him, and to which Timothy too was a stranger, should be addressed in his own name alone.<p><span class= "bld">Lucius.</span>—This may, perhaps, be the Lucius of Cyrene mentioned in <a href="/acts/13-1.htm" title="Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.">Acts 13:1</a>; but the name is too common for anything to be asserted positively.<p><span class= "bld">Jason.</span>—A Jason is mentioned as having received St. Paul and his companions on their first visit to Thessalonica, and getting himself into trouble in consequence (<a href="/context/acts/17-5.htm" title="But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took to them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.">Acts 17:5-9</a>). It would be some slight argument for this identification if the word “kinsmen” were taken in its narrower sense; there would then be a reason why St. Paul should have found hospitality in the house of Jason.<p><span class= "bld">Sosipater.</span>—Possibly “Sopater, the son of Pyrrhus, of Berœa,” mentioned in <a href="/acts/20-4.htm" title="And there accompanied him into Asia Sopater of Berea; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timotheus; and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus.">Acts 20:4</a> (corrected reading).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/romans/16-22.htm">Romans 16:22</a></div><div class="verse">I Tertius, who wrote <i>this</i> epistle, salute you in the Lord.</div>(22) <span class= "bld">Tertius.</span>—The Apostle’s amanuensis. It was the custom of St. Paul to add a few words of parting benedictory encouragement or admonition in his own handwriting, partly as a mark of his own personal interest in his readers, and partly as a precaution against forgery. (See especially <a href="/galatians/6-11.htm" title="You see how large a letter I have written to you with my own hand.">Galatians 6:11</a>, and <a href="/2_thessalonians/3-17.htm" title="The salutation of Paul with my own hand, which is the token in every letter: so I write.">2Thessalonians 3:17</a>.) We have observed in the course of this Commentary how frequently the involved and broken style is to be accounted for by this habit of dictation, and, as it would seem, not very punctilious revision. We have the thoughts and words of the Apostle as they came warm from his own mind.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/romans/16-23.htm">Romans 16:23</a></div><div class="verse">Gaius mine host, and of the whole church, saluteth you. Erastus the chamberlain of the city saluteth you, and Quartus a brother.</div>(23) <span class= "bld">Gaius.</span>—Three persons of this name are mentioned, Gains of Corinth (<a href="/1_corinthians/1-14.htm" title="I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;">1Corinthians 1:14</a>), Gains, a Macedonian (<a href="/acts/19-29.htm" title="And the whole city was filled with confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre.">Acts 19:29</a>), and Gaius of Derbe in Lycaonia (<a href="/acts/20-4.htm" title="And there accompanied him into Asia Sopater of Berea; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timotheus; and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus.">Acts 20:4</a>). The Gaius of the Epistle would probably be identical with the first of these. The name was a common one.<p><span class= "bld">Mine host, and of the whole church.</span>—St. Paul was now lodging in the house of Gaius, as on his previous visit, first in that of Aquila and then in that of Justus (<a href="/acts/18-2.htm" title="And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came to them.">Acts 18:2</a>; <a href="/acts/18-7.htm" title="And he departed there, and entered into a certain man's house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue.">Acts 18:7</a>). It would seem that Gaius lent his house for the meetings of the Church, or it is possible that St. Paul may be alluding, with graceful hyperbole, to the hospitality which he was always ready to exercise.<p><span class= "bld">Erastus.</span>—It is not quite easy to identify this Erastus with the one mentioned in <a href="/acts/19-22.htm" title="So he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered to him, Timotheus and Erastus; but he himself stayed in Asia for a season.">Acts 19:22</a>, <a href="/2_timothy/4-20.htm" title="Erastus stayed at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick.">2Timothy 4:20</a>, who there appears as a travelling companion of the Apostle. The office of “treasurer” to an important city like Corinth would naturally, we should suppose, involve a fixed residence.<p><span class= "bld">Chamberlain.</span>—A better word would seem to be <span class= "ital">treasurer.</span> The officer hi question had charge of the revenues of the city. The title appears upon inscriptions.<p><span class= "bld">A brother.</span>—Rather, <span class= "ital">the brother.</span> No special predicate seems to be needed, and therefore St. Paul (or Tertius) simply describes him as the Christian of that name.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/romans/16-24.htm">Romans 16:24</a></div><div class="verse">The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ <i>be</i> with you all. Amen.</div>(24) <span class= "bld">The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.</span>—This verse is wanting in the oldest group of MSS., and is found chiefly in Græco-Latin Codices and in Antiochene authorities of the fourth and fifth centuries, whose leaning is towards the later text.<p>If the theory stated in the introduction to chapter 15 is correct, the doxology which follows was added by the Apostle to complete the <span class= "ital">shorter</span> edition of the Epistle, but soon came to be taken as a fitting close to the whole.<p>Allusion has been made to the resemblance which it presents to the Pastoral Epistles and the Epistle to the Ephesians. This will readily be seen when the parallel expressions are placed side by side.<p><a href="/context/romans/16-25.htm" title="Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,">Romans 16:25-27</a>.—“To Him that is of power.”<p><a href="/ephesians/3-20.htm" title="Now to him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,">Ephesians 3:20</a>.—“Unto Him that is able” (precisely the same words in the Greek).<p>“According to my gospel.”<p><a href="/2_timothy/2-8.htm" title="Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel:">2Timothy 2:8</a>.—“According to my gospel” (the same phrase is, however, found in <a href="/romans/2-16.htm" title="In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.">Romans 2:16</a>).<p>“The preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith.”<p><a href="/ephesians/3-3.htm" title="How that by revelation he made known to me the mystery; (as I wrote before in few words,">Ephesians 3:3</a>; <a href="/context/ephesians/3-5.htm" title="Which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it is now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;">Ephesians 3:5-6</a>.—“By revelation He made known unto us the mystery. . . . which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit, that the Gentiles should be,” &c.<p><a href="/context/ephesians/3-9.htm" title="And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:">Ephesians 3:9-10</a>.—“The mystery which from the beginning of the world hath been hid. . . . to the intent that now. . . . might be known.”<p><a href="/context/titus/1-2.htm" title="In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;">Titus 1:2-3</a>.—“Which God. . . . before the world began” (peculiar and identical phrase); “but hath in due times manifested His word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment” (same word) “of God our Saviour.”<p><a href="/context/2_timothy/1-9.htm" title="Who has saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,">2Timothy 1:9-10</a>.—“Which was given us. . . . before the world began, but is now made manifest,” &c.<p>“To God only wise, be glory, through Jesus Christ for ever” (Greek, “for ever and ever”). “Amen.”<p><a href="/1_timothy/1-17.htm" title="Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.">1Timothy 1:17</a>.—“Now unto the King eternal” (similar to “everlasting God” above), “the only wise God” (but “wise” is a doubtful reading), “be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.”<p>(25) <span class= "bld">Stablish</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> to confirm and strengthen in all the elements of a Christian character.<p><span class= "bld">According to my gospel.</span>—By those means of grace which the gospel that I preach indicates and enjoins you to use.<p><span class= "bld">My gospel.</span>—The gospel preached by me; the gospel preached as I preach it.<p><span class= "bld">And the preaching of Jesus Christ.</span>—And in accordance with that preaching, the subject matter of which is Christ. The establishment of the Roman Christians was to take place through those appointed ways and means that are laid down in the gospel, and form the main topic of Christian preaching. All means of grace centre in Christ, and it is only in accordance with the due proclamation of Him that the Christian can hope to become confirmed and strengthened.<p><span class= "bld">According to the revelation.</span>—An involved and difficult sentence. The two clauses which began with “according to” are co-ordinate together, and are both dependent upon the word “stablish” above. “May God establish and confirm you in all those ways that the gospel of Christ lays down; that gospel the introduction of which it has been reserved for these latter days to see; a secret long hidden, but now revealed, and corroborated as it is by the prophetic writings, and preached by the Apostles at God’s express command; the great instrument of bringing over the Gentiles to the faith.”<p><span class= "bld">Of the mystery.</span>—The word “mystery” is used elsewhere in the New Testament precisely in the sense which is so clearly defined in this passage of something which up to the time of the Apostles had remained secret, but had then been made known by divine intervention. The “mystery” thus revealed is the same as that described in the two preceding clauses—in one word, Christianity. All through the Old Testament dispensation, the Christian scheme, which was then future, had remained hidden; now, with Christ’s coming, the veil has been taken away.<p><span class= "bld">Since the world began.</span>—The English phrase here is paraphrastic. Literally, the Greek is <span class= "ital">in eternal times</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> from this present moment, stretching backwards throughout eternity—an emphatic way of saying, “never before.” “The Old Testament is the hand of a clock, proceeding silently round the dial—the New Testament is the striking of the hour” (Bengel).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/romans/16-26.htm">Romans 16:26</a></div><div class="verse">But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:</div>(26) <span class= "bld">But now is made manifest.</span>—The first clause of this verse goes with the last clause of the preceding “mystery,” which before was kept secret, but now has been “made manifest.” The rest of the verse all hangs together: “this mystery, through the help of the corroboration which it derives from the prophets of the Old Testament, has, by God’s command to us, the Apostles, been made known.”<p><span class= "bld">By the scriptures of the prophets.</span>—Through the help of that appeal to prophecy which we are enabled to make.<p><span class= "bld">According to the commandment.</span>—That which had taken place according to the command of God was the making known of the gospel to the Gentiles, as, <span class= "ital">e.g.,</span> when Paul and Barnabas were specially “separated” for the work by the Holy Ghost.<p><span class= "bld">Made known to all nations.</span>—The word “to” has a little more stress laid upon it than would appear from the English, “made known so as to reach all nations.”<p><span class= "bld">For the obedience of faith.</span>—An exact repetition of the phrase in <a href="/romans/1-5.htm" title="By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:">Romans 1:5</a>, “to win over the Gentiles unto the allegiance demanded of them by faith in Christ.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/romans/16-27.htm">Romans 16:27</a></div><div class="verse">To God only wise, <i>be</i> glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen. </div>(27) <span class= "bld">To God.</span>—Our English translation has evaded the difficulty of this verse by leaving out two words. The Greek stands literally thus, “To the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, <span class= "ital">to whom</span> be glory for ever.” “To whom,” if it refers to God, as it is decidedly more probable that it was intended to refer, is ungrammatical. If it is inserted, the words “To him that is able . . . to God, the only wise,” are left without government. This might, indeed, under ordinary circumstances be got over, as such broken constructions are frequent with St. Paul, but it is somewhat different in the last solemn words of an Epistle, and would be especially so if this doxology were composed by itself separately from the rest of the Epistle. There would not then be the usual excuse of haste; and for so short a passage it may be doubted whether the Apostle would even employ an amanuensis. The difficulty is heightened when we ask what is meant by the phrase, “through Jesus Christ.” Separated, as it would then be, from the ascription of glory, and joined to “the only wise God,” it would seem to be impossible to get any really satisfactory sense out of it. “To God, who through Christ has shown Himself as the alone wise,” is maintained, but is surely very forced. Our conclusion then, prior to the evidence, would be that there was a mistake in the reading, and that the words “to whom” had slipped in without warrant. And now we find that a single uncial MS., but that precisely the oldest and best of all the uncials, the <span class= "ital">Codex Vaticanus,</span> with two cursives, omits these words. The suspicion would indeed naturally arise that they had been left out specially on account of their difficulty. But this is a suspicion from which on the whole, the Vatican MS. is peculiarly free. And, on the other hand, it is just as natural to assume that another common cause of corruption has been at work. Doxologies so frequently begin with the relative, “To whom be glory,” &c., that the copyist would be liable to fall into the phrase, even in places where it was not originally written. The probabilities of corruption may therefore be taken to balance each other, and it will seem, perhaps, on the whole, the most probable solution that the relative has really slipped in at a very early date, and that the English version as it stands is substantially right. There are some exceptions to the rule that “the more difficult reading is to be preferred,” and this is perhaps one.<p>The subscription in its present form hardly dates back beyond the ninth century. 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