Romans 16:25-26

16:25 ¹ Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that had been kept secret for long ages, 16:26 but now is disclosed, and through the prophetic scriptures has been made known to all the nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith –

Romans 16:1

Personal Greetings

16:1 Now I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant ²  of the church in Cenchrea,

Colossians 2:7

2:7 rooted ³  and built up in him and firm ⁴  in your ⁵  faith just as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Ephesians 3:3-10

3:3 that ⁶  by revelation the divine secret ⁷  was made known to me, as I wrote before briefly. ⁸  3:4 When reading this, ⁹  you will be able to ¹⁰  understand my insight into this secret ¹¹  of Christ. 3:5 Now this secret ¹²  was not disclosed to people ¹³  in former ¹⁴  generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by ¹⁵  the Spirit, 3:6 namely, that through the gospel ¹⁶  the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members ¹⁷  of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus. 3:7 I became a servant of this gospel ¹⁸  according to the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by ¹⁹  the exercise of his power. ²⁰  3:8 To me – less than the least of all the saints ²¹  – this grace was given, ²²  to proclaim to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ 3:9 and to enlighten ²³  everyone about God’s secret plan ²⁴  – a secret that has been hidden for ages ²⁵  in God ²⁶  who has created all things. 3:10 The purpose of this enlightenment is that ²⁷  through the church the multifaceted wisdom ²⁸  of God should now be disclosed to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly realms.

¹ tc There is a considerable degree of difference among the mss regarding the presence and position of the doxology of 16:25-27. Five situations present themselves from the ms tradition. The doxology is found in the ancient witnesses in three separate locations: (1) here after 16:23 (Ì⁶¹ א B C D 81 365 630 1739 2464 al co), (2) after 14:23 (Ψ 0209^vid Ï), or (3) after 15:33 (Ì⁴⁶). The situation is further complicated in that some of the mss have these verses in two places: (4) after 14:23 and after 16:23 (A P 33 104 2805 pc); or (5) after 14:23 and after 15:33 (1506). The uncertain position of the doxology might suggest that it was added by later scribes. But since the mss containing the doxology are so early and widespread, it almost certainly belongs in Romans; it is only a question of where. Further, the witnesses that omit the doxology are few: F G 629 Hier^mss. (And of these, G has a blank space of several lines large enough for the doxology to belong there.) Only two positions (after chapter 14 only and at the end of the letter only) deserve particular notice because the situation of the mss showing the doxology in two places dates back to the 5th century. Later copyists, faced with the doxology in two different places in the mss they knew, may have decided to copy the doxology in both places, since they were unwilling to consciously omit any text. Because the textual disruption of the doxology is so early, TCGNT 472 suggests two possibilities: either (1) that Paul may have sent two different copies of Romans – a copy lacking chapter 16 and a copy with the full text of the epistle as we now have it, or (2) Marcion or some of his followers circulated a shortened form of the epistle that lacked chapters 15 and 16. Those mss that lacked chapters 15-16 would naturally conclude with some kind of doxology after chapter 14. On the other hand, H. Gamble (The Textual History of the Letter to the Romans [SD], 123-32) argues for the position of the doxology at 14:23, since to put the doxology at 16:25 would violate Paul’s normal pattern of a grace-benediction at the close of the letter. Gamble further argues for the inclusion of 16:24, since the mss that put the doxology after chapter 14 almost always present 16:24 as the letter’s closing, whereas most of the mss that put the doxology at its traditional position drop 16:24, perhaps because it would be redundant before 16:25-27. A decision is difficult, but the weight of external evidence, since it is both early and geographically widespread, suggests that the doxology belongs here after 16:23. For a full discussion, see TCGNT 470-73.

² tn Or “deaconess.” It is debated whether διάκονος (diakonos) here refers to a specific office within the church. One contextual argument used to support this view is that Phoebe is associated with a particular church, Cenchrea, and as such would therefore be a deacon of that church. In the NT some who are called διάκονος are related to a particular church, yet the scholarly consensus is that such individuals are not deacons, but “servants” or “ministers” (other viable translations for διάκονος). For example, Epaphras is associated with the church in Colossians and is called a διάκονος in Col 1:7, but no contemporary translation regards him as a deacon. In 1 Tim 4:6 Paul calls Timothy a διάκονος; Timothy was associated with the church in Ephesus, but he obviously was not a deacon. In addition, the lexical evidence leans away from this view: Within the NT, the διακον- word group rarely functions with a technical nuance. In any case, the evidence is not compelling either way. The view accepted in the translation above is that Phoebe was a servant of the church, not a deaconess, although this conclusion should be regarded as tentative.

³ tn Or “having been rooted.”

⁴ sn The three participles rooted, built up, and firm belong together and reflect three different metaphors. The first participle “rooted” (perfect tense) indicates a settled condition on the part of the Colossian believers and refers to horticulture. The second participle “built up” (present passive) comes from the world of architecture. The third participle “firm [established]” (present passive) comes from the law courts. With these three metaphors (as well as the following comment on thankfulness) Paul explains what he means when he commands them to continue to live their lives in Christ. The use of the passive probably reflects God’s activity among them. It was he who had rooted them, had been building them up, and had established them in the faith (cf. 1 Cor 3:5-15 for the use of mixed metaphors).

⁵ tn The Greek text has the article τῇ (th), not the possessive pronoun ὑμῶν (Jumwn), but the article often functions as a possessive pronoun and was translated as such here (ExSyn 215).

⁶ tn Or “namely, that is.”

⁷ tn Or “mystery.”

⁸ tn Or “as I wrote above briefly.”

⁹ tn Grk “which, when reading.”

¹⁰ tn Grk “you are able to.”

¹¹ tn Or “mystery.”

¹² tn Grk “which.” Verse 5 is technically a relative clause, subordinate to the thought of v. 4.

¹³ tn Grk “the sons of men” (a Semitic idiom referring to human beings, hence, “people”).

¹⁴ tn Grk “other.”

¹⁵ tn Or “in.”

¹⁶ sn The phrase through the gospel is placed last in the sentence in Greek for emphasis. It has been moved forward for clarity.

¹⁷ tn Grk “and fellow members.”

¹⁸ tn Grk “of which I was made a minister,” “of which I became a servant.”

¹⁹ tn Grk “according to.”

²⁰ sn On the exercise of his power see 1:19-20.

²¹ sn In Pauline writings saints means any true believer. Thus for Paul to view himself as less than the least of all the saints is to view himself as the most unworthy object of Christ’s redemption.

²² sn The parallel phrases to proclaim and to enlighten which follow indicate why God’s grace was manifested to Paul. Grace was not something just to be received, but to be shared with others (cf. Acts 13:47).

²³ tn There is a possible causative nuance in the Greek verb, but this is difficult to convey in the translation.

²⁴ tn Grk “what is the plan of the divine secret.” Earlier the author had used οἰκονομία (oikonomia; here “plan”) to refer to his own “stewardship” (v. 2). But now he is speaking about the content of this secret, not his own activity in relation to it.

²⁵ tn Or “for eternity,” or perhaps “from the Aeons.” Cf. 2:2, 7.

²⁶ tn Or “by God.” It is possible that ἐν (en) plus the dative here indicates agency, that is, that God has performed the action of hiding the secret. However, this usage of the preposition ἐν is quite rare in the NT, and even though here it does follow a perfect passive verb as in the Classical idiom, it is more likely that a different nuance is intended.

²⁷ tn Grk “that.” Verse 10 is a subordinate clause to the verb “enlighten” in v. 9.

²⁸ tn Or “manifold wisdom,” “wisdom in its rich variety.”