B. Personal matters ch. 16

This last chapter is very letter-like in its spontaneous arrangement of material. Paul evidently related matters as they occurred to him. He named 35 persons in this chapter. Nine of these people were with Paul, and the rest were in Rome. He identified 17 men and seven women. In addition he referred to at least two households (vv. 10-11) and three house churches (vv. 5, 14, 15) plus some other unnamed brethren (v. 14) and two other women (vv. 13, 15).⁴⁰⁵Most of the names are Gentile, reflecting the mainly Gentile population of the church in Rome, and most are those of slaves and freedmen and freedwomen.⁴⁰⁶

"This sixteenth chapter is neglected by many to their own loss. It is by far the most extensive, intimate and particular of all the words of loving greeting in Paul's marvelous letters. No one can afford to miss this wonderful outpouring of the heart of our apostle toward the saints whom he so loved--which means all the real Church of God!"⁴⁰⁷

". . . Paul's extensive request for greetings in Rom. 16 may reflect his desire to mention all the Christians in Rome he knows--a procedure plainly impossible in those letters directed to churches where he has ministered."⁴⁰⁸

". . . Paul was a friend maker as well as a soul winner. He did not try to live an isolated life; he had friends in the Lord, and he appreciated them."⁴⁰⁹

 1. A commendation 16:1-2

Phoebe was evidently the woman who carried this epistle from Corinth to Rome. She was a "servant"(Gr. diakonon) of the church in her hometown, Cenchrea, the port of Corinth (Acts 18:18; 2 Cor. 1:1). It is unclear whether Phoebe held office as a deaconess⁴¹⁰or whether she was simply an informal servant of the church. Paul stressed her service, not her office.⁴¹¹She was his sister in the Lord as seems clear from his referring to her as "our"sister. Letters of commendation were common in Paul's day (cf. 2 Cor. 3:1). Paul's words here constituted such a letter for Phoebe.

Notice that the ministry of women in the Roman church is quite evident in this chapter. Paul referred to nine prominent women: Phoebe, Prisca, Mary, Tryphena, Thyphosa, Persis, Rufus' mother, Julia, and Nereus' sister.

 2. Various greetings to Christians in Rome 16:3-16

It may seem unusual that Paul knew so many people by name in the church in Rome since he had never visited it. However travel in the Roman Empire was fairly easy during Paul's lifetime. Probably he had met some of these people elsewhere and knew others of them by reputation.

Most of the names are Latin or Greek, but some of these people were evidently Jews who, as Paul, also had Greek or Latin names (e.g., vv. 7, 11). In his epistles Paul greeted more individuals by name in the churches he had not visited than in those that he had (cf. Col.). He may have wanted to establish more personal contact with congregations that had not seen his face.

16:3-5a Paul met Prisca (Priscilla) and her husband Aquila in Corinth (Acts 18:2). When he left for Ephesus, he took them with him (Acts 18:18). He left them in Ephesus when he moved on to Jerusalem (Acts 18:19). In Ephesus they helped Apollos (Acts 18:24-28). Later they returned to Rome where they had lived previously (Acts 18:2). Later still they returned to Ephesus (2 Tim. 4:19). Churches normally met in houses at this time (cf. v. 23; 1 Cor. 16:19).

16:5b-7 Most of the people mentioned in these verses require no explanatory comment. "Asia"(v. 5) was the Roman province of Asia of which Ephesus was the capital. Junias (or Junia, v. 7) was probably the wife of Andronicus (cf. vv. 3, 15). The term "kinsmen"or "relatives"(v. 7; cf. vv. 11, 21) seems to refer to relatives of Paul who were probably fellow Jews (cf. Phil. 3:7). "Apostles"(v. 7) here must have the general sense of representatives (traveling missionaries) rather than being a technical reference to one of the 13 apostles (cf. Acts 14:4, 14; 2 Cor. 8:23; 1 Thess. 2:7; Phil. 2:25).

16:8-15 Those of the household of Aristobulus (v. 10) were probably his slaves. Since Paul did not greet Aristobulus himself this man may have been an unbeliever. Tryphena (v. 12, "dainty") and Tryphosa ("delicate") may have been sisters. Rufus (v. 13) may have been the son of Simon of Cyrene, who carried Jesus' cross (cf. Mark 15:21). Rufus' mother may have been Paul's in that she had at one time acted as a mother to him. It is unlikely that he would have referred to her as he did if she had been his physical mother.

"Let Christian mothers find here a great field for that wonderful heart of instinctive loving care given by God to mothers,--that they extend their maternal care beyond their own family circle, to all Christians, and especially to all laborers for Christ. The Lord will remember it at His coming!"⁴¹²

"The brethren [or saints] with them"(vv. 14, 15) probably refers to the other Christians who met with those named in a house church.

16:16 The "holy kiss"was and is a common affectionate greeting expressing mutual love in Christ. Paul relayed the greetings of all the churches he represented.

Since Paul acknowledged his co-workers (vv. 3, 9; cf. v. 7) we know that he was not a "lone ranger"minister. The number of women mentioned in these verses argues against the view of some that Paul was a woman-hater. Obviously women played important roles in the ministry of the early church.

 3. A warning 16:17-20

Again Paul introduced his comments with a strong exhortation (cf. 12:1; 15:30). He warned the Roman Christians about false teachers who might enter the fold. His brief warning argues against thinking that false teachers were presently active in the church.

16:17-18 False teachers were a danger to all the churches. Paul urged his Roman readers to avoid them.⁴¹³

16:19 Paul was confident that his readers could handle this threat because they had a reputation for following the apostles' instructions. The innocent among God's people tend to accept false teachers, and the wise normally reject them. Paul wanted his readers to be wise concerning all good and innocent only regarding evil (cf. Matt. 10:16).

16:20 Satan is behind all evil ultimately. God desires peace among His people, not the antagonism that some in the church who chose to follow Satan's spokesmen would create. "Soon"does not imply that Jesus Christ would return soon necessarily. Paul meant that the Roman Christians would frustrate Satan's work among them soon as they rejected false teachers. His terminology suggests that he had Genesis 3:15 in mind.

Paul's benediction magnified God's grace as does this whole epistle. Usually such a benediction signalled the end of a Pauline letter, but the apostle had more to communicate in this instance.

 4. Greetings from Paul's companions 16:21-24

The men whom Paul mentioned in verse 21 all seem to have been his fellow missionaries who were working with him in Corinth when he wrote this epistle. Lucius may have been Luke, the writer of Luke and Acts.⁴¹⁴Jason (v. 21) may have been Paul's host in Thessalonica (cf. Acts 17:5-9). Sosipater (v. 21) was probably Sopater of Berea who accompanied Paul when he left Greece toward the end of his third missionary journey (Acts 20:4). Tertius (v. 22) was his amanuensis who wrote down this epistle for Paul. The men in verse 23 were evidently all Corinthian believers.

 5. A doxology 16:25-27

The apostle brought together words and ideas from his earlier epistles as well as from this one in this doxology.

16:25 The apostle was confident that God could do for his readers what they needed (cf. 1:11; Eph. 3:20). The gospel is God's chief tool to that end. "My gospel"identifies the one that Paul had preached widely and had expounded in this epistle. The "preaching of Jesus Christ"is another name for the gospel that stresses its subject, Jesus Christ. Proclamation follows revelation. The gospel had been hidden in eternity past until God revealed it first in the Old Testament and then fully in the New.

16:26 Even though the Old Testament prophets revealed the gospel they did not always grasp all of its implications (1 Pet. 1:10-12; cf. Rom. 1:2). The commandment of God in view is probably the expression of God's will.

16:27 As the only God, He is the God of both Jews and Gentiles (cf. 3:29-30). As the wise God, He is the author of the plan of salvation for all mankind that Paul had expounded (cf. 11:33). God is worthy of all glory because of who He is and what He has done. Our access to Him is through His Son, Jesus Christ.

This doxology is similar to the others in 8:31-39 and 11:33-36.