Romans 16:1-16. A commendation, and many salutations 1. _I commend_ Lit. BUT, or NOW, I COMMEND. The particle marks transition to a new subject. _Phebe_ Strictly, PHŒBE. Nothing is known of Phœbe beyond the information in this passage. It is probable that she was the bearer of the Epistle to Rome;... [ Continue Reading ]
_in the Lord, as becometh saints_ With all the attention and delicacy due from Christians to a Christian woman. _assist her_ Lit. (in the lit sense of "_assist_,") STAND BY HER. What Phœbe's business at Rome was, is quite unknown to us. It may have concerned property, and involved enquiries and dir... [ Continue Reading ]
_Priscilla and Aquila_ Better, PRISCA AND AQUILA; so 2 Timothy 4:19. See Acts 18:2; Acts 18:18; Acts 18:26, for the whole known history of these two eminent Christians, (except the references to them here, and in 1 Corinthians 16:19, and 2 Timothy 4). Aquila (whose name in its Greek form is _Akulas_... [ Continue Reading ]
_who have for my life_, &c. Lit., and better, WHO DID FOR MY LIFE LAY DOWN THEIR OWN NECK, (not NECKS). An entirely unknown occasion, on which Aquila and his wife had risked their lives for St Paul's. "_Laid down:_" the figure is of presenting the neck, or throat, to the executioner. Whether the wor... [ Continue Reading ]
_the church that is in their house_ Their house at Rome, like their house at Corinth, (1 Corinthians 16:19,) probably contained a large room (like the "Upper Room" at Jerusalem) which was devoted to Divine worship, and used by the Christians of the neighbouring district, who thus formed a "Church,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Mary_ MARIAM or MARIA. Both forms represent the Heb. _Miriam_. In the Gospels, the Holy Mother is always, or nearly always, called _Mariam_in the Greek text; the other Maries, _Maria_. This is the only Hebrew name in this chapter. _bestowed much labour_ Lit. TOILED; the strongest word for pains an... [ Continue Reading ]
_Andronîcus and Junia_ Or, perhaps, JUNTAS, i.e. JUNIANUS (in a contracted form, as _Lucas_for _Lucanus, Silas_for _Silvanus_, &c.). There is no various reading, but the Gr. accusative may belong to either _Junia_(feminine) or _Junias_(masculine). It is impossible to decide, but perhaps the followin... [ Continue Reading ]
_Amplias_ A name probably contracted from AMPLIÂTUS, which appears in some documents. The name is Latin.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Urban_ Strictly, URBÂNUS. The letter - _e_in the E. V. form is not to be pronounced: it is like the final - _e_of _Constantine_, and has nothing to do with _feminine_terminations. It would have been better to write URBAN in E. V.) The name is Latin. _Stachys_ A Greek name, and masculine.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Apelles_ A Greek name. It is used by Horace, in a well-known passage, (_Satires_, I. v. 100,) as a name common among Jews. _approved in Christ_ i.e. one who has been _tested_and _found true_, as a "member of Christ." Perhaps he had borne special suffering or sorrow with strong faith. _them which... [ Continue Reading ]
_Herodion my kinsman_ See on Romans 16:7. The name is Greek. _them that be of the household of Narcissus_ Lit., as just above, THOSE FROM AMONGST NARCISSUS ". There was one notorious Narcissus, a freedman of Claudius; and another, one of Nero's bad favourites. Either of these _may_have been the mas... [ Continue Reading ]
_Tryphçna and Tryphôsa_ Greek names. These Christian women are otherwise unknown to us. They were very probably, like Phœbe, "servants of the Church." _labour in the Lord_ TOIL (same word as that rendered "_bestow much labour_," Romans 16:6,) IN THE LORD; as being "in Him," and working under His pr... [ Continue Reading ]
_Rufus_ A Latin name. Possibly this was the Rufus of Mark 15:21, brother of Alexander and son of Simon the Cyrenian. Alexander and Rufus are apparently named by St Mark as well known in the Christian Church, and it is observable that his Gospel was probably written at _Rome_. But the name is a commo... [ Continue Reading ]
_Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes_ All otherwise unknown. The names are Greek. _Hermas_was the name of the author of "The Shepherd," a celebrated religious romance, sometimes compared as such to the Pilgrim's Progress. But it is at least probable that "The Shepherd" belongs to a later g... [ Continue Reading ]
_Philologus_ A Greek name. _Julia_ Possibly the wife of Philologus. The name _may_(as in the case of _Junia:_see note on Romans 16:7;) be really _Julias_, i.e., _Julianus;_a masculine name. But the mention just after of "Nereus and his sister" weighs, however lightly, in the other direction. So Mey... [ Continue Reading ]
_Salute one another_ As if to respond to the example set them in the Apostle's loving greetings. _a holy kiss_ So 1 Corinthians 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:12; 1Th 5:26; 1 Peter 5:14. See also Acts 20:37. The kiss, as a mark both of friendship and of reverence, is still almost as usual as ever in the E... [ Continue Reading ]
Special warning against certain teachers of error 17. _Now I beseech you_, &c. From this ver. to Romans 16:20, inclusive, we have a paragraph or section by itself. It contains a brief but earnest warning against an evil which everywhere beset and encountered the Apostle the bold or subtle efforts o... [ Continue Reading ]
_serve not_ Perhaps these words (lit. DO NOT BONDSERVICE TO,) allude to the professed "_liberty_" of the erring teachers. Q. d., "they decline, indeed, the bondage of Christ, but they are in bondage to their own appetites all the while." Cp. 2 Peter 2:19. With a similar emphasis, probably, he writes... [ Continue Reading ]
_For your obedience_, &c. This verse is sometimes explained q. d., "You are known to be singularly _docile;_a good thing in itself, but which may be abused by these false teachers: therefore see that your simplicity is in the right place, and be on the watch." But this is unlikely. For (1) St Paul w... [ Continue Reading ]
_the God of peace_ See on Romans 15:33. Here the sacred Title seems to refer to the miseries of the strife ("divisions and offences") attendant on false doctrine. The God of Peace would be with those who, by clinging to the holy Truth once delivered, held fast to true unity. _shall bruise Satan_, &... [ Continue Reading ]
Salutations 21. _Timotheus my workfellow_ Cp. especially Philippians 2:19-22 with this brief allusion to this singularly beloved and honoured friend and helper of the Apostle. His name appears in eleven Epistles; Romans, 1 and 2 Cor., Phil., Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Tim., Philem.,... [ Continue Reading ]
_I Tertius_, &c. This ver. may be read, I TERTIUS GREET YOU, WHO WROTE THE EPISTLE IN THE LORD; i.e., who wrote it, (as the Apostle's amanuensis,) in the spirit of a Christian, as a work of holy privilege and love. But the E. V. is also justified by the Greek, and is the more probable on the whole.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Gaius_ The same Latin name as CAIUS. This Gaius may be the same as Gaius of Macedonia, (Acts 19:29,) or as Gaius of Derbe, (Acts 20:4;) and again the Gaius of 2 John may be identical with either of these. But the name was exceedingly common. We may be fairly sure that the Gaius here and the Gaius... [ Continue Reading ]
_The grace_, &c. Cp. 2 Thessalonians 3:16, for a similar adieu before the actual close. We venture to suggest that thus far the amanuensis wrote; that St Paul then in some sense reviewed his great Epistle; and then, perhaps with his own hand, added the rapturous Doxology with which it now ends, and... [ Continue Reading ]
Final Doxology to the Giver and Revealer of the universal Gospel of Salvation by Faith 25. _Now to him_, &c. The construction of this Doxology is irregular; for in Romans 16:27 the lit. Gr. is, TO GOD ONLY WISE, THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, TO WHOM BE GLORY FOR EVER. AMEN; and the relative pronoun "_to wh... [ Continue Reading ]
_now_ In the days of Messiah, and in Him as the Propitiation. Cp. Colossians 1:26. _by the scriptures_, &c. Lit. BY MEANS OF (THE) PROPHETIC SCRIPTURES. This Epistle, and e.g. Acts 13, are the best commentary on these words. The O. T., as the great prediction of Messiah and preparation for Him, was... [ Continue Reading ]
_to God only wise_ So certainly; though the Gr. equally allows the rendering TO THE ONLY WISE GOD. But the assertion of His glory as the Only (absolutely) Wise _Being_is far more in harmony with the height and fulness of the language here, than the assertion that among all _Divinities_, real or supp... [ Continue Reading ]