Romans 16:5

The church that is in their house [τ η ν κ α τ ο ι κ ο ν α υ τ ω ν ε κ κ λ η σ ι α ν]. The phrase church that is in their (or his) house occurs 1 Corinthians 16:19, of Aquila and Priscilla; Colossians 4:15, of Nymphas; Philippians 1:2, of Philemon. A similar gathering may be implied in Romans 16:14; Romans 16:15. Bishop Lightfoot says there is no clear example of a separate building set apart for christian worship within the limits of the Roman Empire before the third century. The Christian congregations were, therefore, dependent upon the hospitality of prominent church members who furnished their own houses for this purpose. Hence their places of assembly were not called temples until late; but houses of God; houses of the churches; houses of prayer.

Numerous guilds or clubs existed at Rome for furnishing proper burial rites to the poor. Extant inscriptions testify to the existence of nearly eighty of these, each consisting of the members of a different trade or profession, or united in the worship of some deity. The Christians availed themselves of this practice in order to evade Trajan's edict against clubs, which included their own ordinary assemblies, but which made a special exception in favor of associations consisting of poorer members of society, who met to contribute to funeral expenses. This led to the use of the catacombs, or of buildings erected over them for this purpose. 72 The expression here denotes, not the whole church, but that portion of it which met at Aquila's house.

Epaenetus. A Greek name, meaning praised. It is, however; impossible to infer the nationality from the name with any certainty, since it was common for the Jews to have a second name, which they adopted during their residence in heathen countries. Compare John Mark (Acts 12:12); Justus (Acts 1:23); Niger (Acts 13:1); Crispus (Acts 18:8). The first fruits of Achaia. The best texts read of Asia. An early convert of the Roman province of Asia. See on Acts 2:9 This is adduced as an argument that this chapter was addressed to Ephesus. 73