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Romans 16:3-5
Paul’s greetings to his friends… Priscilla and Aquila and Epenetus – Part 1
v3 Greet Priscilla and Aquila, who have worked with me on behalf of Christ Jesus.
v4 They risked their lives to save me. I am grateful to them. All the Gentile churches are grateful too.
v5 Greet also the church that meets in their house. Greet my dear friend Epenetus. He was the first person to become a Christian in the region called Asia.
Comment:
Some people say that this list of 26 names is too long. Paul could not have known all these Christians in a city that he had never visited. He even calls some of them his ‘dear friend’. But Paul had worked in Ephesus for more than two years. It is possible that Paul sent a copy of this letter to Ephesus. If so, he may have attached chapter 16 with its greetings.
Verses 3-5 - Aquila and Priscilla (verses 3-5) were in Ephesus when Paul wrote 1 Corinthians. Christians met in their house (1 Corinthians 16:19). Paul also sent them his greetings when they were still in Ephesus (2 Timothy 4:19). Epenetus (verse 5) probably became a Christian in Ephesus, which was the capital of the region called Asia. Perhaps it was by the work of Aquila and Priscilla. He is next to them on Paul’s list of greetings.
Other people disagree. They are confident that all these Christians were living in Rome. They mention these facts and possibilities:
1. Paul did not send many personal greetings to churches that he knew well. If he was greeting Christians in Ephesus, he would have known more than 26 people. He would not want to upset anyone whom he forgot to name.
2. Aquila and Priscilla had lived in Rome until Claudius ordered the Jews to leave in 49 A.D.. They had moved to Corinth, where Paul had worked with them. Then they went on to Ephesus. They may have risked their lives to protect Paul there. Claudius died in 54 A.D.. So it is likely that Aquila and Priscilla were then able to return to Rome. Other Jews may have gone back to Rome from the cities where they had met Paul. Christians would also travel to Rome on business.
3. Rufus (verse 13) may have been the son of Simon from Cyrene. Mark mentions him as a well-known person (Mark 15:21). And many people think that Mark wrote his gospel for the church in Rome.
4. The words on graves in Rome show that there were other Christian households in Rome.
5. Rome was not an ordinary city. We know that many people, including Jews and Christians, traveled to Rome. And they lived and worked there. So Paul might have known all these people before they lived in Rome.
6. Parchment (the type of paper that people used for letters) was expensive. Paul would not want to waste it. He had completed his explanation of the subjects that were the main reasons for his letter. But perhaps some parchment still remained. And Paul really cared about his Christian brothers and sisters. So he wanted to greet each of them by name.
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Text from the EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary - used with permission - © 2007, Wycliffe Associates (UK) - For more information about EasyEnglish Publications, visit their website: www.easyenglish.info.
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