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Romans 16:6-16
Paul’s greetings to his friends…Paul Greeting also the church that meets in Priscilla and Aquila’s house – Part 2
v6 Greet Mary, who worked very hard on your behalf.
v7 Greet Andronicus and Junias, my relatives. They have been in prison with me. They are leaders among the apostles. They became Christians before I did.
v8 Greet Ampliatus, who is my dear friend because of our relationship with the Lord.
v9 Greet Urbanus, who works with us to serve Christ. And greet my dear friend Stachys.
v10 Greet Apelles. God tested him. Apelles proved that he was loyal to Christ. Greet the people who belong to the household of Aristobulus.
v11 Greet Herodion, my relative. Greet those who are Christians in the household of Narcissus.
v12 Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa. These women work hard for the Lord. Greet my dear friend Persis. She is another woman who has worked very hard for the Lord.
v13 Greet Rufus. He is a splendid Christian. And greet his mother. She has been like a mother to me too.
v14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the Christians with them.
v15 Greet Philologus and Julia. And greet Nereus and his sister. And greet Olympas and all God’s people with them.
v16 Greet each other with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings.
Comment:
Verse 6 - Paul mentions a woman called Mary. We know nothing about this particular woman except her hard work.
Verse 7 - Junias is probably a female name, Junia. So Andronicus and Junia may have been a married couple. They were Christians before Paul, so they are probably before the time of Stephen. They were members of the first church in Jerusalem. They are ‘among the apostles’. So, like other people, they may have seen Christ when he came back to life (1 Corinthians 15:6).
Verse 8 - ‘Ampliatus’ was a common name for a slave. But there is a splendid grave in the Christian catacombs (ancient underground graves) in Rome. It has the name Ampliatus on it. So he was probably a Christian whom people thought well of in the church.
Verse 9 - ‘Urbanus’ means someone who belongs to the city. It was a common name for someone who lived in Rome.
Verse 10 - Aristobulus was a grandson of Herod the Great. He lived privately in Rome and he was a friend of the Emperor Claudius. When Aristobulus died, his servants and slaves became the property of the Emperor. People would know them as the ‘household of Aristobulus’.
Verse 11 - Herodion may have had some relationship with the Herod family. ‘Relative’ probably means a Jew, like Paul, rather than a relative by birth.
Narcissus was a secretary to the Emperor Claudius. Narcissus had made a large sum of money from people who wanted him to give their letters to the Emperor. When Nero became Emperor, Narcissus had to die. When he died, his slaves became Nero’s property. They would be called the ‘household of Narcissus’. So there were Christian slaves in the Emperor’s household (Philippians 4:22).
Verse 12 - Tryphena and Tryphosa were sisters, and may have been born at the same time. Their names meant that they were attractive and delicate. But they worked hard for the Lord.
Persis may have come from Persia. She too worked hard for the Christian faith.
Verse 13 - Rufus meant ‘red’, so he probably had red hair. Simon from Cyrene (in Africa) had to carry Jesus’ cross. He may have become a Christian because of this experience. His sons, Alexander and Rufus, seem to be well-known as Christians, because Mark mentions them by name (Mark 15:21). Simon from Cyrene may be the same as Simeon Niger (which means Simon who was black). Simeon Niger was an important Christian in the church at Antioch (Acts 13:1). And that was the same church where Paul first worked as a leader. So, it may have been in Antioch that the mother of Rufus acted like a mother to Paul. (See Acts 13:1.)
Verse 15 - Tradition associates Nereus with Domitilla, a Christian lady from a royal family. Nereus may have been an important official for Domitilla and her husband Flavius Clemens.
Verse 16 - In 1 Corinthians 16:20 there is another reference to the ‘holy kiss’ of Christian greeting. Peter calls it the ‘kiss of love’ (1 Peter 5:14). Tertullian called it the ‘kiss of peace’.
A list of greetings like this is valuable. It shows how much Paul appreciated his friends. He encouraged them as he praised them. He mentions a variety of Christians. He mentions Jews and Gentiles. He mentions both women and men. And he mentions slaves in addition to some important people. This list shows clearly that there is ‘neither Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male nor female’. All are united in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28).
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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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