Romans 16 · Featured Study
The Greetings of Romans
The deepest letter Paul ever wrote ends with a page of names: twenty-six people greeted in Rome, a woman trusted to carry the letter, a married couple who risked their necks, and house churches in every paragraph. Romans 16 shows what the gospel of chapters 1 through 15 actually built: a web of real people who knew each other by name. This page walks the chapter in order: Phoebe, Prisca and Aquila, Andronicus and Junia, the women who labored much in the Lord, the warning against dividers with its echo of Genesis 3:15, and the doxology that closes the letter.
Summary
Romans 16 is the most personal chapter Paul wrote: twenty-six people greeted by name in a city he had never visited, and eight more sending greetings from Corinth. The names show the gospel as a lived network of households, workers, and friends, and the chapter closes with a warning against dividers and a doxology.
- Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae, carries the letter to Rome with Paul's full commendation (16:1-2)
- Prisca and Aquila risked their necks for Paul's life, and a church meets in their house (16:3-5)
- Andronicus and Junia are "of note among the apostles"; the readings of the name and the phrase are given with their holders (16:7)
- Four women are named for labor in the Lord: Mary, Tryphaena, Tryphosa, and Persis who labored much (16:6, 12)
- The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly: Genesis 3:15 heard one more time (16:20)
Phoebe Carries the Letter
16:1-2: a commendation, an office, and a trust
“I commend unto you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church that is at Cenchreæ: that ye receive her in the Lord, worthily of the saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever matter she may have need of you: for she herself also hath been a helper of many, and of mine own self.” Romans 16:1-2
The chapter opens with the person who will hand the scroll over. Phoebe belonged to the church at Cenchreae, the eastern port of Corinth, and the letter’s oldest subscription names her as its bearer. Paul entrusted the fullest statement of the gospel he ever wrote to her hands. The word rendered “servant” is diakonos, the word behind “deacon,” and the word rendered “helper” in verse 2 is prostatis, a patron, one who stands before others to protect and provide. Her full story, and the readings of her office, are walked on her own page, Phoebe.
A servant - The Greek word is a deaconness. Of the church in Cenchrea - In the apostolic age, some grave and pious women were appointed deaconnesses in every church. It was their office, not to teach publicly, but to visit the sick, the women in particular, and to minister to them both in their temporal and spiritual necessities.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, 1755Evangelical
Rom 16:1
The person who is here recommended was, as appears from the subscription of this epistle, if that may be depended on, the bearer of this letter, and is described by her name, Phebe; as she dwelt at Cenchrea, it is probable she was a Grecian, as is her name.
John Gill· Exposition of the New Testament, 1746-1748Particular Baptist
Rom 16:1
That is, show her honor for the Lord's sake. He who receives even an insignificant person for the Lord's sake shows honor to the Lord; and Phoebe was a saint: consequently, all the more was it fitting to show her honor.
Theophylact of Ohrid· Commentary on Romans, 1107Byzantine
Rom 16:2
Prisca and Aquila
16:3-5: risked necks, and a church in the house
“Salute Prisca and Aquila my fellow-workers in Christ Jesus, who for my life laid down their own necks; unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles:” Romans 16:3-4
“and salute the church that is in their house. Salute Epænetus my beloved, who is the firstfruits of Asia unto Christ.” Romans 16:5
Prisca is the Priscilla of Acts 18, and Aquila her husband: the tentmaking couple who took Paul in at Corinth, traveled with him to Ephesus, and there took Apollos aside and taught him the way of God more accurately. Somewhere in those years they put their own necks on the line for Paul’s life; the text does not say when, only that every Gentile church knew it and gave thanks. Now back in Rome, their house is a meeting place of the church. Scripture names this couple six times, and in four of them the wife comes first. Her page, Priscilla, walks the whole story.
It is a singular honor which he ascribes here to Prisca and Aquila, especially with regard to a woman. The modesty of the holy man does on this account more clearly shine forth; for he disdained not to have a woman as his associate in the work of the Lord; nor was he ashamed to confess this. She was the wife of Aquila, and Luke calls her Priscilla.
John Calvin· Commentaries on Romans, 1554Reformed
Rom 16:3
Salute Priscilla--The true reading here is "Prisca" (as in 2Ti 4:19), a contracted form of Priscilla, as "Silas" of "Silvanus." and Aquila my helpers--The wife is here named before the husband (as in Ac 18:18, and Ro 16:26, according to the true reading; also in 2Ti 4:19), probably as being the more prominent and helpful to the Church.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871Reformed
Rom 16:3
Who have for my life laid down their own necks, i.e., put themselves in danger of death to save my life, an indication of the greatest charity: greater love has no man than that he lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).
Thomas Aquinas· Commentary on Romans, 1274Scholastic
Rom 16:4
The church in their house16:5, and the world it belonged to
For roughly the church’s first two centuries there were no church buildings. A congregation was somebody’s dining room, and Romans 16 lets us see the arrangement in passing: the church in the house of Prisca and Aquila (16:5), the households of Aristobulus and Narcissus (16:10-11), the brethren with Asyncritus and his circle (16:14), the saints with Philologus and Julia (16:15). The greetings sketch what may be five or more separate gatherings inside one city.
The church in their house is also mentioned 1Co 16:19. This may mean either the church that was accustomed to assemble for worship at their hospitable mansion; or it may mean their own family with their guests, regarded as a "church." In those times Christians had no houses erected for public worship, and were therefore compelled to meet in their private dwellings.
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, 1832-1869Presbyterian
Rom 16:5
Andronicus and Junia
16:7: of note among the apostles
“Salute Andronicus and Junias, my kinsmen, and my fellow-prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also have been in Christ before me.” Romans 16:7
One verse, four honors: Paul’s kinsmen, his fellow prisoners, of note among the apostles, and in Christ before he was, which places their conversion within the first few years after the resurrection. Two questions in the verse have been read more than one way, and this page gives the readings with the voices who hold each, without stamping a verdict on either.
The name: Junia or Junias?the readings, held by real voices
The Greek text carries the accusative form Iounian, which can belong to a woman’s name, Junia, or to a contracted man’s name, Junias. The oldest manuscripts were written without the accents that would settle it. The site’s own translations show both: KJV prints “Junia,” ASV prints “Junias.” Junia was a common Roman woman’s name; the male form is rare in the surviving record. Matthew Henry takes the pair for a man and his wife and calls that the more probable reading; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown hold the feminine reading open in the same breath as the other. John Chrysostom, preaching through Romans in the fourth century (Homilies on Romans, Homily 31), read the name as a woman’s and honored her under the verse’s own title; his homily is named here as known reception history rather than quoted, since the site’s verified quote pool for this chapter does not carry it.
Some take them for a man and his wife, and the original will well enough bear it; and, considering the name of the latter, this is more probable than that they should be two men, as others think, and brethren.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710Puritan
Rom 16:7
The phrase: "of note among the apostles"two readings, with holders
The phrase has also been read two ways. One reading counts Andronicus and Junia among the apostles in the word’s wider New Testament sense, sent messengers beyond the Twelve, as Barnabas is called an apostle in Acts 14:14; Origen, the chapter’s oldest surviving commentator, reads it this way and wonders whether the pair belonged to the seventy-two. The other reading, held among modern grammarians of the Greek, takes the phrase as “well known to the apostles”: the apostles knew and honored them. Both readings honor the pair; the verse’s plain weight, either way, is that these two were believers of the first hour whom the whole apostolic circle held in regard.
It may indeed be that these were kinsmen of Paul according to the flesh, and believed before him, and were held to be noble among the apostles of Christ ... perhaps they were among those seventy-two who were themselves also named apostles
Origen of Alexandria· Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, 253Greek Father
Rom 16:7
And of course, if "Junia" is to be taken for a woman, this latter must be the meaning. who also were in Christ before me--The apostle writes as if he envied them this priority in the faith.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871Reformed
Rom 16:7
The Women Who Labored
16:6, 12: Mary, Tryphaena, Tryphosa, and Persis
“Salute Mary, who bestowed much labor on you.” Romans 16:6
“Salute Tryphæna and Tryphosa, who labor in the Lord. Salute Persis the beloved, who labored much in the Lord.” Romans 16:12
Paul’s word for their work, kopiao, means labor to the point of weariness; it is the word he uses for his own ministry. He grades it with care: Tryphaena and Tryphosa labor in the Lord, and Persis labored much. Of the people this chapter singles out for labor in the Lord, most are women. The chapter honors them by name and by deed, and so does this page.
Tryphena and Tryphosa - Two holy women, who it seems were assistants to the apostle in his work, probably by exhorting, visiting the sick, etc. Persis was another woman, who it seems excelled the preceding; for, of her it is said, she labored much in the Lord. We learn from this, that Christian women, as well as men, labored in the ministry of the word.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible, 1832Methodist
Rom 16:12
This woman seems to be praised more than Tryphaena and Tryphosa, since indeed he says that those labored in the Lord, but that this one labored much in the Lord, to whom he added also "most dear."
Origen of Alexandria· Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, 253Greek Father
Rom 16:12
Greet Mary, who bestowed much labor on us - Who this Mary was, or what the labor was which she bestowed upon the apostles, we know not. Her works, though hidden from man, are with God; and her name is recorded with honor in this book of life.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible, 1832Methodist
Rom 16:6
A Web of Names
16:8-16, 21-23: the church as real people
The middle of the chapter is a roll call: Ampliatus, Urbanus, Stachys, Apelles the approved, the households of Aristobulus and Narcissus, Herodion, Rufus the chosen and his mother, “and mine,” two clusters of brethren and saints, and a holy kiss to pass among them all. Several of the names are common slave names from the Roman inscriptions; one, Rufus, may be the son of Simon of Cyrene who carried the cross (Mark 15:21). Paul had never visited Rome, yet he knew twenty-six people there by name and by story. The gospel traveled through friendships, households, and trade routes before any apostle arrived.
“Salute Rufus the chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.” Romans 16:13
“Salute one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ salute you.” Romans 16:16
Salute Rufus - Perhaps the same that is mentioned, Mark xv, 21. And his mother and mine - This expression may only denote the tender care which Rufus's mother had taken of him.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, 1755Evangelical
Rom 16:13
From this saying, and from some others like it, a custom has been handed down to the Churches that after the prayers the brethren receive one another with a kiss. And this kiss the Apostle calls holy.
Origen of Alexandria· Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, 253Greek Father
Rom 16:16
Hermas whom the apostle Paul mentions in writing to the Romans ... is reputed to be the author of the book which is called Pastor and which is also read publicly in some churches of Greece.
Jerome· De Viris Illustribus (On Illustrious Men), Section 10, 420Latin Father
Rom 16:14
Then the room in Corinth answers back. Timothy, Lucius, Jason and Sosipater send greetings; Gaius, host of Paul and of the whole church, sends his; Erastus the city treasurer and Quartus the brother send theirs. And one voice breaks through that no other letter carries: the scribe himself.
“I Tertius, who write the epistle, salute you in the Lord.” Romans 16:22
As one who had been judged worthy to write out the Epistle to the Romans at Paul's dictation, he inserts his own name into it as well ... he knew that he had not only rendered the service of a scribe, but had written in the Lord
Origen of Alexandria· Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, 253Greek Father
Rom 16:22
Mark Them That Cause Divisions
16:17-20: the serpent under foot
“Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them that are causing the divisions and occasions of stumbling, contrary to the doctrine which ye learned: and turn away from them.” Romans 16:17
“For they that are such serve not our Lord Christ, but their own belly; and by their smooth and fair speech they beguile the hearts of the innocent.” Romans 16:18
In the middle of the warm greetings, one sharp warning. The danger Paul names comes from inside the congregation: dividers whose words are smooth and fair and whose appetite is their own. The remedy he gives is the one this letter has been building for fifteen chapters, the doctrine they learned, and a wisdom that stays innocent of evil without being naive about it (16:19). Barnes reads the charge as the letter’s own peacemaking pressed one last time between Jewish and Gentile believers.
Now I beseech you - One great object of this Epistle had been to promote "peace" between the Jewish and Gentile converts. So much did this subject press upon the mind of the apostle, that he seems unwilling so leave it. He returns to it again and again; and even after the Epistle is apparently concluded, he returns to it, to give them a new charge on the subject.
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, 1832-1869Presbyterian
Rom 16:17
Flattery is always insidious, deceitful and bland. And a flatterer is well defined by philosophers as a bland enemy. Truth is harsh, bitter, stern, unpleasant and offensive to those who are reproved.
Jerome· Against the Pelagians, 420Latin Father
Rom 16:18
Romans 16:20 (ASV)
“And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” Romans 16:20
The promise behind the warning is the Bible’s first promise. Genesis 3:15 said the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent’s head; Paul tells an ordinary Roman congregation that the God of peace will do that bruising under their feet. The victory is Christ’s, and the feet are theirs. The whole thread from Eden to this verse is walked at The Seed.
Shall bruise Satan - Shall give you the dominion over the great adversary of your souls, and over all his agents who, through his influence, endeavor to destroy your peace and subvert your minds.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible, 1832Methodist
Rom 16:20
The Doxology
16:25-27: the letter ends in praise
“Now to him that is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal, but now is manifested, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, is made known unto all the nations unto obedience of faith: to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory for ever. Amen.” Romans 16:25-27
The letter closes the way it opened. Romans 1 announced a gospel promised through the prophets, for the obedience of faith among all the nations; Romans 16 ends with the same gospel, the same prophets, the same nations, and the same obedience of faith, gathered into one sentence of praise. The mystery kept silent through times eternal and now made manifest is the theme chapters 9 through 11 argued and chapter 15 planned missions around: God’s one plan for Jew and Gentile in Christ. The longest argument in the New Testament ends in worship.
The attribute of "wisdom" is here brought into view, because it had been particularly displayed in this plan which was now revealed. It evinced, in an eminent degree, the "wisdom" of God. That wisdom was evinced in devising the plan; in adapting it to the renewing of the heart; the justification of the sinner; his preservation, guidance, and sanctification; and in the manner in which the divine attributes had all been seen to harmonize.
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, 1832-1869Presbyterian
Rom 16:27
Where verse 24 wenta translation note, held plainly
A reader moving from KJV to ASV will notice the verse numbers jump from 23 to 25. KJV carries a second grace benediction as verse 24; the ASV, following the older manuscripts, carries the benediction once, at the close of verse 20, and prints no verse 24. Nothing is lost: the same words stand in both translations at 16:20. The site’s reader shows each translation honestly as it stands.
The Words Underneath
the servant and the patron
The words underneath
diakonos: servant
Greek · G1249Strong's entry: an attendant, i.e. (genitive case) a waiter (at table or in other menial duties); specially, a Christian teacher and pastor (technically, a deacon or deaconess)
Diakonos, servant: the word behind Phoebe's title at 16:1, the same word rendered deacon at Philippians 1:1 and 1 Timothy 3:8, and minister of Christ himself at Romans 15:8.
29 times in the New Testament · diakonos, in full →
prostatis: patroness
Greek · G4368Strong's entry: a patroness, i.e. assistant
Prostatis, helper: 16:2's word for Phoebe, found only here in the New Testament. A patron or protector, one who stands in front of others on their behalf.
1 times in the New Testament · prostatis, in full →
The Voices
with the work named
Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755) · public domain
Reads the word behind "servant" at 16:1 plainly: the Greek word is a deaconess, an office held by grave and pious women in every apostolic church.
Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748) · public domain
Identifies Phoebe as the bearer of the letter itself, on the strength of the epistle's old subscription.
Commentaries on Romans (1540; Calvin Translation Society text) · public domain
Calls Paul's word to Prisca a singular honor, from a man not ashamed to have a woman as his associate in the work of the Lord.
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) · public domain
Notes that the wife is named before the husband, probably as the more prominent and helpful to the church, and holds the Junia readings open.
Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710) · public domain
Takes Andronicus and Junia for a man and his wife as the more probable reading, and marvels at how ready Paul was to acknowledge precedency in others.
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869) · public domain
Explains the house church of 16:5 from a world with no church buildings, and reads 16:17 as the letter's own peacemaking pressed one last time.
Commentary on the Bible (1832) · public domain
On the laboring women of 16:12: Christian women, as well as men, labored in the ministry of the word.
Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans (c. 246) · cite-only, modern English translation
The oldest surviving commentary on the chapter: weighs each greeting's wording, and counts Andronicus and Junia noble among the apostles.
Commentary on Romans (1107) · cite-only, modern English translation
On receiving Phoebe: honor shown to a saint for the Lord's sake is honor shown to the Lord.
Commentary on Romans (c. 1272) · cite-only, modern English translation
Reads the risked necks of 16:4 through John 15:13: an indication of the greatest charity.
De Viris Illustribus (392) and Against the Pelagians (415) · cite-only, modern English translation
Connects the Hermas of 16:14 with the book called the Shepherd, and sets flattery against truth at 16:18.
Marcus Brown's own commentary leads above all; within a tier, all voices are equal. Every quote above is drawn byte-checked from the site's verified quote pool for Romans 16, with the specific work named.
Word studies
The Hebrew and Greek under this study, each word in its own room.
Where it leads
Featured studies9
- Phoebe: the servant of Cenchreae, her own study
- Priscilla: the teacher of Apollos, her own study
- The Seed: Genesis 3:15 and the promise 16:20 echoes
- Bearing One Another's Burdens, MannaFest
- Food Offered to Idols, MannaFest
- Marriage, Singleness, and Divorce: 1 Corinthians 7, MannaFest
- Put Off, Put On, MannaFest
- Ready to Give an Answer, MannaFest
- Shepherd the Flock, MannaFest
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