Bible Commentaries

THIRD DIVISION

THE COMMENDATION OF COMPANIONS AND HELPERS IN A SERIES OF SALUTATIONS, WITH WHICH IS JOINED A WARNING AGAINST SEPARATISTIC FALSE TEACHERS (JEWS AND GENTILES), WHO COULD HINDER AND EVEN DESTROY ROME’S DESTINY AND HIS APOSTOLIC MISSION. YET THE GOD OF PEACE WILL SHORTLY BRUISE SATAN (JUDAISTIC AND PAGANISTIC ERRORS) UNDER THEIR FEET.

Romans 16:1-20

A. Phebe of Corinth

1I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which [who] is a servant [deaconess] of the church which is at Cenchrea: 2That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath [may have] need of you: for she [too] hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also.

B. Roman friends

3Greet Priscilla [Prisca]¹ and Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus: 4Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks,5but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Likewise greet [salute] the church that is in their house. Salute my well-beloved Epenetus, who is the first-fruits 6 of Achaia [Asia]² unto Christ. Greet [Salute] Mary, who bestowed much labour on us [or, you].³ 7Salute Andronicus and Junia [or, Junias],⁴ my kinsmen, and my fellow-prisoners, who are of note among⁵ the apostles, who also 8 were in Christ before me. Greet [Salute] Amplias, my beloved in the Lord 9 Salute Urbane [Urbanus], our helper in Christ, and Stachys my beloved 10 Salute Apelles [the] approved in Christ. Salute them which [who] are of Aristobulus’ household [the household of Aristobulus]. 11Salute Herodion my kinsman. Greet [Salute] them that be of the household of Narcissus, which12[who] are in the Lord. Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labour in the Lord. Salute the beloved Persis, which [who] laboured much in the Lord 13 Salute Rufus [the] chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine 14 Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes [Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas],⁶ and the brethren which [who] are with them 15 Salute Philologus, and Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints which [who] are with them 16 Salute one another with a holy kiss. The [All the]⁷ churches of Christ salute you.

C. Warning against false teachers

17Now I beseech you, brethren, [to] mark them which [those who] cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine [teaching]⁸ which ye have18[omit have] learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus [omit Jesus]⁹ Christ, but their own belly; and by [their] good words and fair speeches¹⁰ deceive the hearts of the simple 19 For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad [rejoice] therefore on your behalf [over you]:¹¹ but [omit but] yet I would have you wise unto [concerning]that which is good, and simple [harmless] concerning evil 20 And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen [omit Amen.]¹²

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Summary.—A. Commendation of Phebe the deaconess; Romans 16:1-2.—B. The salutations to his Roman friends and companions in their household churches, and the commendations therein expressed; Romans 16:3-16.—C. Warning against false teachers, who create dissension. Benediction; Romans 16:17-20.

In the Apostle’s salutations he does not merely take cognizance of friendly relations in a good-natured way, but rather designs, with a distinct section of his Epistle, and in the wise and sincere form of his salutations, to awaken in the Church at Rome the consciousness that, in its principal elements, it is indirectly a Pauline church—that is, one appropriated by him in his universal efforts.¹³ Comp, on this point, the Introduction, p33, and the construction of the Epistle. It is characteristic, that Aquila and Priscilla stand at the head of those whom he salutes; by their settlement in Ephesus they bad already prepared for his connection there, just as they now had done in Rome, and afterward do again in Ephesus; 2 Timothy 4:19. And so there are many among those saluted who have preceded him, as his precursors. The whole body of those greeted is made up of different classes. Some are helpers of his missionary labors, who have labored with him, and part of whom have exposed themselves to dangers for him: Prisca, Aquila, Mary, Andronicus, Junia, and Urbanus. A number of them are his relatives, such as Andronicus, Junia, and Herodion; or very near friends, as Rufus and his mother. Besides, there are those whom he can distinguish as disciples converted through his instrumentality, or well-known friends: Epenetus, Amplias, Stachys, Apelles; perhaps also Tryphena, Tryphosa, and Persis. We can further distinguish companies, a church in the house of Aquila, an assembly at the houses of Hermes, Hermas, and their companions; at the houses of Philologus, Julia, and their companions. Perhaps the believers in the households of Aristobulus and of Narcissus also form separate divisions of the Church.

A. Rom 16:1-2.

Romans 16:1. I commend. [Both an introduction and a commendation are implied. The description consists of two parts: First, she is a sister, which is the general ground for welcoming her; then, more specially, she is a deaconess, who had faithfully discharged her duty ( Romans 16:2). The name is derived from Φοῖβος, Phœbus (Apollo), but there is nothing remarkable in this, since the etymology would be as little recalled then, as now, in the case of proper names.—R.] See 2 Corinthians 5:12. Phebe is usually regarded as the bearer of the Epistle.

Who is a deaconess; διάχονος. On the institution of deaconesses, comp. Church History and the Pastoral Epistles. Meyer furnishes the special literature on p539. [The word διαχόονισσα occurs frequently in later ecclesiastical Greek. Pliny, in the celebrated letter to Trajan, says: “Necessarium credidi, ex duabus ancillis quœ ministrÆ dicebantur, quid esset veri et per tormenta quœrere.” Their duties were, to take care of the sick, poor, and strangers in the female portion of the Church. “This office was the more needful on account of the rigid separation of the sexes at that day, especially among the Greeks” (Schaff). Meyer refers to Bingham, Orig. i. pp341–366; Schoene, Geschichtsforsch. über d. Kirchlich. Gebräuche, iii. pp 102 ff.; Herzog, Encykloped., iii. p368; Neander, Pflanzung, i. p265 f. The last named argues that the deaconesses must not be confounded with the χῆραι of 1 Timothy 5:3-16. See, however, Lange’s Comm. in loco. We may add: Schaff, Apostolic Church, p135; Suicer, Thesaurus, sub voce. Of Phebe, Conybeare says (St. Paul, ii. p154): “She was a widow of consideration and wealth, who acted as one of the deaconesses of the Church, and was now about to sail to Rome upon some private business, apparently connected with a lawsuit in which she was engaged.” He adds: “She could not (according to Greek manners) have been mentioned as acting in the independent manner described, either if her husband had been living or if she had been unmarried.”—R.]

Cenchrea. The eastern seaport of Corinth (see the Encyclopædias).

Romans 16:2. That ye receive her in the Lord. She should be received with Christian interest.—And that ye assist her [χαὶ παραστῆτε αὐτῇ. The verb is frequently used as a legal term, hence the conjecture of Conybeare, that her business at Rome was connected with a lawsuit.—R.] It is hardly probable that the early Church employed deaconesses to travel in the discharge of official business; the business of Phebe seems to have been of a personal character.

[For she too, χαὶ γὰρ αὐτή. She herself also, not αὒτη (this one).—R.] The reason why the Romans should zealously support her in her affairs does not lie in an official call to Rome, but in her services for the churches at home, and for the Apostle in particular. Προστάτις is a specially honorable designation. [It may refer to her official duties, but not necessarily so. The idea it implies is of service bestowed by a superior on inferiors.—Of myself also. “When and where, we know not. It is not improbable that she may have been, like Lydia, one whose heart the Lord opened at the first preaching of Paul, and whose house was his lodging;” Alford.—R.]

B. Rom 16:3-16.

[The frequent sneers at Paul about his views respecting the female sex and their prerogatives might be spared us, were this chapter carefully read. The order here is a sufficient answer: the wife’s name first, because she was foremost, no doubt. The standard is, after all, capacity, not sex. Both are called “my helpers,” and it would seem that, as such, they were both engaged in spiritual labors, which term includes vastly more than public preaching.—R.]

Romans 16:4. Their own necks. Meyer translates the ὑπέθηχαν literally: have laid under, under the executioner’s axe. But there has been no mention made in Paul’s previous history of the executioner’s axe. Even Meyer himself doubts whether we should take the expression in its exact meaning. Since Paul was a member of their family, they were answerable for him in the tumults that arose in Corinth and Ephesus ( Acts 18:12; Acts 19:23).—What they did for the Apostle, was done for all the churches of the Gentiles.

Romans 16:5. Likewise salute the church that is in their house [καὶ τὴν κατ̓ οἶκον αὐτῶνἐκκλησίαν]. The definite prototype of an apostolical household church, the type of the later parish. At the same time, the single household churches in Rome are already connected by the bond of fellowship into one spiritual church. Accordingly, the church in the house is almost = the assembly in a certain house.¹⁴ Tholuck: “In the metropolis, which was at that time about four miles in circumference, there were not less than five of them (comp. Kist, in Illgen’s Zeitschrift für hist. Theologie, ii, 2d part, p65).”

Epenetus. “Unknown, as all the following ones to Romans 16:15. (Rufus may be the son of Simon; Mark 15:21.) The legends of the Fathers made the most of them martyrs and bishops, and the Synopsis of Dorotheus misplaces the most of them among the seventy disciples;” Meyer.

The first-fruits of Asia [ἀπαρχὴ τῇς̓ Ασίας. See Textual Note 2]. Asia proconsularis. The reading Achaia is less authenticated, and creates difficulty, inasmuch as, in 1 Corinthians 16:15, Stephanas is mentioned as the first-fruits of Achaia. On the solution of this difficulty (by supposing that Epenetus was a member of the household of Stephanas, now in Rome), see Tholuck, p738.—[Εἰς χριστόν. Meyer, Philippi: with reference to Christ; De Wette, Lange: for Christ. The meaning obviously is: first converted to Christ.—R.] The first-fruits, or those first converted, were generally the natural leaders of the incipient churches.

Romans 16:6. Mary. Not more definitely known. There is no need of explaining that the reading, bestowed much labor¹⁵ on us, is much more natural than the other, on you, for elsewhere the Apostle always brings out prominently the relations of the persons saluted to his own labors. [See Textual Note 3.—R.]

Romans 16:7. And Junia (or Junias). The word has often been taken, and by Chrysostom [Grotius] among the rest, as a feminine noun, Junia; it seems more probable that it is Junias, an abbreviation of Junianus (see Tholuck, p739). [If feminine, it is the name of the wife or sister of Andronicus; the Rec. accents thus: Ἰουςίαν, which indicates the feminine. Most editors (not Tregelles): Ἰουνιᾶν. It is as impossible as it is unnecessary to decide the question, though Meyer thinks the added description favors the masculine form.—R.]

My kinsmen. The expression συγγενεῖς has been understood by Olshausen, and others, in the broader sense of fellow-countrymen; against which it has been remarked that, in that case, others than Jewish Christians have received this designation, besides the three thus denominated. Dr. Baur finds in these kinsmen not only a mark of the unauthenticity of chap16, but even of the unfairness of the author, who, by this fiction, would make for the Apostle the favorable appearance of having sustained a more intimate relation to the Jewish-Christian Church in Rome.

My fellow-prisoners [συναιχμαλώτους μου]. Further particulars are not known. But as, according to Acts 23:16, the Apostle had a nephew in Jerusalem who took a deep interest in his cause, and as it is said of Andronicus and Junias, or Junia, that they were before him in Christ—that is, were believers—so it is natural to make a family from the names of Andronicus, Junias, or better, Junia and Herodion, and to suppose that these, as the early converted kinsmen of Paul, had already made an impression in Jerusalem upon the unconverted Paul, and, after his conversion, had taken an interest in him in his captivity. Then, these were specially adapted, like Aquila and Priscilla, to prepare the way for him in Rome. This would also give a simple explanation to among the apostles, ἐν τοῖς ἀποστόλοις. They were, highly respected as believers among the apostles in Jerusalem. So also Meyer: “distinguished—that is, most honorably known to the apostles. Thus Beza, Grotius, and most others; De Wette, Fritzsche, and Philippi. They take the right ground, for ἀπόστολος is never used by Paul in the broader sense (as Acts 14:4-14), and therefore cannot be explained, with Origen, Chrysostom, Luther, Calvin, &c, and Tholuck: among [i. e., among the number of] the Apostles.”¹⁶ See Meyer for hypotheses respecting their conversion.

Romans 16:8. Amplias. An abbreviation of Ampliaton.—[Beloved in the Lord, “beloved in the bonds of Christian fellowship” (Alford).—R.]

Romans 16:9. Urbanus—Stachys. The Apostle’s distinctions result from an exact view.

Romans 16:10. Apelles. This has been confounded (by Origen, and others) with Apollos, but without any ground whatever. [Comp. Horace, Sat., i5100. Supposed to be a freedman, but the name was common among this class (Meyer, Philippi). There are various conjectures about the grouping of freedmen and slaves in these verses.—R.]

The approved [τὸν δόκιμον]. A predicate of tested steadfastness in faith.—Who are of the household of Aristobulus. That is, the Christians in the household, probably slaves of Aristobulus. See the additional ἐν κυρίω in the following verse. [Alford: “It does not follow that either Aristobulus or Narcissus were themselves Christians. Only those of their familiœ (τούς ἐκ τῶν) are here saluted who were ἐν κυρίω̣; for we must understand this also after Ἀριστοβούλου.”—R.]

Romans 16:11. Narcissus. Grotius, Neander, and others, have regarded him as a freedman of Claudius (Sueton, Claud. 28). [This freedman, however, was put to death two or three years before this Epistle was written. It is possible that the salutation is addressed to his family, known thus after his death.—R.]

Romans 16:12. Persis. [The name is derived from Persia, as the native country of the bearer; but it is not known that it was borne for this reason in this particular instance.—R.] She is thus candidly distinguished from the two just named.

Romans 16:13. Rufus. See Commentary, Mark, p151.—The chosen. A very expressive distinction. [Not merely “elect in Christ,” but a chosen man, a distinguished Christian (Hodge).—R.]—His mother and mine [καὶ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ καὶἐμοῦ. “His mother by nature, mine by maternal kindness” (Webster and Wilkinson).—R.]. Fervid expression of gratitude for the enjoyment of friendly care.

Romans 16:14. Hermas. This verse contains a numerous group, probably intimately associated, and less known to the Apostle. Hermas has been regarded by Origen and Eusebius as the author of the work: Ὁ ποιμήν. But this author belongs to the middle of the second century.—The brethren who are with them [τούς σὺν αὐτοῖς ἀδελφούς]. This, as well as the expression in Romans 16:15 : All the saints who are with them, has been understood as referring to a household church. Incidental hypotheses: (1) Christian associations for common business pursuits, &c. (Fritzsche, Philippi). (2) Missionary unions (Reiche). [The latter is quite improbable.—R. ]

Romans 16:15. Julia. Probably the wife of Philologus; for, in what follows, she is distinguished from the sister of Nereus.

Romans 16:16. With a holy kiss. Ἐν φιλήματι ἁγίω̣, 1 Thessalonians 5:26. Comp. 1 Peter 5:14 : ἐν φιλήματι ἀγάπης. “In Tertullian, it is the osculum pacis; the fraternal kiss after the finished prayer in the assemblies of the Christians is mentioned by Justin Martyr (M. Apol1. Op65);” Tholuck.—For further particulars, see Meyer and Winer. The continuance of this Oriental Christian custom of connecting the salutation and the kiss as an expression of fellowship and of common festivals, is known in the Greek church (see Luke 7:45).

All the churches [αἱ ἐκκλησίαι πᾶσαι. See Textual Note7]. As Paul has made known in many churches his intention of going to Rome, and because of this opportunity had received many salutations for Rome, he regarded himself sufficiently warranted to greet Rome in the name of all the churches, particularly of those which he had established. Grotius limits the expression to the Grecian churches; others, in other ways. [Stuart, Olshausen, to the churches in Corinth and vicinity; Bengel, to those he had visited.—R.]

C. Rom 16:17-20.

Romans 16:17. Now I beseech you, brethren. A warning against those who cause divisions and variances is very properly connected with the hearty and solemn injunction for the universal preservation of unity and harmony. See an analogous instance in Ephesians 6:10 ff. This section is, therefore, by no means “supplementary,” as Meyer holds it to be. On the contrary, it is observed, by both him and Tholuck, that it may be inferred from the position of the Apostle’s words (at the conclusion), and their brevity, that the false teachers here designated have not yet found entrance into the Church. He already knew that they existed,and that they increased both intensively and extensively; therefore he could—as he subsequently did in his farewell address at Miletus, when setting out for Ephesus—here definitely predict their presence in Rome. Carpzov has had in mind the differences in chaps14,15; Clericus, and others, the early heathen philosophers. In both, the idea of Christian false teachers is wanting. Others have decided them to be Libertines. That the Apostle, at all events, had in view, besides the future Judaizing and Ebionitic zealots for the law, the gnosticizing and antinomian spirits of the future, is proved on looking at the arrangement for the reception of both these tendencies, which Hebrews, according to chaps, xiv. and xv, unquestionably found already in the Church. According to De Wette, the kind of false teachers here mentioned cannot be more specifically determined; according to Tholuck, with reference to Philippians 3:2, &c, the zealots of the law are meant.

[Alford says: “Judging by the text itself, we infer that these teachers were similar to those pointed out in Philippians 3:2, &c.: unprincipled and selfish persons, seducing others for their own gain; whether Judaizers or not, does not appear; but considering that the great opponents of the Apostle were of this party, we may perhaps infer that they also belonged to it.”—R.]

To mark [σκοπεῖν. To notice carefully; used in Philippians 3:17, with reference to those who should be imitated; more intensive than βλέπειν (Meyer).—R.] This, and the avoiding of them, Krehl thinks can be referred only to present false teachers, which is very properly opposed by Tholuck.—[Divisions and offences, τὰς διχοστασίας καὶ τὰ σκάνδαλα. The articles point to known divisions and scandals, whether Paul referred to any particular persons or not. Dr. Hodge seems disposed to refer the first word to doctrinal divisions, the latter to moral offences; so Webster and Wilkinson. Philippi and Meyer seem to refer the first to divisions, however occasioned, and the latter to temptations to depart from the gospel ground of faith and life. The objection to the former distinction is, that the “divisions” hinted at in the Epistle were mainly of an ethical rather than a doctrinal origin.—Contrary to the teaching, παρὰ τὴν διδαχήν. On the preposition, see Galatians 1:8, Lange’s Comm., p19. Most German commentators are disposed to reject at least the exclusive reference to doctrinal instruction. As our English word doctrine suggests dogmatic theology, we substitute teaching, which includes all instruction.—A commendation of their teachers is implied, which hints at the indirect Pauline origin of the Church.—Avoid them, ἐκκλίνατε ἀπ̓ αὐτῶν. There is no reference to official excommunication, but to personal treatment of those who might or might not be church members.—R.]

Romans 16:18. Serve not our Lord Christ [τῶκυρίω̣ ἡμῶν χριστῷ οὐ δουλεύουσιν. See Textual Note9]. See Romans 2:8; Philippians 3:19; 2 Corinthians 2:20. Fanaticism, by its confusion of spiritual and carnal affections and motives, degenerates into disguised sensualism.—Their own belly [τῆ ἑαυτῶν κοιλίᾳ]. This is a symbol of their self-interest, selfishness, sensuality, and of their final aiming at a mere life of pleasure; comp. 1 Timothy 6:5; Titus 1:11.

And by their good words and fair speeches [διὰ τῆς χρηστολογίας καὶ εὐλλογίας. See Textual Note10]. Comp. 2 Corinthians 11:14. By good words they represent themselves in a rosy light, and by flattering speeches, their hearers. For further particulars, see Tholuck, p741. Melanchthon understands, by εὐλογια, religious blessings and promises; for example, those of the monks. [Hodge takes the two words as synonymous. Meyer thinks the former characterizes the tenor, and the latter the form, of their words. χρηστ. is found only here in the New Testament. The view given by Dr. Lange is quite tenable.—R.]

The simple [τῶν ἀκάκων. The unwary]. Those who, as such, can be easily deceived. [How many were deceiving and deceived, appears from Philippians 1:15, written from Rome a few years afterward.—R.]

Romans 16:19. For your obedience [ἡ γὰρὑμῶν ὑπακοή]. The γάρ is explained in different ways:

1. It implies, indirectly, that they also are not free from this ἀκακία (Origen, Fritzsche). [Dr. Hodge takes obedience as *AP*= obedient disposition, and, with others, regards this as implying a liability to be led astray. But “obedience,” without further definition, would mean the “obedience of faith,” in this Epistle at least; besides, this view implies that their obedience was not altogether of a commendable character.—R.]

2. It implies an antithesis; as for the Roman Christians, he knows that they, as being obedient to the gospel, cannot be so easily deceived (Chrysostom, Theodoret, Meyer).¹⁷

3. The γάρ specifies a second ground for Romans 16:17 (Tholuck, De Wette, Philippi). [So Alford. But Meyer correctly says, that γάρ is never repeated thus in a strictly coördinate relation. Alford finds also a slight reproof here.—R.]

Explanation (1) is, as it seems to us, very aptly modified by Rückert. Since they succeeded in deceiving the simple, they will think that they can also easily find an entrance to you, for they regard your obedience, which is everywhere known, as that very simplicity. [This avoids the objection to which the view, as held by Dr. Hodge, is open. Still, Meyer seems nearest the true explanation.—R.]

I rejoice therefore over you [ἐφ̓ ὑμῖνοὖν χαίρω. See Textual Note11. The emphatic position of ἐφ̓ ὑμῖν favors Meyer’s view of γάρ, while the next clause, with its adversative δέ, seems to introduce the real warning.—R.] It is, at all events, desirable that they allow themselves to be warned, according to the rule which the Apostle lays down.

Wise [σοφούς. א. A. C, Rec., insert μέν, which seems to be an interpolation on account of δέ, which follows.—R.] They should be receptive inquirers after what is good. But, on the other hand, they should be as unreceptive of, and unteachable in, what is bad, as if they were simple-hearted people.—Harmless. [Dr. Lange renders: ungelehrig, einfältig, simple, as in E. V. But harmless seems to be preferable, especially as another Greek word has been rendered “simple” just before ( Romans 16:18).—R.] Meyer explains ἀκεραίους by pure [i. e., unmixed with, free from, evil], which does not make an antithesis to the foregoing (comp. 1 Corinthians 14:20). Matthew 10:16, on the contrary, constitutes a harmonious antithesis to the whole passage. For different expositions of the ἀκεραίους, see Tholuck. [Dr. Hodge: “Wise, so that good may result, and simple, so that evil may not be done;” so most commentators.—R.]

Romans 16:20. And the God of peace, &c. [ὁ δὲΘεὸς τῆς εἰρήνης, κ.τ.λ.] In the divine power of the Spirit and Author of peace. It is just as the God of peace that He will bruise Satan, who, by his false doctrines, causes divisions, and rends the Church asunder. The συντρίψει, shall bruise, is the prophetic future; but not optatively, according to Flatt [Stuart] (see 2 Corinthians 11:15). The expression is an allusion to Genesis 3:15.

The grace, &c. This is the usual concluding benediction (see 2 Corinthians 13:13). In 2 Thessalonians 3:16; 2 Thessalonians 3:18, a concluding salutation also follows the benediction. [The presence of the benediction here has led to various conjectures: that Paul intended to close, but afterward added the salutations; that Romans 16:24 is not genuine, since it only repeats this doxology, &c. But the text is well sustained here, except the final Amen (see Textual Note12); and certainly no one has a right to say that Paul shall always close his Epistles in the same way, or to impugn either the genuineness of the text or the inspiration of the author, because he does not conform to a certain mode (however customary with him).—R.]

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. We become best acquainted with the nature of the office of deaconess in apostolic times from the Pastoral Epistles. From these it is evident, first of all, that this office was not of a missionary character, but a local service in the Church, springing from Christian consecration, and more exactly defined, by the restraint then placed on women, by the general destination of the sex, as well as by age and character. This form of the office in the early Church was succeeded, in the Middle Ages, by the religious orders, which assumed, besides, a qualified missionary function. Recent times have attempted glorious things in relation to this office, and have accomplished great results; but the full development of the matter from the idea of a local evangelical service, into which, in its wider sense, all the female members of the Church are called, remains a grand problem for the Evangelical Church. [Woman’s work in the Church diaconal, not ministerial.—All Christian women called to a diaconal Service; some to a more special, and perhaps official, service of this nature.—The danger of the mediæval extreme best avoided by regarding the Church as founded upon the family; not intended to override it (see the household churches named here). How are we Protestants ignoring this idea?—The diaconal service a priestly one ( Romans 15:27); noble, however humble it appears.—R.]

2. The commendation of Phebe, a model for Christian commendations.

3. The Apostle’s salutations. Christianity is as intensively personal in a holy sense, as actually free from the ungodly respect of persons. The Apostle’s friends as preparers of his way, and witnesses of his greatness and humility. His brief descriptions of them are models of a proper estimation of persons, free from all flattery. A group of constellations in the apostolic age, as a segment of that spiritual starry sky which eternity will reveal.

4. The warning against the false teachers. See the Exeg. Notes.

5. The Apostle’s glorious prophecy opens a still greater future for Rome. We also read, in Matthew, xiii, that it is Satan who sows the tares among the wheat, and thereby causes offences. False teaching seems here to be a ground of divisions and offences. The first practically evil effect proceeds outwardly, the other comes inwardly.

6. It has been said, that the Apostle has pronounced too hard a sentence on his opponents. But the Apostle had established the great festival of peace, and therefore he must regard the enemies of God’s Church of peace as just what they really are—the demoniacal disturbers of the institution of a heavenly life on earth.

(The Homiletical and Practical Notes are in Romans 16:21-27.)

Footnotes