I think there are many, even some apparently good commentators, who hurry over this part of the epistle because they think it is superfluous and of little importance. They probably think much the same about the genealogies in the Gospels. Because it is a catalog of names, they think they can get nothing good out of it. People who mine gold are careful even about the smallest fragments, but these commentators ignore even huge bars of gold!

This passage teaches that there were women ordained in the church’s ministry by the apostle’s authority. . . . Not only that—they ought to be ordained into the ministry, because they helped in many ways and by their good services deserved the praise even of the apostle.

Note how many ways Paul dignifies Phoebe. He mentions her before all the rest and even calls her his sister. It is no small thing to be called the sister of Paul! Moreover, he has mentioned her rank of deaconess as well. ^[1] NO ^[1]

Although the text of the letter is already finished, as it were, Paul has attached this material for the purpose of commendation and greeting, as was his custom.

Even today, women deaconesses in the East are known to minister to their own sex in baptism or even in the ministry of the Word, for we find that women taught privately, e.g., Priscilla, whose husband was called Aquila.^[1]

Cenchreae is a village outside Corinth. It is interesting to note how quickly the gospel was spreading, in that it had already reached the villages. In fact the church at Cenchreae was so large that it even had a woman deaconess, and one who was famous and well known to boot.

Paul commands that those who dedicate themselves to good works ought to be received by their brethren and be held in honor by being provided with whatever they might need.

Paul praises Phoebe as highly as he does because the more she appears to be an excellent person in the sight of others, the more she will receive the help owed to her in love.

There are two reasons why Phoebe should be received by them. First, she has been received by the Lord, and second, she is herself a saint.

Help her with expenses or support, says Paul, because she also helped many people as long as she had the means.

It is probable that Phoebe helped Paul by offering him hospitality in her house at Corinth for the short time that he was there.^[1] In return Paul opened the whole world to her, and throughout the Mediterranean she became a famous woman.

It may be that these two, after having been expelled from Rome by the decree of Caesar and having come to Corinth, returned to Rome once the severity of the decree was relaxed.

These were Jews who, after they believed, became coworkers with the apostle because they had believed correctly and were thus able to persuade others to accept the right faith. Apollos, for example, although he was learned in the Scriptures, was nevertheless taught the way of the Lord more correctly by them. This is why Paul calls them his fellow workers in Christ Jesus.

Luke also bears witness to them when he says that Paul dwelt with them^[1] and that Priscilla [Prisca] had received Apollos and instructed him in the way of the Lord.^[2]

They are said to have established Apollos in the faith.^[1] Paul calls them helpers because they helped him in his work of instruction.^[2]

Paul adds in Christ Jesus to show that Prisca (or Priscilla; both forms are found in the manuscripts) and Aquila were not merely Paul’s hosts but that they were fellow evangelists as well.

This shows that Priscilla and Aquila were hospitable to Gentiles as well as to Jews. Hospitality is highly esteemed both by God and by man.

Here Paul hints at their hospitality and financial assistance, holding them in admiration because they had both poured forth their blood and had made their whole property available to everybody. Notice how noble were the women Paul named. They were in no way hindered by their sex from following the path of virtue, and this is only to be expected. For in Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female.^[1]

By supporting Paul’s teaching, they exposed themselves to danger. Therefore all the churches thank them, for Paul was kept from harm by them.

Paul mentions Epaenetus’s claim to fame, in order to show that important people believe and turn to the faith and in order to invite the leaders of the Romans to accept Christ, and if they have already done so, to become humble.

Priscilla was noble enough to make their house a church, both by converting everyone in it and by opening it to strangers. Paul did not normally call houses churches, except when there was much godliness in them. . . . For even married people may become worthy of esteem and noble. These were married and became very honorable, even though their profession was that of tentmaker, which is far from honorable in itself.

Note how Paul calls Epaenetus beloved, which is high praise indeed. For Paul did not use a word like this to show favoritism; rather, it was the result of calm, cool reflection. Moreover, he was the first convert in Achaea, either in time or in quality. . . . Given that it was likely that all these people were of humble birth, Paul shows what true nobility is and honors them accordingly.

Paul shows that a gathering of believers is called a church. Epaenetus was the firstborn of the church in Asia Minor. We learn from their names that all the people Paul greets were foreigners, and it is not unreasonable to suppose that the Romans came to faith through their example and teaching.

Evidently Prisca and Aquila had preached the gospel to their servants and converted them to the Lord. St. Luke mentions them [in Acts 18:24-28] and shows how they led Apollos to the truth.

Paul is teaching here that women too ought to work for the churches of God. They work when they teach children how to behave, when they love their husbands, when they feed their children, when they are modest and chaste, when they keep a good household, when they are kind, when they are submissive to their husbands, when they exercise hospitality, when they wash the feet of the saints, and when they do all the other things which are allotted to women in the Bible.

How can it be that yet another woman is honored and proclaimed victorious! We men are put to shame yet again. Or rather, we are not merely put to shame; we have a different honor conferred on us. For it is an honor to have such women as these among us, though we are put to shame in that we are left so far behind them. But if we come to know why they are so honored, we shall quickly overtake them.

What does Paul mean when he says that he does not permit a woman to teach?^[1] He means to prevent a woman from coming forward publicly and preaching in the pulpit; he does not stop them from teaching altogether. If this were the case . . . how would Priscilla have come to instruct Apollos? . . .

Mary worked hard among them, because along with teaching she performed other ministries besides. . . . The women of those days were more spirited than lions, sharing with the apostles their labors for the gospel’s sake.

Yet another woman who is praised because of her labors.

It may be that these were Paul’s kinsmen according to the flesh, but the expression my fellow prisoners is what fascinates me. When was Paul in captivity? It seems that this was the captivity of sin and that they were together with him in the blindness of unbelief. When Christ came they were set free, as was Paul.

They were Paul’s kinsmen in flesh and in Spirit, as the angel said to Mary: Behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth.^[1]

It was the greatest of honors to be counted a fellow prisoner of Paul’s. . . . Think what great praise it was to be considered of note among the apostles. These two were of note because of their works and achievements. Think how great the devotion of this woman Junia must have been, that she should be worthy to be called an apostle! But even here Paul does not stop his praise, for they were Christians before he was.

Yet more praises. These people were companions of Paul in his sufferings and even shared imprisonment with him. Hence he says that they are men and women of note, not among the pupils but among the teachers, and not among the ordinary teachers but among the apostles. He even praises them for having been Christians before him.

Paul greets him as a friend but as a friend in the Lord, because he had not shared Paul’s work or his imprisonment.

Think what an honor it was to be loved by the apostle Paul. If Ampliatus had not been worthy of this, he would not have attracted Paul’s love.

This is no small praise, for Paul says that he is beloved in the Lord, because he behaved uprightly and honestly.

Urbanus is praised more highly than Ampliatus, and Stachys receives a similar honor.

Paul praises Urbanus more highly than Stachys, because Urbanus had helped him in his preaching and in his struggles.

Paul does not say that those of the family of Aristobulus were beloved, or approved, or fellow workers in Christ. Perhaps they were not any of these things, and so he honors them only with a simple greeting.

Paul does not greet Apelles as a friend or fellow worker, but because he has been tried in temptations and found to be faithful to Christ. Aristobulus is to be understood as having assembled the brethren in Christ. Paul approves of this so much that he regards those whom he has gathered together to be worthy of greeting as well.

There is no praise like this, for the words approved in Christ include the whole list of virtues. . . . By setting out the praises particular to each, he sets before us their individual virtues. He does not excite envy by honoring one and not the other, but neither does he cater to cynicism by praising them all in exactly the same way.

Paul bears witness to the great virtue of Apelles; there was nothing corrupt in him.

Narcissus had a large family, but they were not all Christians, which is why Paul singles out those in the Lord.

When Paul calls Herodion his kinsman and nothing more, he shows that he was faithful in the love of the new birth, but he does not mention his perseverance. Narcissus is said to have been a presbyter of the time, and this is what we find in other manuscripts. . . . This presbyter Narcissus went about encouraging believers by his preaching. And since Paul did not know what the merits were of those who had been with him, he asks the Romans to greet those of his household who had put their trust in the Lord and who were therefore worthy of his greeting.

Paul seems to be implying that there were others in the family of Narcissus who did not yet believe.

Persis appears to be more honored than the other two, because she has worked hard in the Lord. This work is one of encouragement and of service to the saints for Christ’s sake when they are under pressure and in need, because they had fled their homes and were being attacked by unbelievers.

Once more, praise for work which has been done. This presumably refers to hospitality, or fasting, or some other good work of that kind.

For he [Rufus] was chosen, that is, promoted by the Lord to do his work. Nevertheless he had such a holy mother that the apostle calls her his mother also.

These were Jews, and because they had suffered tribulation along with Paul but like him they had not been intimidated, they are deservedly held in esteem. Among others, they had been sent to further the progress of the Romans, and according to the testimony of Paul himself they are reported to have been believers before him.

The mother of Rufus by nature had become Paul’s mother by grace.

I think this Hermas was the author of the book called The Shepherd of Hermas, which seems to me to be a useful book and one which was inspired by God. I think the reason Paul does not praise him is that he himself tells us in his book that he was converted only after many sins. Scripture tells us not to rush to honor someone who has just repented from sin nor to give him praise as long as the angel of repentance is still over him.

Paul greets these together because he knew that they agreed with one another in Christ and were loyal friends. He also greets the brethren who were with them but omits their names.

This was another family of believers whom Paul thought worthy of praise.

It is possible that Philologus and Julia were married and that the others named here were their domestic servants.

These are understood to have been of one mind because it was for that reason that Paul greeted them together.

By his example Paul teaches us what sort of friends we should greet in our letters, not those who are rich in worldly goods or honored with positions of rank but those who are well supplied in grace and faith.

If we are called to the kingdom of God, let us walk worthy of the kingdom, loving God and our neighbor. Love is not proved by a kiss but by kindly feeling. But there are those who do nothing but make the church resound with a kiss, not having love itself inside them. For this very thing, the shameless use of a kiss, which ought to be mystic, occasions foul suspicions and evil reports. The apostle, however, calls the kiss holy.

What prayer is complete if it is divorced from the holy kiss?

From this and other statements like it, it appears that it was the custom to greet one another with a kiss after the prayers. The apostle calls this a holy kiss. How could Paul write that all the churches sent greetings, when he was only in one of them at the time? I think we have to understand this to mean that there was one spirit common to Paul and to all the churches, so that he could speak on behalf of them all.

Paul asks that all those to whom he has written and whom he names be greeted with a holy kiss, that is, in the peace of Christ, not in the desire of the flesh, because these kisses are spiritual, not physical.

By saying churches of Christ Paul is saying that there is a church which is not Christ’s. For David called the company of evildoers an assembly of the wicked.^[1]

By this salutation Paul intended to cast out of them any reason for pride. The great were not to despise the small, nor were the small to envy the great, but pride and envy were to be banished by the kiss, which made everyone equal. Therefore, he not only asks them to greet each other in this way, but he also sends them this greeting from the other churches.

Not with a false and treacherous kiss, of the sort with which Judas betrayed the Savior.^[1] For in the church the peace is proclaimed first, so that we may show that we are at peace with all who are about to partake of the body of Christ.^[2]

Now Paul goes on to mention the false apostles, whom he warns against throughout the epistle just as he does here as well. But he attacks their teaching without saying what it is. They were forcing believers to become Jews and thereby making the benefits of God worthless. . . . They compiled long genealogies and used them to support their teaching, by which they were deceiving the hearts of the simple.

Division is the subversion of the church. Turning things upside down like this is the devil’s weapon. As long as the body is united he has no way of getting in, but harm comes from division. And where does division come from? From doctrines which are contrary to the teaching of the apostles.

Paul is here discussing the same people he wrote about to Timothy^[1] and to Titus.^[2] See also Philippians [3:19].

The people Paul is referring to here were men who defended the law.

The heretics do this by coating over their poison pills of godless doctrines with the honey of the name of Christ.

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.

It seems that Paul is talking here about the Jewish leaders. . . . Their words sound wonderful, but they are deceptive. However, they do not fool everyone but only the hearts of the simple-minded.

Paul is speaking of those who in his day came from among the circumcised and did away with fasts and abstinence. Disagreeing with apostolic teaching and setting obstacles before the brethren, they preached new moons and sabbaths and other feast days for the sake of their stomach.

This is similar to what Paul wrote to the Corinthians when he said: Be babes in evil, but in your thinking be mature.^[1] The Lord also said much the same thing: The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light.^[2]

The apostle admits that he rejoices because of the hearts of the innocent, and [in this verse] he gives a kind of definition of being as a child.

Being wise as to what is good means doing good works, while being guileless as to what is evil means avoiding unrighteous deeds.

If you obeyed those you should not have obeyed, how much more should you obey us! For this is why these people came to you, because they knew that you could readily be led astray by unsuspecting obedience. I rejoice with you, because obedience is good only if it is reasonable. I want you to be wise in what is good, so that by being ignorant of evil you may bring the enemy down under the feet of innocence.

It seems to me that Satan here refers to any spirit which is opposed to God. For in our language, Satan means adversary.

But just as the apostle teaches that if they behave and demonstrate that they are the kind of people he says they are, then he promises that Satan will soon be crushed under their feet by the God of peace, so the same God of peace will stir up Satan in the hearts of those who do not keep his peace with a pure heart and a clean conscience. Thus whoever neglects the blessing of peace will suffer the bitter pangs of the adversaries until he remembers the sweetness of the peace which he has rejected. Therefore we are edified by both of these things, for God is said to stir up Satan against those who neglect him and to subdue him for the benefit of those who dedicate themselves to him, giving them the palm of victory over their vanquished foe and pouring out on them the rewards of victory.

Paul says this about his own coming to them, for then he will crush the devil so that they will be able to receive spiritual grace. Satan gets angry at that, because he wants people to remain in sin. The grace which he has promised he will give them when he comes he now prays that they will have. For if they deserve to receive that grace, then he is already with them in spirit.

The Lord has given us power to tread upon scorpions and snakes and every power of the enemy^[1] so that he may not prevail over us and so that we can walk over him with all our members free and unfettered.

After revealing the enemy, Paul points to the Savior. Those who receive God’s grace will never be defeated.

Timothy is well known from the Acts of the Apostles, where it is recorded that he was from Derbe, the son of a believing widow and of a Gentile father.^[1] Paul asked him to remain at Ephesus in order to warn the people there not to teach anything different from what they had been taught nor to listen to myths and endless genealogies.^[2]

Lucius may have been the same person as Luke the Evangelist, because names are sometimes given in the native form and sometimes in the Greek or Roman one.

Jason is the same person as the one who, when there were riots against Paul and Silas at Thessalonica, posted a bond for them so that they might have the freedom to preach.^[3] Sosipater was the son of Pyrrhus, from Berrhoea.^[4] . . . Paul calls them all his kinsmen because, although they were Gentiles, they were his brethren in the faith.

Timothy was a fellow worker of Paul’s as a cobishop, and he governed the church with great care. The Jews hated him to the point that he was circumcised because of it, in that his mother was Jewish and he could not be a teacher without being circumcised. Paul calls these people his kinsmen, partly by blood and partly by faith.

Timothy was circumcised at Lystra and Paul wrote him two letters. Jason is mentioned in Acts.^[1]

Tertius was his name, not a number [third]. He was the scribe who wrote the epistle, and Paul allowed him to send his own greetings to the Romans.

Tertius was another of those who had accepted the apostle’s teaching. Being rewarded for this with the gift of expression, he was told to send this letter to the Romans.

This is the same Gaius whom Paul mentioned as having baptized at Corinth.^[1] Paul would not have mentioned that Erastus was the city treasurer if he did not intend a spiritual meaning as well, viz., that Erastus was the treasurer or paymaster of that city whose builder and maker is God. This is why he did not indicate in what city Erastus served as treasurer!

I think that this is the same Gaius to whom John wrote rejoicing in the love which he showed to the brethren by being always ready to meet their needs.^[1]

When you hear that Gaius was Paul’s host, admire him not only for his generosity but also for his strictness of life. For if he were not worthy of Paul’s standards, the apostle would never have lodged there.

Paul mentions Erastus’s title with the purpose of showing that the gospel had taken hold among the great as well as among the rest of the population. . . . To a man who hears the Word, riches are not a hindrance, nor the cares of government, nor anything else of that kind.

The highest praise is reserved for hospitality on such a scale. . . . Gaius was a Corinthian, as appears from 1 Corinthians [1:14]: I thank my God that I baptized none of you, except Crispus and Gaius. . . . Erastus is also mentioned elsewhere, in 2 Timothy [4:20].

Paul places Christ, through whom we were made and again remade by his grace, at the end of his epistle so that he might stick in our minds, for if we are mindful of his benefits he will always look after us, as he said: Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.^[1]

This is where we ought to begin and end! The best proof of a generous teacher is that he benefits his learners not by word only but also by prayer.

This is the closing formula, written in Paul’s own hand, in all his letters.

Once again Paul offers them a spiritual blessing and surrounds them with the grace of God, which is like an impenetrable wall. This is how the epistle began and this is how it ends. We too may share in this grace, triumphing over temptations and, enlightened by it, following the right way free of all error. Walking in the apostle’s footsteps we may be made worthy to behold the teacher and by his intercession receive the Lord’s blessing and promises, by the grace and kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit belong glory and honor, now and forever, world without end. Amen.

Marcion, who interpolated both the Gospels and the Epistles, deleted this passage [Romans 16:24] from the text, and not only this but everything [after 14:25] as well. In other manuscripts not edited by Marcion we find this passage in different places. Some have it immediately after [14:25], and others have it here, at the end of the epistle.

Paul wants to show that there are two ways in which those who believe in the gospel are strengthened. One is by his preaching, which is the preaching of Christ. The other is by the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret for long ages and which has now been revealed in Christ . . . not without suitable witnesses but with the backing of the prophetic Scriptures.

Paul gives glory to God the Father, from whom are all things, that he might be pleased to fill the congregation of the Romans with his grace, as he can do by confirming their minds in faith for the advancing of the gospel and the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages, which has now been made manifest in Christ.^[1]

Here Paul prays for them on the assumption that they are not yet firmly fixed but are still wavering. In order to back up what he says, he bases it all on the preaching of Jesus Christ, by which he means the things that Jesus himself preached. For if Christ preached it, the teaching is not Paul’s, but his. . . . Furthermore, to be let in on the secret, especially on one which had been kept for such a long time, is a sign of the greatest intimacy and friendliness.

God strengthens us with signs and teachings, so that you may live in the way that Paul has preached by the example and authority of Christ.

Paul says this in order to remind us of how old the gospel actually is.

Although the message is made known to all nations, it is not made known to all people, because only a few chosen ones are able to understand the wisdom and knowledge of God, of whom it is said: Many are called, but few are chosen.^[1]

Those who advance in the knowledge of Christianity do not treat the things written in the law with disrespect. On the contrary, they bestow even greater honor upon them, showing what a depth of wise and mysterious reasons is contained in these writings, which are not fully comprehended by the Jews, who treat them superficially and even as if they were to some extent mythical.

The mystery which is eternally hidden in God was revealed in the time of Christ, for God is not alone, but from all eternity he has his Word and the Paraclete with him. God decreed that every creature was to be saved by coming to a knowledge of this truth. For the truth of this mystery had been indicated by the prophets in symbols, and it was known only to God. . . . This wisdom is Jesus Christ, who is from God and was with God forever.

By saying this Paul is releasing the weak person from fear. For this secret was contained in the law. Indeed, it is what the law was all about. We cannot ask why it should be disclosed now, for to do this would be to call God to account. We ought not to behave like busybodies but instead be content with what we have been given.

The mystery of the calling of all the Gentiles, which through Paul’s gospel, using the testimonies of the prophets, had now been plainly disclosed in Christ,^[1] had long been hidden in the law. Although the prophets had said many things about the Gentiles, none had recognized as clearly as Paul how Gentiles and Jews would become one in Christ. For they had been able to determine that some should be admitted to the faith as proselytes.

The obedience of faith is the result of the preaching of the gospel.

God cannot be called wise in the way that human beings are wise, because a wise man merely has a share in wisdom, whereas God is its author and source.

God alone is wise, although both Solomon and many other holy men were called wise.^[1]

Without Christ nothing is complete, because all things are through him. It is acknowledged that praise is given to God the Father through him, because it is understood that through Christ means through his wisdom, in whom he has saved believers. Therefore glory to the Father through the Son is glory to both in the Holy Spirit, because both are in the one glory.

Do not think that Paul said this in disparagement of the Son. For if all the things whereby his wisdom was made apparent were done by Christ and nothing was done without him, it is quite plain that the Son is equal to the Father in wisdom also. The word only is used in order to contrast God with every created being.

God commanded that all the Gentiles obey and acknowledge God. He alone knew that this would one day happen, for he alone is naturally wise just as he is naturally good. Mankind is also called good, it is true, but we have the ability to be good or wise as a result of instruction, whereas God is good and wise by nature. To him be glory and honor through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.

If the heretics try to use this [verse] to prove that Christ is not God, it should be remembered that Christ not only is called wise, he is even called Wisdom.