Romans 16:5-23

16:5 Also greet the church in their house. Greet my dear friend Epenetus, ¹  who was the first convert ²  to Christ in the province of Asia. ³  16:6 Greet Mary, who has worked very hard for you. 16:7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, ⁴  my compatriots ⁵  and my fellow prisoners. They are well known ⁶  to the apostles, ⁷  and they were in Christ before me. 16:8 Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord. 16:9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my good friend Stachys. 16:10 Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus. 16:11 Greet Herodion, my compatriot. ⁸  Greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord. 16:12 Greet Tryphena ⁹  and Tryphosa, laborers in the Lord. Greet my dear friend ¹⁰  Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. 16:13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother who was also a mother to me. ¹¹  16:14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers and sisters ¹²  with them. 16:15 Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the believers ¹³  who are with them. 16:16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.

16:17 Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, ¹⁴  to watch out for those who create dissensions and obstacles contrary to the teaching that you learned. Avoid them! 16:18 For these are the kind who do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By their smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds ¹⁵  of the naive. 16:19 Your obedience is known to all and thus I rejoice over you. But I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. 16:20 The God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

16:21 Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my compatriots. ¹⁶  16:22 I, Tertius, who am writing this letter, greet you in the Lord. 16:23 Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus the city treasurer and our brother Quartus greet you.

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¹ sn The spelling Epenetus is also used by NIV, NLT; the name is alternately spelled Epaenetus (NASB, NKJV, NRSV).

² tn Grk “first fruit.” This is a figurative use referring to Epenetus as the first Christian convert in the region.

³ tn Grk “Asia”; in the NT this always refers to the Roman province of Asia, made up of about one-third of the west and southwest end of modern Asia Minor. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.

⁴ tn Or “Junias.”

sn The feminine name Junia, though common in Latin, is quite rare in Greek (apparently only three instances of it occur in Greek literature outside Rom 16:7, according to the data in the TLG [D. Moo, Romans [NICNT], 922]). The masculine Junias (as a contraction for Junianas), however, is rarer still: Only one instance of the masculine name is known in extant Greek literature (Epiphanius mentions Junias in his Index discipulorum 125). Further, since there are apparently other husband-wife teams mentioned in this salutation (Prisca and Aquila [v. 3], Philologus and Julia [v. 15]), it might be natural to think of Junia as a feminine name. (This ought not be pressed too far, however, for in v. 12 all three individuals are women [though the first two are linked together], and in vv. 9-11 all the individuals are men.) In Greek only a difference of accent distinguishes between Junias (male) and Junia (female). If it refers to a woman, it is possible (1) that she had the gift of apostleship (not the office), or (2) that she was not an apostle but along with Andronicus was esteemed by (or among) the apostles. As well, the term “prominent” probably means “well known,” suggesting that Andronicus and Junia(s) were well known to the apostles (see note on the phrase “well known” which follows).

⁵ tn Or “kinsmen,” “relatives,” “fellow countrymen.”

⁶ tn Or “prominent, outstanding, famous.” The term ἐπίσημος (epishmo") is used either in an implied comparative sense (“prominent, outstanding”) or in an elative sense (“famous, well known”). The key to determining the meaning of the term in any given passage is both the general context and the specific collocation of this word with its adjuncts. When a comparative notion is seen, that to which ἐπίσημος is compared is frequently, if not usually, put in the genitive case (cf., e.g., 3 Macc 6:1 [Ελεαζαρος δέ τις ἀνὴρ ἐπίσημος τῶν ἀπὸ τής χώρας ἱερέων “Eleazar, a man prominent among the priests of the country”]; cf. also Pss. Sol. 17:30). When, however, an elative notion is found, ἐν (en) plus a personal plural dative is not uncommon (cf. Pss. Sol. 2:6). Although ἐν plus a personal dative does not indicate agency, in collocation with words of perception, (ἐν plus) dative personal nouns are often used to show the recipients. In this instance, the idea would then be “well known to the apostles.” See M. H. Burer and D. B. Wallace, “Was Junia Really an Apostle? A Re-examination of Rom 16.7,” NTS 47 (2001): 76-91, who argue for the elative notion here.

⁷ tn Or “among the apostles.” See discussion in the note on “well known” for these options.

⁸ tn Or “kinsman,” “relative,” “fellow countryman.”

⁹ sn The spelling Tryphena is also used by NIV, NKJV, NLT; the name is alternately spelled Tryphaena (NASB, NRSV).

¹⁰ tn Grk “Greet the beloved.”

¹¹ tn Grk “and his mother and mine.”

¹² tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

¹³ tn Grk “saints.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

¹⁵ tn Grk “hearts.”

¹⁶ tn Grk “kinsmen, relatives, fellow countrymen.”