Romans ~ Part 39

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As I’ve stressed in my previous post, our journey to comprehend the profound significance of Sha’ul’s Letter to the Romans is not just a study but a crucial cornerstone of our faith.

Closing Remarks ~ Part 2

In a public life where division often prevails, let Romans 15:30-16:16 inspire you to be a bridge-builder. If you face conflict or negativity in interactions at work or in community groups, take a deliberate step toward someone with whom you disagree. Pursue a conversation that seeks understanding rather than judgment. Ask questions, listen actively, and share your perspective on love. This vulnerability can diffuse tension and create a platform for genuine connection, reflecting Yeshua’s heart for reconciliation.

Request for Prayers

³⁰ And now I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Yeshua the Messiah and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God on my behalf ³¹ that I will be rescued from the unbelievers in Y’hudah, and that my service for Yerushalayim will be acceptable to God’s people there. ³² Then, if it is God’s will, I will come to you with joy and have a time of rest among you. ³³ Now may the God of shalom be with you all. Amen.

Sha’ul made three specific prayer requests: (1) for deliverance from hostile forces, (2) that the gift from Gentile Believers would be welcomed by Jewish Believers, and (3) that he might come to Rome. All three were answered; see Acts 23:10, 21:17–20a, 25:11–12, respectively.

Commendation of Phoebe

16 ¹ I am introducing to you our sister Phoebe, shammash of the congregation at Cenchrea, ² so that you may welcome her in the Lord, as God’s people should, and give her whatever assistance she may need from you; for she has been a big help to many people—including myself.

Phoebe, shammash of the congregation. There is good reason to think that, in this instance, it is a technical term denoting someone ordained to a recognized office in the congregation and having the duty of caring for its practical affairs, as in Acts 6:6. The usual English term for this office is “deacon,” which transliterates the Greek word. The closest Hebrew equivalent is “shammash” (Yiddish “shammes”), the person who handles the day-to-day practical tasks of keeping a synagogue going.

Special Greetings

³ Give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers for the Messiah Yeshua. ⁴ They risked their necks to save my life; not only I thank them, but also all the Messianic communities among the Gentiles. ⁵ And give my greetings to the congregation that meets in their house.

Priscilla and Aquila. Continuing the theme of v. 1, mentioning the woman first may indicate her greater prominence (see Acts 18:18). (As I noted in my blogs on the Book of Hebrews, I believe that she may have been the author of that book.) It is not known on what occasion they risked their necks for Sha’ul; they may have had such a role in the Ephesus disturbance of Acts 19:23–40 since it seems to have been there that they hosted a congregation in their home (see 1 Corinthians 16:19, Acts 19:10), just as they did in Rome.

⁶ Give my greetings to my dear friend Epaenetus, who was the first person in the province of Asia to put his trust in the Messiah. ⁶ Give my greetings to Miryam, who has worked very hard for you. ⁷ Greetings to Andronicus and Junia, relatives of mine who were in prison with me. They are well known among the emissaries; also, they came to trust in the Messiah before I did.

Junia is perhaps the wife of Andronicus; some think the name is masculine, but this is unlikely (the masculine-form name is Junius). The matter takes on importance from the remark that they were well known among the emissaries, which may mean not that they were well known to the emissaries but that they were themselves well-known emissaries. If so, this would be the only instance of a female emissary in the Brit Hadashah.^[1]

⁸ Greetings to Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord. ⁹ Greetings to Urbanus, our fellow worker for the Messiah, and to my dear friend Stachys. ¹⁰ Greetings to Appeles, whose trust in the Messiah has been tested and proved. Greet those in the household of Aristobulus. ¹¹ Greet my relative, Herodion. ¹² Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, women who are working hard for the Lord. Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has done a lot of hard work for the Lord.

Three more women are singled out here, and another two in vv. 13, 15.

¹³ Greet Rufus, chosen by the Lord and his mother, who has been a mother to me too.

In Mark 15:21, Shim‛on of Cyrene is called “the father of Alexander and Rufus.” This Rufus may be the same.

¹⁴ Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them. ¹⁵ Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all of God’s people who are with them. ¹⁶ Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the Messiah’s congregations send their greetings to you. ^[2]

Greet each other with a holy kiss—a Middle Eastern custom. In recent years, hugging and holy kissing have returned to vogue in some other countries after centuries of being out of fashion (a handshake is a much weaker body language expression). When between members of the opposite sex, care must be taken that it is a holy kiss and not an unholy one! More generally, in an age of transition when customs are changing, the principle of chapter 14, not causing distress to another for whom the Messiah died, applies here: those who experience discomfort from a given form of body expression should not be made to suffer it against their will.

Our next post concludes our last theme of Romans, Closing Remarks, and we may resume our travel through the Book of Acts.

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^[1] David H. Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary, Romans 16:7.

^[2] Romans 15:30–16:16.