Introduction

At the very beginning, we must ask ourselves, What should we make of the long lists of names in Romans 16? Why are they there? What possible benefit do they confer on us, the readers?

The minister and essayist F.W. Boreham told the following story:

A census-taker was working among New York tenements crowded with children. He inquired of one woman, “How many children do you have?” She started in, “There’s Mary and Ella and Delia and Susie and Tommy…” And the “and’s” kept on coming until the census-taker interrupted, “Just give me the number.” To this remark the woman became incensed: “We ain’t got to numbering ’em yet. We ain’t run out of names!”

The Golden Milestone, pp. 165,166

On that story hangs a moral, which is our theme. There are indeed lots of names in some sections of the Bible. But they are more than just names, and they deserve a better fate than being submerged and swallowed up in a total number. We can be assured that each one of those who were righteous have been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Phil 4:3; Rev 3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 20:12,15; 21:27), and each one is precious to their Creator. Not one of them is a mere statistic, at least not to the Lord God who knows all their names. And here, with Paul as His messenger, He shares some of those names with us:

“Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name. ‘They will be mine,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him’ ” (Mal 3:16,17).

“Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever” (Dan 12:3).

“He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name” (Psa 147:4).

And His Son feels exactly the same way:

“The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep… and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out” (John 10:2,3).

“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands” (Isa 49:15,16).

The engraving here is probably intended to be symbolic. Nevertheless, we can surely recognize that what is (symbolically) written upon the palms is a name, or names, not merely a number!

Lists of names may seem quite boring, unless we know someone on the list. If we know all the people on the list, then what was otherwise boring can become quite interesting. And if we happen to find our own name on the list, then — before we know it — that same list has become fascinating. Finally, if that list appears in the pages of Scripture, as a list of those who have God’s approval, then there may be nothing else in the whole wide world that is more important. I’m sure that, when he learned of it, Epenetus would have considered what we call Romans 16:5 to be his favorite verse in the whole Bible. Likewise, Ampliatus with Romans 16:8, and Stachys with verse 9, etc. — through the whole of Paul’s detailed list.

To be mentioned even once in the Scripture is quite an honor, if it is a list of friends of the Apostle Paul or Jesus or God, and a list of those to be commended. It is a Book in which we all want to have our names enrolled.

In this last chapter of Romans, the personal quality of Paul’s letter comes into sharp focus. When we first read it, this may seem like a dull recitation of names, with dozens of people totally unknown to us. But as we consider this section, we begin to understand that Paul wrote his letter to people, not just to a church, and that faith is a personal matter as well as a collective one. We may live out our lives of faith within a group or a congregation — a spiritual family — but even in a family we each experience our faith as an individual. When our family has troubles, we have troubles too. It also works both ways. Our successes, if there are such, may be enjoyed by our family too. In Christ we do not really live or die to ourselves, but as parts of a Body to which we belong. The family sustains us, and we sustain the family.

The poet John Donne wrote:

No man is an island entire of itself; Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, As well as if a promontory were, As any man’s death diminishes me, Because I am involved in Mankind. And therefore never send to know For whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.

The personal nature of Paul’s letter

On Romans 16 William R. Newell writes:

This sixteenth chapter is neglected by many to their own loss. It is by far the most extensive, intimate and particular of all the words of loving greeting in Paul’s marvelous letters. No one can afford to miss this wonderful outpouring of the heart of our apostle toward the saints whom he so loved — which means all the real church of God!

Romans Verse-by-Verse

In “The Roman Christians in Romans 16” (The Romans Debate, pp. 227-229), Peter Lampe writes:

This last chapter is very letter-like in its spontaneous arrangement of material. Paul evidently related matters as they occurred to him. He named 35 persons in this chapter. Nine of these people were with Paul, and the rest were in Rome. He identified 17 men and seven women. In addition he referred to at least two households (vv 10,11) and three house churches (vv 5,14,15), plus some other unnamed brethren (v 14) and two other women (vv 13,15). Most of the names are Gentile, reflecting the mainly Gentile population of the church in Rome, and most are those of slaves and freedmen and freedwomen.

There is, in fact, almost a complete lack of Semitic names — Mary in verse 6 is an exception. However, there is more than a little evidence from papyri and inscriptions which indicates that both in the diaspora as well as in Palestine, the changing of personal names was a common practice. The Jews acquired not only Greek, but Latin and Egyptian names as well. Paul’s relatives [mentioned in vv 7,11] were of course Jews, but do not bear Jewish names.

For Christadelphians, Romans 16 is the best example in the Bible of what we today call “ecclesial news” (or, using the old-fashioned term: “intelligence”). And the “news” is not about the whole ecclesia nearly so much as it is about the individuals who make up that ecclesia.

House churches, or ecclesias

In the chapter of greetings, Paul mentions perhaps as many as five “house churches”, or groups of believers who meet together in a household, in Rome:

  • “the church that meets at [Priscilla and Aquila’s] house” (vv 3,5);
  • “those who belong to the household of Aristobulus” (v 10);
  • “those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord” (v 11);
  • “Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the brothers with them” (v 14); and
  • “Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the saints with them” (v 15).

Smaller house meetings such as these made it possible for those nearby to meet regularly with fellow-believers, even when they could not travel greater distances to other larger meetings. Some members of such house churches/ecclesias may have been slaves or other servants who could not get any time off to travel, even a mile or two. Such house churches probably served as satellite churches for the larger groups which met at more central locations in Rome, and their members would have benefited from occasional visits by brothers and sisters from the larger group.

When Paul writes to “all in Rome who are… called to be saints” (Rom 1:7), he is including the members of the small house churches as well as those who might attend larger or more centrally located ecclesias. Paul’s view of “the ecclesia” is at least fourfold. Considering this from the smallest to the largest:

  • There are the smallest groups of believers who meet regularly with one another, in private houses (cp Rom 1:7 with Rom 16:5,10,11,14,15; cp 1Cor 1:2 with 1Cor 16:19; cp Col 1:2 with Col 4:15; and also cp Phil 4:22 and Philemon 1:2,22).
  • Then there are the larger churches or ecclesias meeting in more central locations (though they may be private houses as well).
  • There is what might be called the regional ecclesia, consisting of all the smaller groups in a region or metropolitan area, i.e., “all in Rome” (Rom 1:7), “the church of God in Corinth” (1Cor 1:2; 2Cor 1:2), “the churches of Judea that are in Christ” (Gal 1:22), “the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus” (Eph 1:1; etc.; cp also Acts 8:1; 9:31).
  • At last, there is the worldwide “ecclesia” of all believers, no matter with which single congregation they may meet on a regular basis (Matt 16:18; Acts 8:3; 1Cor 10:32; 12:28; 15:9; Gal 1:13; Eph 1:22; 3:10,21; 5:23-32; Phil 3:6; Col 1:18,24; Heb 12:23).

It is useful to keep all these variations in mind when we think or speak of the church or ecclesia. Perhaps there are lessons to be learned when considering all the possibilities:

  • The smallest congregation has meaning and purpose, even if others scarcely notice it. When several believers meet together in the name of the Lord, we are assured that he is with them in spirit, just as much as if they were part of a meeting numbering in the hundreds.
  • Members of larger ecclesias may, without even realizing it, think less of someone who meets with a small group. They should remember that the first-ever group of believers who broke bread together was quite small in numbers, and they met in an out-of-the-way upper room — but Christ was the center and focus of their meeting nonetheless.
  • To paraphrase 1 Corinthians 12, every church is part of the greater Body, and members of larger and better situated groups should never say to those from a small cluster of believers, ‘We have no need of you!” We are all important to our Savior, large groups or small, and the Lord knows all our names.
  • Membership in a “more important” ecclesia may bring certain benefits, but it by no means confers special blessing upon an individual, and certainly no guarantee of salvation in the Day of Judgment. Each of us must stand, individually, upon our own personal faith and the way in which we have put that faith into practice.
  • Finally, since Paul writes of a universal “ecclesia” of all believers, we must remember that the actions of an individual or the decisions of a single ecclesia can make an impact on the worldwide Body of Christ. Even though we understand that every ecclesia has a measure of independence from others, such a liberty should not be mistaken for license. An ecclesia placing its own unique restrictions upon members or visitors can damage its inter-ecclesial fellowship with others. Likewise, relaxing requirements which are generally followed by other ecclesias can do the same. Not just as individuals, but as ecclesias, we should be careful not to put stumbling blocks in the paths of others: “Be careful… that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak” (1Cor 8:9). “ ‘Everything is permissible’ — but not everything is beneficial. ‘Everything is permissible’ — but not everything is constructive” (1Cor 10:23).

The place of women in the first-century ecclesia

Notice that the ministry of women in the Roman church is quite evident in this chapter. Paul refers to nine prominent women: Phoebe (vv 1,2), Priscilla (vv 3,4), Mary (v 6), Tryphena, Tryphosa, Persis (all in v 12), Rufus’ mother (v 13), Julia, and Nereus’ sister (both in v 15). There may be other female names in his list also.

Emil Brunner writes:

The impression which these salutations [in Romans 16] make is that of a great family on the one hand and of a working community on the other, both of which are based not on natural relations but solely “in Christ” and his message. One also notices nothing of a depreciation of women such as, for instance, has been read out of 1 Corinthians 14; for the apostle expressly emphasizes that Phoebe rendered assistance not only to many others but also to himself, and he also calls the mother of Rufus his own “mother”. Prisca, ready for martyrdom [Rom 16:4], he salutes as his fellow-worker before her husband Aquila, together with whom she presides at a house church; along with these two most important women he also mentions Mary, Persis, Tryphosa and Tryphena as industrious workers “in the Lord” and besides them, with or without name, individually or together with men, he refers to a number of others… The recommendation with which he introduces his fellow-worker, Phoebe, to the community of Rome allows us also to catch a glimpse of the mutual relations of foresight and provident care within the young church as a world-embracing fellowship. All in all, what a new aspect of the world at that time this catalogue of greetings reveals to us! What a mirror it holds up before our present day church!

The Letter to the Romans, pp. 127,128

Outline of Romans 16

  • The commendation of Phoebe (vv 1,2)
  • Various greetings to the believers in Rome (vv 3-16)
  • A warning against false teachers (vv 17-20)
  • Greetings from Paul’s companions (vv 21-24)
  • A final doxology, or praise of God (vv 25-27)