Who were the people Paul gave personal greetings to in Romans 16?
In the last chapter of Romans, Paul greets a long list of people only giving short explanations to which there are. I thought it was pretty uncommon for Paul to give a list of shout-outs at the end of his letter. But since Paul wrote this to be a letter to the Roman people, I thought that maybe he was trying to make it as relatable to them as possible. I thought these people were going to be well-known Romans who were in the same work for God as Paul was. Since Paul wrote this letter before traveling to Rome, this list of names could have been his way to connect to the congregations of Rome. He could have been using these people as his source of verifying himself to the Romans. My second idea was that these people could have had a great impact on Paul’s life and he merely wanted to recognize those who helped him get to the place where he was. Paul might have been mentioning these names to give those who were listening to him other people that they could go to for help in understanding what Christianity is about.
An interesting fact I found in my research was that many of the people in Paul’s greetings were women. All three mentioned something about Paul including so many women and with such respect. All the women named were serving for the Lord in churches of Rome.
The first greeting is given to Phoebe. She was a great help to Paul and referred to as a servant but could also be translated as a deacon. Her help to Paul was most likely taking a copy of his letter to Rome ahead of him. This also helped her to be accepted into Rome and to receive support while she stayed. (enduringword.com)
Priscilla and Aquila “a wife and a husband united in sincere devotion.” (enduringword.com) This couple acted as pastors of some sort to a congregation leading church meetings in their home. Paul had a great gratitude for Christians in Rome, especially those who had formed congregations. He goes on to greet “the church that meets at their house,” Epenetus, and Mary. These were all servants in churches of Rome who Paul wanted to recognize and give his gratitude. (thrivethroughchrist.com)
Paul greets another couple, Andronicus and Junia, who were Jews in service to Christ before Paul was and who were in prison with him. The two were probably preaching the gospel with Paul at the time of their arrest and were referred to as "outstanding among the apostles" because they were highly thought of by other apostles and did great work that Paul wanted to show his appreciation for. They most likely did work for the apostles as some kind of messenger. (gic.org)
At the end of my research, I believe that his reasoning behind all these greetings is a combination of my two original ideas. These people were friends, fellow workers, and servants of his who he was very grateful for their help and service to Christ. He greeted these people in his letter to show them the greatest amount of gratitude that he was capable of and maybe even to show Christians in Rome his credibility.
http://www.enduringword.com/commentaries/4516.htm
http://thrivethroughchrist.com/romans-161-27-greetings-praises-and-salutations/
http://www.gci.org/bible/rom16
An interesting fact I found in my research was that many of the people in Paul’s greetings were women. All three mentioned something about Paul including so many women and with such respect. All the women named were serving for the Lord in churches of Rome.
The first greeting is given to Phoebe. She was a great help to Paul and referred to as a servant but could also be translated as a deacon. Her help to Paul was most likely taking a copy of his letter to Rome ahead of him. This also helped her to be accepted into Rome and to receive support while she stayed. (enduringword.com)
Priscilla and Aquila “a wife and a husband united in sincere devotion.” (enduringword.com) This couple acted as pastors of some sort to a congregation leading church meetings in their home. Paul had a great gratitude for Christians in Rome, especially those who had formed congregations. He goes on to greet “the church that meets at their house,” Epenetus, and Mary. These were all servants in churches of Rome who Paul wanted to recognize and give his gratitude. (thrivethroughchrist.com)
Paul greets another couple, Andronicus and Junia, who were Jews in service to Christ before Paul was and who were in prison with him. The two were probably preaching the gospel with Paul at the time of their arrest and were referred to as "outstanding among the apostles" because they were highly thought of by other apostles and did great work that Paul wanted to show his appreciation for. They most likely did work for the apostles as some kind of messenger. (gic.org)
At the end of my research, I believe that his reasoning behind all these greetings is a combination of my two original ideas. These people were friends, fellow workers, and servants of his who he was very grateful for their help and service to Christ. He greeted these people in his letter to show them the greatest amount of gratitude that he was capable of and maybe even to show Christians in Rome his credibility.
http://www.enduringword.com/commentaries/4516.htm
http://thrivethroughchrist.com/romans-161-27-greetings-praises-and-salutations/
http://www.gci.org/bible/rom16