Rom 1:13-15 | TNotes | STEP | 1:13 brothers and sisters: This Greek word ( adelphoi ) describes people who are in a familial relationship. Paul and other New Testament writers use this word to indicate that Christians are so intimately tied to one another in Christ that they are family. The word refers to both male and female Christians. • I was prevented until now: Paul wrote this letter when he was in Corinth toward the end of his third missionary journey (see Acts 20:2-4 ; cp. Rom 16:21-23 ). The need to plant and nourish churches in the eastern Mediterranean had occupied Paul up to this point. Before he could visit the Roman Christians, he first needed to return to Jerusalem to deliver a gift of money collected from the Gentile churches for the impoverished Jewish Christians (15:23-29 ).

bActs 20:2-4►

cRom 16:21-23►

d15:23-29►

‏ Romans 1:13-15

1:13 ^a brothers and sisters: This Greek word (adelphoi) describes people who are in a familial relationship. Paul and other New Testament writers use this word to indicate that Christians are so intimately tied to one another in Christ that they are family. The word refers to both male and female Christians.

• I was prevented until now: Paul wrote this letter when he was in Corinth toward the end of his third missionary journey (see Acts 20:2-4 ^b; cp. Rom 16:21-23 ^c). The need to plant and nourish churches in the eastern Mediterranean had occupied Paul up to this point. Before he could visit the Roman Christians, he first needed to return to Jerusalem to deliver a gift of money collected from the Gentile churches for the impoverished Jewish Christians (15:23-29 ^d).
1:14 ^e to people in both the civilized world and the rest of the world (literally to Greeks and barbarians): The Greeks prided themselves on being sophisticated and cultured, while regarding people from other cultures as inferior. They mocked other peoples’ poorly spoken Greek, claiming that they could only say “bar bar,” a nonsense phrase from which our word barbarian comes. Paul uses this cultural divide to emphasize his intention to preach the Good News to all kinds of people.