Rom 16:3-16 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Rom 16:3-16: 16:3-16 Although Paul had never visited the Christian community in Rome, he established rapport with these believers by personally greeting many of the church’s members. The names reveal that the Roman Christian community was very diverse—Jews and Gentiles, slaves and free, men and women all formed a new society in the church (see Gal 3:26-29 ). 16:3 Priscilla and Aquila were Paul’s good friends. After leaving Rome around AD 49, they became his co-workers for an extended time in Corinth and Ephesus (see Acts 18–19 ). They had apparently returned to Rome by the time Paul wrote Romans (about AD 57).

Summary for Rom 16:3-16: 16:3-16 ^a Although Paul had never visited the Christian community in Rome, he established rapport with these believers by personally greeting many of the church’s members. The names reveal that the Roman Christian community was very diverse—Jews and Gentiles, slaves and free, men and women all formed a new society in the church (see Gal 3:26-29 ^b). 16:3 ^c Priscilla and Aquila were Paul’s good friends. After leaving Rome around AD 49, they became his co-workers for an extended time in Corinth and Ephesus (see Acts 18–19 ^d). They had apparently returned to Rome by the time Paul wrote Romans (about AD 57).
16:5 ^e the church that meets in their home: Early Christians did not have large buildings for their meetings—they met in private homes. The church in Rome was composed of a number of house churches where small groups of believers gathered for worship and instruction.
16:7 ^f In Greek, the name Junia could refer to a man named Junias or to a woman named Junia. Most interpreters understand Junia as a feminine name. This section pairs masculine and feminine names to refer to husband-and-wife teams, so Junia was probably a woman.

• who were in prison with me: When this occurred is uncertain. According to Acts, Paul had been imprisoned overnight in Philippi (Acts 16:19-28 ^g); after Romans was written, he would later be imprisoned for two years in Caesarea (Acts 24:27 ^h) and for two years in Rome (Acts 28:30-31 ⁱ). Paul was undoubtedly imprisoned on occasions not mentioned in Acts (see 2 Cor 11:23 ^j).

• highly respected among the apostles: This phrase probably indicates that Andronicus and Junia were apostles—i.e., accredited missionaries of the church (see Acts 14:4 ^k, 14 ^l; 1 Cor 9:5-6 ^m; Gal 2:9 ⁿ).
16:10 ^o This Aristobulus was probably the same man as the brother of Herod Agrippa I; Aristobulus was a member of the Roman aristocracy who lived in Rome many years prior to his death in AD 48 or 49 (see Josephus, Antiquities 18.8.4; War 2.11.6). His household probably refers to his family and their servants in Rome.
16:13 ^p This Rufus might be the individual mentioned as the son of Simon of Cyrene, who carried Christ’s cross (see Mark 15:21 ^q).
16:16 ^r with a sacred kiss: The kiss was a common way to greet another person in the ancient world and particularly among the Jews. It is mentioned frequently in the New Testament as a greeting (1 Cor 16:20 ^s; 2 Cor 13:12 ^t; 1 Thes 5:26 ^u; see 1 Pet 5:14 ^v); the kiss of peace became a standard feature of the Christian liturgy by the second century.