Romans 16
Twenty-six names, a scribe's own greeting, a woman described as apostle, and the final benediction — the human face of the early Pauline mission.
Summary
Romans 16 opens with the commendation of Phoebe. Paul commends to the Roman church their sister Phoebe, a deacon — diakonos — of the church at Cenchreae, asking them to welcome her in the Lord and help her in whatever she may need, for she has been a benefactor of many and of Paul himself. Phoebe is the carrier of the letter; she travels to Rome on her own business and delivers the long parchment, probably reading it aloud to the assembled community. Her commendation by Paul is the beginning of the letter's closing, and her role in its transmission is as significant as Tertius's role in its composition. The greeting list that follows is the longest in any Pauline letter — twenty-six people named, several with brief characterizations. Prisca and Aquila, who risked their lives for Paul. Epaenetus, the first convert in Asia. Mary, who worked hard. Andronicus and Junia, in prison with Paul, senior in faith, prominent among the apostles.
The name Junia at verse 7 is one of the most consequential points of translation in the letter. The Greek form Iounian was taken from the fourth century onward by most interpreters as a feminine name — Junia, a woman described as prominent among the apostles. Beginning in the medieval period and accelerating in the early modern era, the name was masculinized to Junias, a name unattested anywhere else in antiquity, by translators who found a female apostle theologically impossible. Modern scholarship, examining the Greek usage and the patristic record, has returned overwhelmingly to the feminine reading. The greeting list continues, including Tryphaena, Tryphosa, and Persis — women who worked hard in the Lord. At verse 22, Tertius the scribe briefly surfaces: I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord. The warning against divisive people in verses 17-20 is a brief sharp interruption in the greetings. The letter closes with a doxology of four and a half verses, sealing the whole argument of the letter with a final act of praise: to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be glory forever and ever. Amen.
- Romans 1Chapter 1 is the opening of a long letter to a community Paul did not found and has not yet visited.
- Romans 2Chapter 2 is the turn in Paul's argument.
- Romans 3Chapter 3 is the hinge of the letter's first movement.
- Romans 4Chapter 4 is Paul's exegetical demonstration of justification by faith, built entirely from the figure of Abraham.
- Romans 5Chapter 5 opens the second major movement of the letter (chapters 5-8), which draws out the consequences of the justification argued in chapters 1-4.
- Romans 6Chapter 6 opens with Paul's most pointed rhetorical question: Shall we continue in sin so that grace may abound? The question follows logically from the last verse of chapter 5, where he said grace abounds where sin increases, and it is the objection he expects.
- Romans 7Chapter 7 addresses the role of the law in the new life.
- Romans 8Chapter 8 is the climax Paul has been building toward since chapter 1.
- Romans 9Chapter 9 opens the three-chapter meditation on Israel — the hardest sustained argument in the letter.
- Romans 10Chapter 10 continues the argument of chapter 9 but shifts from divine sovereignty to human responsibility.
- Romans 11Chapter 11 brings the three-chapter meditation on Israel to its resolution.
- Romans 12Chapter 12 opens the practical movement of the letter with the word therefore, gathering everything from chapters 1-11 into a single imperative.
- Romans 13Chapter 13 contains the verses that have generated more controversy in the history of Romans' reception than any other passage in the letter.
- Romans 14Chapter 14 addresses a concrete dispute in the Roman church.
- Romans 15Chapter 15 continues directly from chapter 14.
- Romans 16Chapter 16 is the longest closing greeting in any of Paul's letters.