Romans 16 explained: Greetings to Friends in Rome

Introducing Phoebe (vv. 1-2)

Phoebe served the church in Cenchreae, the port town next to Corinth, and many think she carried this letter to Rome. The Greek word for her role can mean 'servant' or 'deacon', and readers differ on whether it was a formal position; Paul asks the believers to welcome and help her because she had generously supported many people, himself included.

Priscilla and Aquila (vv. 3-5a)

This married couple had worked alongside Paul as tentmakers after being expelled from Rome, and they once risked their lives to protect him. There were no church buildings yet, so a group of believers met in their home.

A crowd of coworkers (vv. 5b-16)

Most of these people are known only from this list; many are women, and several names were common among slaves and freed slaves. Most modern scholars read Junia as a woman, though whether verse 7 calls her and Andronicus apostles or says the apostles respected them is still debated.

Warning about troublemakers (vv. 17-20)

Paul warns against people who split the community and win followers with flattery while serving their own interests. His promise that God will crush Satan under their feet seems to echo Genesis 3:15, where the woman's offspring would strike the serpent's head, a line Christians have long read as pointing to Jesus.

Greetings from Corinth (vv. 21-23)

Tertius, the secretary writing down Paul's words, adds his own greeting, and Erastus is named as a city official. Some later copies add a verse 24 that repeats the grace blessing, so many modern Bibles leave that number blank.

Closing praise (vv. 25-27)

Paul ends by praising God and summing up the letter: a plan kept hidden for ages is now made known so that people of every nation can come to trust and obey God. Ancient copies place this praise at different points in the letter, and scholars are unsure where it first stood.

Key verse: Romans 16:16

Where Christians differ

Christians differ over what the roles of women here, especially Phoebe as a servant or deacon and Junia among or respected by the apostles, mean for women leading in churches today.

Something to think about

If someone wrote a list of the people who have shaped your life, whose names would be on it, and what did they do?