Romans 16 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
~AD 57, during the reign of the emperor Nero
Location
Written from Corinth, most likely from the nearby port of Cenchreae, to house churches scattered across Rome
Audience
Jewish and non-Jewish believers in Rome, meeting in several small household gatherings
Situation
Paul commends Phoebe, who is carrying the letter, then greets twenty-six people by name across the Roman congregations. He closes with a warning about people causing divisions and a final blessing.
Key Background
Letters travelled by private carrier, and the carrier normally read the letter aloud and answered questions about it, which makes Phoebe the first person to deliver and explain this argument in Rome. Many of the names in the list are typical slave or freed-slave names, and several are women described as workers and leaders, which tells us the Roman church was largely made up of ordinary and low-status households. The holy kiss was a real greeting practice in these gatherings, and naming people individually in a letter read aloud was a way of binding separate house groups into one recognised community.
I want to introduce you to our Phoebe, who the in
Welcome her in the Lord in a way that's worthy of and give her whatever help she needs from you. She's been a and of many including me personally.
Say hello to and Aquila, my in the Jesus.
They their own to save my life. I'm not the only one grateful to them — so are all the
And say hello to those who in their house. Say hello to my dear friend Epaenetus — he was the very first person in Asia to their in the One.
Say hello to Mary, who has for you all.
Say hello to Andronicus and my fellow Jews who were in prison with me. They're highly respected among the and they were with the before I was.
Say hello to who I love dearly in the Lord.
Say hello to Urbanus, our coworker in the One, and to my dear friend Stachys.
Say hello to Apelles, who has been and in the One. Say hello to those in
Say hello to Herodion, my Say hello to those in Narcissus's household who are in the Lord.
Say hello to and who in the Lord. Say hello to my dear friend Persis, who has worked very in the Lord.
Say hello to by the and to his mother, who has been like a mother to me too.
Say hello to Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the and who are with them.
Say hello to Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, Olympas, and all of who are with them.
Greet each other with a All the of the send their greetings to you.
Now I'm urging you, brothers and sisters — watch out for people who create and put in your path that go against the teaching you've learned. Stay away from them.
People like that aren't serving our Lord, the One — they're serving their own They use and to deceive the minds of unsuspecting people.
Everyone has heard about your so I'm full of joy over you. But I want you to be about what is good and about what is harmful.
The of will soon. May the of our Lord Jesus be with you.
my coworker, sends his greetings to you, and so do Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my
I, who down this letter, send my greetings to you in the Lord.
Gaius, who is to me and to the whole here, sends his greetings. the sends his greetings, and so does our brother
May the of our Lord Jesus, the One, be with all of you. So it be.
Now to the one who has the power to make you — according to my and the proclamation of Jesus, the One, according to the of the kept hidden for ages and ages,
but now to and made known through the by the command of the leading to the of all nations —
to the only through Jesus, the One — to him be the So it be.