Romans 16 is the sixteenth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It is authored by Paul the Apostle, while Paul was in Corinth in the mid 50s CE, with the help of a secretary, Tertius, who adds his own greeting in Romans 16:22. Chapter 16 contains Paul's personal recommendation, personal greetings, final admonition, grace, greetings from companions, identification of writer/amanuensis and blessing.
"Priscilla": is a diminutive and affectionate name for Prisca. She and her husband, Aquila, were expelled from Rome as Jews under Claudius, and had been converted at Corinth by Paul. Priscilla was remarkably mentioned first, perhaps inferring that she was 'the more active and conspicuous of the two' as also in and ; except in, where they send greetings, the husband naturally gets a precedence. Afterwards this married couple appear in Paul's company at Ephesus. When this Epistle was written they were at Rome, but later they seem to have returned to Ephesus. "Aquila" was a Jew of Pontus. There is another Jew named Aquila from Pontus, living more than a century later, who made a translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek, critically compared with the LXX in the Hexapla of Origen.
Andronicus and Junia
Verse 7
"Andronicus": was a kinsman of Paul and a fellow prisoner at some time, particularly well-known among the apostles; who had become a follower of Jesus Christ before Paul's Damascus road conversion, and whom Paul commended together with Junia as being remarkable Christian workers and "apostles" alongside Silas, Timothy, and others given that title in the early Church.
"Junia": Despite the existence of a view in the past that this was a man named Junias, the consensus among most modern New Testament scholars is that this person was a woman named Junia, whom Paul the Apostle may have considered as an apostle. Craig Hill states that no example has been found for the masculine form "Junias", while the feminine form of "Junia" is "very well attested", so the rendering to "Junias" in some Bible versions is a "scandalous mistranslation".
Tertius
Verse 22
"Tertius": He was an amanuensis of the apostle, who wrote this letter, either from the apostle's notes, or from his mouth. This name is a Latin one, and perhaps the person might be a Roman, for the names Secundus, Tertius, Quartus, Quintus, etc. were common with the Romans, although it could be argued that this man was the same with Silas, which Hebrew word is the same as Tertius. Silas is known as a companion of apostle Paul, also is numbered among the seventy disciples, and said to be bishop of Iconium. The phrase "in the Lord" could be connected with "wrote this epistle" and make the sense that Tertius wrote this epistle for the Lord's sake. However, that phrase is better connected with the word "salute" and the sense is that his salutation was meant to wish the people well in the Lord, so that "they might have much communion with him".
"Erastus" : also known as "Erastus of Paneas", was a steward in Corinth, a political office of high civic status. The word is defined as "the manager of household or of household affairs" or, in this context, "treasurer"; The King James Version uses the translation "chamberlain", while the New International Version uses "director of public works". An inscription mentioning an Erastus was found in 1929 near a paved area northeast of the theater of Corinth, dated to the mid-first century and reads "Erastus in return for his aedileship paved it at his own expense." Some New Testament scholars have identified this aedile Erastus with the Erastus mentioned in the Epistle to the Romans but this is disputed by others.
"Quartus": the description "a brother" is interpreted by most scholars as "a fellow believer", rather than 'a brother of Erastus'. According to church tradition, he is known as "Quartus of Berytus", a Bishop of Beirut and one of the seventy disciples.
Final verse
Verse 27
Paul's doxology in the conclusion of the epistle, aside from effectively summing up some of the key themes, gives a high note of ascription of glory to the only wise God.
