- Patrobas: His name was composed of Greek word or Latin name ‘Pater’ and in Jewish ‘Abba’ which in combination makes ‘Patrobas.’ So he could be a Jew with the name Patrobas because in those days, Jews used to keep 2-names one a Gentile and another Jewish. He was also one of the 72-disciples and served as bishop of Puteoli (according to John Gills’ commentary).
- Hermas: He was said to be the bishop of Philippi or Aquileia and brother of Pope Pius, the first. He was also the author of the book called Pastor or the Shepherd.
Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister and Olympas and all saints: (16:15):
Paul gives greetings to the second set of 5-persons in (16:15). They were meeting together and probably another house-church was existing in Rome. Each of these five people were the centre of some few Christians who met at Philologus’s house.
- Philologus: He is one among the 72-disciples mentioned in (Lk.10:1). He was said to be the bishop of Sinope.
- Julia: It is the name of a woman and probably belonging to Rome. She was probably the wife of Philologus.
- Nereus and his sister, Olympas and other saints: Paul mentions these three people. Nereus was Roman and his sister’s name was not mentioned. Olympas was one of the 72-disciples (Lk.10:1). He was the same person Olympius and he was martyred in Rome for his faith. All these 5-people lived together along with some saints. The church was active in their home.
It is amazing that Paul knew so many people, many house churches and the brethren who were in the centre taking active part. He hadn’t visited Rome when he was writing this letter.
Greeting with holy kiss: (16:16): In the first century, brothers salute one another with a holy kiss as token of peace, friendship and brotherly love. As the church has increased, Christian becoming numerous, this gesture was abused. In some countries, the kiss of friendship is still common and in other countries it is scarcely used. Shaking hands is substituted to this kiss in almost all Christian congregations.
A final summary of Paul’s friends in Rome: Paul further salutes and sends greetings on behalf of all the congregations in Greece and Asia minor through which he had passed, where he had shared the faith of Christians in Rome.
The greetings sent by Paul are real people and ordinary people, but not professional theologians. “They were like the most of us, common people, but loved the Lord and therefore Paul recollected their names in his letter to Romans. Do not let us think of the distinguished Christians exclusively so as to forget the rank and file of the Lord’s army. Do not let the eye rest exclusively upon the front rank, but let us love all whom Christ loves; let us value all Christ’s servants. It is better to be God’s dog than to be the devil’s darling.” (Spurgeon)
Again let’s notice some of the women Paul mentioned in this chapter:
Phoebe, Priscilla, Mary, Tryphena, Tryphosa, the mother of Rufus and Julia. These are the women who worked for the Lord. Paul mentions that Tryphena and Tryphosa laboured in the Lord, but Persis laboured much for the Lord. So there are distinctions and degrees in honouring the believers. It is great honour to serve the Lord by bringing people into His fold.
Further, among the 24 names Paul mentions from (16:1-16), 13 names also appear in inscriptions or documents connected with the Emperor’s palace in Rome. We also know that there were Christians among Caesar’s household (Phil.4:22).
Warning for the church against the enemies of truth: (16:17-20): As the apostle was about to conclude his letter, he could not resist from giving the warning against false teachers or those who hinder the Gospel by creating traps or obstacles. He is once again reiterating his words given in (14:13). The church, believers must keep away those who are contrary to the teaching or doctrines given by the apostle. Such people also called (Judaizers) must be turned away, because they are not serving the Lord but their own bellies. They are selfish, gluttons. By their smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. Such people by their appearance to be noble, but their heart is full of wicked thoughts. Paul encouraged the believers, that they are obedient, their obedience is well known and so he did not consider them as naive or innocent.
Believers must be wise about good. They must follow genuine doctrines but not the counterfeits. It is more useful to know about good than to unnecessarily give thoughts about the counterfeits ones. So anything marked as false, must be kept away without venturing to experience it. At the same time, we must innocent about the evil, not following the ways of the world (12:2). We need a wisdom to discriminate between transparent truth and plausible error, with that guileless simplicity which instinctively cleaves to the one and rejects the other. If any church with the well deserved reputation of the believers of Rome, and who stay on guard against such dividers and false teachers will certainly see God crush Satan under the believers’ feet. Of course this would happen at the time when Satan is bound and cast into the bottomless pit (Rev.20:1-3).
By this thought, the apostle encourages the Romans to persevere in faith, resisting the wiles of the devil with the assurance as good soldiers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Crushing Satan under your feet is again a picture of completeness of the defeat of the enemy. It was the time under the emperor Nero, persecution of the Christians had started. Paul ends his warning with the grace of God always abiding with them.