Romans 16.21-23-Paul Passes Along Greetings To Romans From Eight Individuals With Him In Corinth
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday August 26, 2010
Romans: Romans 16:21-23-Paul Passes Along Greetings To Romans From Eight Individuals With Him In Corinth
Lesson # 552
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 16:17.
This evening we will note Romans 16:21-23 and in this passage Paul passes along greetings to Romans from eight individuals who were with him in Corinth when he wrote this Roman epistle.
Romans 16:21, “Timothy my fellow worker greets you, and so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.”
“Timothy” is the nominative masculine singular form of the proper name Timotheos (Τιμόθεος) (ti-moe-thay-oce), which means “one who honors God” since it is composed of the noun time, “honor” and the noun theos, “God.”
His name appears 24 times in the Greek New Testament and is found 6 times in Acts (16:1; 17:14-15; 18:5; 19:22; 20:4).
His name appears 18 times in Pauline epistles (Romans 16:21; 1 Corinthians 4:17; 16:10; 2 Corinthians 1:1, 19; Philippians 1:1; 2:19; Colossians 1:1; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 3:2, 6; 2 Thessalonians 1:1; 1 Timothy 1:2, 18; 6:20; 2 Timothy 1:2; Philemon 1:1; Hebrews 13:23).
Acts 16:1 indicates that Timothy came from the town of Lystra.
On his second missionary journey Paul met Timothy at Lystra (Acts 16:1-5), who may have been converted as the result of Paul’s 1st visit to Lystra, was highly regarded by the royal family at Lystra and Iconium.
His Jewish mother had become a believer with his grandmother (2 Tm. 1:5) but yet his father is described as a Greek (Acts 16:1) and thus would have belonged to the small elite class of Lystra who had been educated in the Greek language and culture.
2 Timothy 1:5 speaks of the sincere Jewish faith of Timothy’s grandmother Lois and of his mother Eunice, and 2 Timothy 3:15 speaks of Timothy’s early instruction in the Hebrew Scriptures.
His mother Eunice is identified as a Jewess as well as a Christian believer in Acts 16:1 who had probably believed on the Lord Jesus Christ during Paul and Barnabas’ first visit to Lystra (Acts 14:20-23).
Likewise, from Paul’s reference to Timothy in 1 Corinthians 4:17 as his son, we may assume that Timothy’s conversion to Christ also dates from the proclamation of the gospel on that first missionary journey.
Paul describes him as: (1) “My fellow-worker” (Rm. 16:21). (2) “God’s fellow-worker” (1 Th. 3:2). (3) “My beloved and faithful student in the Lord” (1 Cor. 4:17). (4) “True child in the faith” (1 Tm. 1:2; Phlp. 2:22). (5) “A Christian gentleman of proven worth” (Phlp. 2:22). (6) “Brother” (2 Cor. 1:1; Col. 1:1). (7) “My son” (1 Tm. 1:18; cf. v. 1; 1 Cor. 4:14). (8) “I have no one like-minded” (Phlp. 2:20). (9) “Slave of Christ Jesus” (Phlp. 1:1). (10) “Seeks the things of Jesus Christ” (Phlp. 2:21). (11) “Loyal” (2 Tm. 3:10). (12) “Doing the Lord’s work” (1 Cor. 16:10).
“My fellow-worker” describes him as a joint-partner with Paul in the advancement of the gospel throughout the Roman Empire (cf. Phlp. 1:7).
“Lucius” is the nominative masculine singular form of the proper name Loukios (Λούκιος) (loo-kee-oce), which is a Greek name of uncertain meaning.
“Jason” is the nominative masculine singular form of the proper name Iason (Ἰάσων) (ya-sone), which was a famous Greek name and often used by Hellenistic Jews for the Hebrew names Joshua or Joseph and also used by the Gentiles.
“Sosipater” is the nominative masculine singular form of the proper name Sosipatros (Σωσίπατρος) (so-see-pa-troce), which means “sound parentage.”
Like Jason and Lucius, this individual was also a Jewish Christian as indicated by the expression that follows, which describes him as well as Lucius and Jason, namely hoi sungeneis mou (οἱ συγγενεῖς μου), “my kinsmen.”
Sosipater is more than likely the “Sopater” mentioned in Acts 20:4, which describes him as the son of Pyrrhus from Berea since this passage says that he accompanied Paul through Macedonia as he prepared for his last trip to Jerusalem.
“My kinsmen” is used to describe Lucius, Jason and Sosipater as Paul’s fellow Jewish Christians.
Romans 16:22, “I, Tertius (TUHR shuhss), who write this letter, greet you in the Lord.”
“I” is the nominative first person singular form of the personal pronoun ego (ἐγώ), which emphasizes Tertius as the subject distinguishing him from the other individuals who are with Paul in Corinth and are passing along their greetings to the Romans.
“Tertius” is the nominative masculine singular form of the proper name Tertios (Τέρτιος) (ter-tee-oce), which is a Latin personal name meaning “third son.”
He is Paul’s “amanuensis” for the writing of Romans.
Moo writes, “It was customary for ancient authors to use a scribe to write out their letters; and authors gave to their scribes varying degrees of freedom in the actual wording of the contents…Most scholars agree that the directness of the style of Romans, as well as its similarity to the style of Galatians and 1 Corinthians, suggests strongly that the wording of Romans is Paul’s own. Tertius probably copied out Paul’s dictation.” (Moo, Douglas J., The New International Commentary on the New Testament, The Epistle to the Romans, page 935; William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan/Cambridge, U.K., 1988)
“In the Lord” indicates that Tertius was serving Paul by copying his dictation of this epistle and that the recipients of this epistle, the Roman believers would be served by this dictation.
Romans 16:23, “Gaius (gay yuhs), host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer greets you, and Quartus, the brother.”
“Gaius” is the nominative masculine singular form of the proper name Gaios (Γάϊος) (guy-oce), which is the Greek form of the Latin name Caius, which means “I am glad, rejoice.”
This individual lived in Corinth since Paul says that he was his host and Paul wrote Romans from Corinth and is the very same Gaius mentioned by Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:14 who was one of the few individuals that Paul baptized in water since Paul wrote Romans from Corinth.
“Host to me” describes Gaius as Paul’s host expressing the concept of hospitality.
“To the whole church” refers to members of the Christian community whether in Corinth or who passed through Corinth who were the recipients of Gaius’ hospitality.
“Erastus” is the nominative masculine singular form of the proper name Erastos (Ἔραστος) (eh-ra-stoce), which means “beloved” and is the name of the treasurer of the city of Corinth.
“The city treasurer” denotes that Erastus had the authority and responsibility for the finances of the city of Corinth indicating that Erastus was a city of official in charge of the public funds and properties of the city of Corinth.
“Quartus” is the nominative masculine singular form of the proper name Kouartos (Κούαρτος) (koo-are-toce), which is a Latin personal name meaning “fourth.”
It was a common name among slaves and freedmen.
This individual is described by Paul as a fellow believer.
“The brother” indicates that Quartus is a fellow believer of the apostle Paul and the Romans.