Romans 16:7-20

16:7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, ¹  my compatriots ²  and my fellow prisoners. They are well known ³  to the apostles, ⁴  and they were in Christ before me. 16:8 Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord. 16:9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my good friend Stachys. 16:10 Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus. 16:11 Greet Herodion, my compatriot. ⁵  Greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord. 16:12 Greet Tryphena ⁶  and Tryphosa, laborers in the Lord. Greet my dear friend ⁷  Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. 16:13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother who was also a mother to me. ⁸  16:14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers and sisters ⁹  with them. 16:15 Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the believers ¹⁰  who are with them. 16:16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.

16:17 Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, ¹¹  to watch out for those who create dissensions and obstacles contrary to the teaching that you learned. Avoid them! 16:18 For these are the kind who do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By their smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds ¹²  of the naive. 16:19 Your obedience is known to all and thus I rejoice over you. But I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. 16:20 The God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

¹ tn Or “Junias.”

² tn Or “kinsmen,” “relatives,” “fellow countrymen.”

³ tn Or “prominent, outstanding, famous.” The term ἐπίσημος (epishmo") is used either in an implied comparative sense (“prominent, outstanding”) or in an elative sense (“famous, well known”). The key to determining the meaning of the term in any given passage is both the general context and the specific collocation of this word with its adjuncts. When a comparative notion is seen, that to which ἐπίσημος is compared is frequently, if not usually, put in the genitive case (cf., e.g., 3 Macc 6:1 [Ελεαζαρος δέ τις ἀνὴρ ἐπίσημος τῶν ἀπὸ τής χώρας ἱερέων “Eleazar, a man prominent among the priests of the country”]; cf. also Pss. Sol. 17:30). When, however, an elative notion is found, ἐν (en) plus a personal plural dative is not uncommon (cf. Pss. Sol. 2:6). Although ἐν plus a personal dative does not indicate agency, in collocation with words of perception, (ἐν plus) dative personal nouns are often used to show the recipients. In this instance, the idea would then be “well known to the apostles.” See M. H. Burer and D. B. Wallace, “Was Junia Really an Apostle? A Re-examination of Rom 16.7,” NTS 47 (2001): 76-91, who argue for the elative notion here.

⁴ tn Or “among the apostles.” See discussion in the note on “well known” for these options.

⁵ tn Or “kinsman,” “relative,” “fellow countryman.”

⁹ sn The spelling Tryphena is also used by NIV, NKJV, NLT; the name is alternately spelled Tryphaena (NASB, NRSV).

¹⁰ tn Grk “Greet the beloved.”

¹³ tn Grk “and his mother and mine.”

¹⁷ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

²¹ tn Grk “saints.”

²⁵ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

²⁹ tn Grk “hearts.”