Commentaries:
People's Commentary (NT)
Romans 16:1
Personal Salutations
SUMMARY OF ROMANS 16: The Bearer of the Letter Commended. The Church
Asked to Give Her Aid in the Work That Calls Her to. Rome.
Greetings for Old Friends and Fellow-Laborers. A Household Church.
Warned Against Divisions. Farewell Benediction.
I commend unto you Phebe, our sister. Evidently the bearer of the
letter, a sister in Christ. In this list of persons greeted, a number
are women, and the greetings show how highly Paul esteemed woman's work
in the church.
A servant. The word is "diakonia" ("deacon") in the Greek. The
word also means "servant", as rendered, but we know that there were
deaconesses in the church of the first century, and Paul, in giving her
a recommendation, no doubt mentions her office. To say that she was a
servant of the church, would convey no special distinction. In the
East, where women were so much secluded, deaconesses would be a
necessity. Paul evidently refers to them (1 Timothy 5:9). Ignatius, a
companion of the apostles, mentions them in one of his epistles, and
Pliny does also, in his famous letter to Trajan, early in the second
century.
Which is at Cenchrea. Paul wrote this letter at Corinth; Cenchrea
was its seaport, on the Aegean Sea, about nine miles from the city. A
small town with the old name still marks its site.
Other commentary entries containing this verse:
Acts 18:18
Acts 28:14
Acts 28:15
Romans 16:1
2 Corinthians 1:1
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