Who bestowed much labour on us - Who labored much for us. Nothing more is known of her but this honorable mention of her name. It is probable that these persons were formerly residents in Greece, and that the apostle had there become acquainted with them, but that they had now removed to Rome. read more
Romans 16:6. Greet Mary, who bestowed much labour on us Performed many good offices for the faithful, especially for the preachers of the gospel. The apostle is very affectionate in these salutations, giving almost every one some signal epithet, that he might both recommend them for their piety and virtue, and propose them as examples for the imitation of others; as also that he might show his gratitude to them, and the esteem he had for them. And concerning these salutations, and others in... read more
Personal greetings (16:1-27)The person who took this letter to Rome was Phoebe, a woman well respected for her work in the church in Cenchreae, one of the seaports of Corinth. She had been a tireless helper of Paul and many others, and Paul asks the Roman Christians to welcome her (16:1-2).Paul then sends greetings to a number of people whom he had met during his missionary travels and who now lived in Rome. First among these were Paul’s loyal friends, Aquila and Priscilla. They were now back... read more
Mary . Greek. Mariam. The only Hebrew name in this list. who . . . us . On an inscription from a Roman cemetery, about the second century A.D., a wife records of her husband, "who laboured much for me". bestowed . . . labour = laboured. Greek. kopiao. Compare Luke 5:5 .John 4:6 . us . The texts read "you". read more
Salute Mary who bestowed much labor on you.Despite the fact that "on you" is preferred in the rendition here, upon what the translators considered strongly sufficient technical grounds, there is much to commend an alternate reading "on us," meaning "upon the apostle Paul," that being the translation preferred by Hodge on the grounds of its being better suited to the context. He wrote:The assiduous service of Mary rendered to the apostle is a more natural reason of his salutation than that she... read more
6. Greet—or "salute" Mary, who bestowed much labour on us—labor, no doubt, of a womanly kind. read more
2. Various greetings to Christians in Rome 16:3-16It may seem unusual that Paul knew so many people by name in the church in Rome since he had never visited it. However travel in the Roman Empire was fairly easy during Paul’s lifetime. Probably he had met some of these people elsewhere and knew others of them by reputation.Most of the names are Latin or Greek, but some of these people were evidently Jews who, like Paul, also had Greek or Latin names (e.g., Romans 16:7; Romans 16:11). In his... read more
Most of the people mentioned in these verses require no explanatory comment. "Asia" (Romans 16:5) was the Roman province of Asia of which Ephesus was the capital. Junias (or Junia, Romans 16:7) was probably the wife of Andronicus (cf. Romans 16:3; Romans 16:15). The term "kinsmen" or "relatives" (Romans 16:7; cf. Romans 16:11; Romans 16:21) seems to refer to relatives of Paul in the sense of being fellow Jews (cf. Romans 9:13; Philippians 1:7; Philippians 4:14). "Apostles" (Romans 16:7) here... read more
Greetings and Warnings1-16. Commendation and greetings.Observe the number of women to whom the Apostle sends greeting. The fact is indicative of the change wrought in the position of women by the gospel, and of the honourable place taken by them in the Christian Church. Observe also the difference of nationality indicated by the names. St. Paul, a Hebrew, sends salutation to Greeks, Romans, and perhaps Asiatics, many of them probably slaves—marking the universality of the gospel: cp. Galatians... read more
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The Pulpit Commentary - Romans 16:6-7
Greet Mary, who bestowed much labour on you ( ὑμᾶς , rather than, as in the Textus Receptus, ἡμᾶς ). Salute Andrenicus and Junia , my kinsmen, and my fellow-prisoners, who are of note among the apostles who also were in Christ before me. It is a question whether by "my kinsmen" ( τοὺς συγγενεῖς μου ) here and afterwards St. Paul means that the persons so called were his relations, or only that they were Jews (cf. Romans 9:3 , where he speaks of the Jews generally as τῶν... read more