Romans 16:11

Salute Herodias my kinsman. Salute them that are of the household of Narcissus, that are in the Lord.

See under Romans 16:7 for notes regarding Herodian. The household of Narcissus is here to be understood as only that portion of them who were Christians, that is, "in the Lord," with the necessary inference that "household" as used in these verses has reference to a much larger group than would have been the case if it had referred only to the Christians. This fact strongly supports the view that the "households" in view here and in Romans 16:10 were the historical establishment households of the prince Aristobulus, and the emperor's favorite, Narcissus. Of the latter, Conybeare and Howson noted that:

There were two eminent persons by the name of Narcissus about this time; one being the well-known favorite of Claudius, who was put to death by Nero in 54 A.D. (four years before this letter was written). ... The other was a favorite of Nero, and is probably the person here named. Some of his slaves or freedmen had become Christians. This Narcissus was put to death by Galba.[23]

We need not necessarily accept Conybeare and Howson's choice of which Narcissus was mentioned by Paul here, especially in view of the custom of the slaves' keeping their master's name, as a kind of family, even after his death and their transfer to others. Thus, Paul might still have addressed those persons as "the household of Narcissus," despite their being then the property of the emperor. Lightfoot, as quoted by Murray, thought it was the other Narcissus (favorite of Claudius) who was mentioned here. He justified this by adding:

Though deceased, his household would still go under his name as likewise the case of Aristobulus.[24]

The sandwiching of the name of Herodian, Paul's kinsman, in between these two households made up principally, if not totally, of slaves, is further evidence that Herodian was a bondservant.

J. W. McGarvey was impressed with the writings of Lightfoot and others on this subject, making the following comment:

Lightfoot argues very plausibly that most of those here greeted by Paul were Nero's servants, once in Greece, especially Philippi, and now called in Rome, whence they later sent back greetings to Philippi (Philippians 4:22). An imperial burial ground at Rome bears names like most of these, and the parties there buried lived in Paul's day.[25]

See more on this under Romans 16:15.

[23] Conybeare and Howson, Life and Letters of St. Paul (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1966), p. 535.

[24] John Murray, The Epistle to the Romans (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1968), Vol. II, p. 231.

[25] J. W. McGarvey, The Standard Bible Commentary (Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing Company, 1916), p. 547.