Chú giải Kinh Thánh

Romans 16:18

For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. These men are to be avoided, because they are wicked and injurious. The description here given is applicable, in a great degree, to errorists in all ages. They are not actuated by zeal for the Lord Jesus; they are selfish, if not sensual; and they are plausible and deceitful. Compare Philippians 3:18, Philippians 3:19; 2 Timothy 3:5, 2 Timothy 3:6. The words (χρηστολογία and εὐλογία, blandiloquentia et assentatio) rendered good words and fair speeches, do not in this connection materially differ. They express that plausible and flattering address by which false teachers are wont to secure an influence over the simple. The word (ἄκακος) simple, signifies not merely innocent, but unwary, he who is liable to deception. (Proverbs 14:15, ἄκακος πιστεύει παντὶ λόγῳ, the simple believes everything.)

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Romans 16:19

For your obedience is come abroad unto all men, etc. This clause admits of two interpretations: the word obedience may express either their obedience to the gospel, their faith, (see Romans 1:8,) or their obedient disposition, their readiness to follow the instructions of their religious teachers. If the former meaning be adopted, the sense of the passage is this, ‘Ye ought to be on your guard against these false teachers, for since your character is so high, your faith being everywhere spoken of, it would be a great disgrace and evil to be led astray by them.’ If the latter meaning be taken, the sense is, ‘It is the more necessary that you should be on your guard against these false teachers, because your ready obedience to your divine teachers is so great and generally known. This, in itself, is commendable, but I would that you joined prudence with your docility.’ This latter view is, on account of the concluding part of the verse, most probably the correct one; see 2 Corinthians 10:6; Philemon 1:21.

I am glad, therefore, on your behalf; but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil. That is, ‘Simplicity (an unsuspecting docility) is indeed good; but I would have you not only simple, but prudent. You must not only avoid doing evil, but be careful that you do not suffer evil. Grotius’ explanation is peculiarly happy, ita prudentes ut non fallamini; ita boni ut non fallatis; ‘too good to deceive, too wise to be deceived.’ The word (ἀκέραιος from α et κεράω) simple, means unmixed, pure, and then harmless. ‘Wise as to (εἰς) good, but simple as to evil’ or, ‘wise so that good may result, and simple so that evil may not be done.’ This latter is probably the meaning. Paul would have them wise to know how to take care of themselves; and yet harmless.

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Romans 16:20

And the God of Peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. As the evils produced by the false teachers were divisions and scandals, the apostle, in giving them the assurance of the effectual aid of God, calls him the God of peace, i.e. God who is the author of peace in the comprehensive scriptural sense of that term. Shall bruise is not a prayer, but a consolatory declaration that Satan should be trodden under foot. As Satan is constantly represented as “working in the children of disobedience,” the evil done by them is sometimes referred to him as the instigator, and sometimes to the immediate agents who are his willing instruments. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. This is a prayer for the favor and aid of Christ, and of course is an act of worship, and a recognition of the Savior’s divinity.

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Romans 16:21-24

These verses contain the salutations of the apostle’s companions to the Roman Christians, and a repetition of the prayer just mentioned. I Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord. Tertius was Paul’s amanuensis. The apostle seldom wrote his epistles with his own hand; hence he refers to the fact of having himself written the letter to the Galatians as something unusual; Galatians 6:11, “Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with my own hand.” In order to authenticate his epistles, he generally wrote himself the salutation or benediction at the close; 1 Corinthians 16:21, “The salutation of me Paul, with mine own hand;” 2 Thessalonians 3:17, “The salutation of Paul with mine own hand; which is the token in every epistle: so I write.” Gaius mine host, and of the whole church, i.e. Gaius, who not only entertains me, but Christians generally; or, in whose house the congregation is accustomed to assemble. Erastus the chamberlain of the city, (οἰκονόμος) the treasurer of the city, the quaestor.

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Romans 16:21-24

These verses contain the salutations of the apostle’s companions to the Roman Christians, and a repetition of the prayer just mentioned. I Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord. Tertius was Paul’s amanuensis. The apostle seldom wrote his epistles with his own hand; hence he refers to the fact of having himself written the letter to the Galatians as something unusual; Galatians 6:11, “Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with my own hand.” In order to authenticate his epistles, he generally wrote himself the salutation or benediction at the close; 1 Corinthians 16:21, “The salutation of me Paul, with mine own hand;” 2 Thessalonians 3:17, “The salutation of Paul with mine own hand; which is the token in every epistle: so I write.” Gaius mine host, and of the whole church, i.e. Gaius, who not only entertains me, but Christians generally; or, in whose house the congregation is accustomed to assemble. Erastus the chamberlain of the city, (οἰκονόμος) the treasurer of the city, the quaestor.

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Romans 16:21-24

These verses contain the salutations of the apostle’s companions to the Roman Christians, and a repetition of the prayer just mentioned. I Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord. Tertius was Paul’s amanuensis. The apostle seldom wrote his epistles with his own hand; hence he refers to the fact of having himself written the letter to the Galatians as something unusual; Galatians 6:11, “Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with my own hand.” In order to authenticate his epistles, he generally wrote himself the salutation or benediction at the close; 1 Corinthians 16:21, “The salutation of me Paul, with mine own hand;” 2 Thessalonians 3:17, “The salutation of Paul with mine own hand; which is the token in every epistle: so I write.” Gaius mine host, and of the whole church, i.e. Gaius, who not only entertains me, but Christians generally; or, in whose house the congregation is accustomed to assemble. Erastus the chamberlain of the city, (οἰκονόμος) the treasurer of the city, the quaestor.

return to '

Romans 16:21-24

These verses contain the salutations of the apostle’s companions to the Roman Christians, and a repetition of the prayer just mentioned. I Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord. Tertius was Paul’s amanuensis. The apostle seldom wrote his epistles with his own hand; hence he refers to the fact of having himself written the letter to the Galatians as something unusual; Galatians 6:11, “Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with my own hand.” In order to authenticate his epistles, he generally wrote himself the salutation or benediction at the close; 1 Corinthians 16:21, “The salutation of me Paul, with mine own hand;” 2 Thessalonians 3:17, “The salutation of Paul with mine own hand; which is the token in every epistle: so I write.” Gaius mine host, and of the whole church, i.e. Gaius, who not only entertains me, but Christians generally; or, in whose house the congregation is accustomed to assemble. Erastus the chamberlain of the city, (οἰκονόμος) the treasurer of the city, the quaestor.

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Romans 16:25, Romans 16:27

These verses contain the concluding doxology. Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, etc. As the apostle interweaves with his doxology a description and eulogium of the gospel, he renders the sentence so long and complicated that the regular grammatical construction is broken. There is nothing to govern the words (tῷ δυναμένῳ) to him that is of power. The words, be glory for ever, (which are repeated at the end in connection with ᾧ) are, therefore, most probably to be supplied. To him that is able to establish you, i.e. to render you firm and constant, to keep you from falling. According to my gospel. The word (κατά) according to, may be variously explained. It may be rendered, ‘establish you in my gospel;’ but this the proper meaning of the words will hardly allow; or, agreeably to my gospel; in such a manner as the gospel requires; or, through, i.e. by means of my gospel. The second interpretation is perhaps the best. And the preaching of Jesus Christ. This may mean either ‘Christ’s preaching,’ or ‘the preaching concerning Christ;’ either interpretation gives a good sense, the gospel being, both a proclamation by Christ, and concerning Christ. The apostle dwells upon this idea, and is led into a description and commendation of the gospel. According to the revelation of the mystery. These words may be considered as coordinate with the preceding clause; the sense then is, ‘Who is able to establish you agreeably to (or through) my gospel, agreeably to (through) the revelation of the mystery, etc.’ It is, however, more common to consider this clause as subordinate and descriptive. ‘The gospel is a revelation of the mystery which had been hid for ages.’ The word mystery, according to the common scriptural sense of the term, does not mean something obscure or incomprehensible, but simply something previously unknown and undiscoverable by human reason, and which, if known at all, must be known by a revelation from God. In this sense the gospel is called a mystery, or “the wisdom of God in a mystery, that is, a hidden wisdom,” which the wise of this world could not discover, but which God has revealed by his Spirit, 1 Corinthians 2:7-10; 1 Corinthians 4:1; Ephesians 6:19; Colossians 1:25-27; Colossians 2:2, etc. In the same sense any particular doctrine, as the calling of the Gentiles, Ephesians 3:4-6; the restoration of the Jews, Romans 11:25; the change of the bodies of living believers at the last day, 1 Corinthians 15:51; is called a mystery, because a matter of divine revelation. According to this passage, Paul speaks of the gospel as something “which had been kept secret since the world began;” (χρόνοις αἰωνίοις,) i.e. hidden from eternity in the divine mind. It is not a system of human philosophy, or the result of human investigation, but it is a revelation of the purpose of God. Paul often presents the idea that the plan of redemption was formed from eternity, and is such as no eye could discover, and no heart conceive, 1 Corinthians 2:7-9; Colossians 1:26.

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