VERSE 20: BENEDICTION
“And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”
“The God of peace”
God Who neither sends nor favors such disturbers of the tranquillity of His Church. The God who promotes peace (15:33). The Author, Promoter, and Lover of peace. The phrase, “the God of the peace,” is used by Paul with special reference to the divisions referred to in verse 17.
PEACE: (Grk.–eirô)—The verb form of of the Greek word for peace (Grk.–eirênê). Literally: “to bring to peace, to reconcile, to bind together that which was separated.” When the divisions are bound together, the result is peace.
“shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly”– The reference seems to be to Paul’s expectation of the near return of Messiah and with it the final victory of the faith. Paul seems to have Genesis 3:15 on his mind.
BRUISE: (Grk.–suntribo)—Literally: “to trample underfoot, to crush.” That is, shall give you the dominion over the great adversary of your souls, and over all his agents who, through their influence, work to destroy your peace and to subvert your minds.
The language here refers to the prediction in Gen. 3:15. It here means, “to subdue, to gain the victory over.” It denotes Paul's confidence that they would gain the victory, and would be able to overcome all the arts of those who were endeavoring to sow discord and contention among them.
Though Paul here styles Him Who is thus to bruise Satan, as the God of peace, with special reference to the “divisions” (v.17) by which the church at Rome was in danger of being disturbed, this sublime title of God has here a wider sense, pointing to the whole “purpose for which the Son of God was manifested, to destroy the works of the devil” (I John 3:8); and indeed this assurance is but a reproduction of the first great promise, that the Seed of the woman should bruise the Serpent's head (Gen. 3:15).
SATAN: (Grk.–Zatanas)–The word “Satan” is Hebrew, meaning, originally, “an accuser, a slanderer,” and then “an enemy.” It is given to the prince of evil spirits from his enmity to God and men.
He is here regarded as the author of all attempts to promote discord in the church, by whomsoever those attempts were made. Hence they who attempt to produce divisions are called “his ministers,” (II Cor. 11:15). God would disappoint their malignant purposes, and promote the prevalence of peace. above.
“under your feet”–Give you the victory over him and his adherents; a victory begun in this world, but consummated in the glory of heaven
Paul is encouraging the Roman believers to persevere in resisting the wiles of the devil, with the assurance that, as good soldiers of Jesus Christ, they are “shortly” to receive their discharge, and have the satisfaction of “putting their feet upon the neck” of that formidable enemy.–symbol familiar, probably, in all languages to express not only the completeness of the defeat, but the abject humiliation of the conquered foe. (See Josua 10:24; II Samuel 22:41; Psalm 91:13; Ezekiel 21:29).
SHORTLY: (Grk.–en tachei)—“quickly, with speed, soon.” —“As God counts time. Meanwhile, patient loyalty from us”—A.T. Robinson
“the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”
“the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ {be} with you.”–The favor; the mercy, etc. The Lord Jesus is the Prince of Peace, (Isa. 9:6; comp. Luke 2:14; John 14:27); and this expression is a prayer to Him, or an earnest wish expressed, that the purpose of His Coming might be accomplished in promoting the prevalence of order and peace. (Comp. I Cor. 16:23; Rev. 22:21).
That you may be truly wise simple, obedient, and steady in the truth, may the favor or gracious influence of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you! without which you cannot be preserved from evil, nor do any thing that is good.
AMEN: (Grk.–amên)–Here Paul appears to have intended to conclude his epistle; but afterwards he added a postscript, if not two, as we shall see below. Several ancient MSS. omit the whole of this clause, probably thinking that it had been borrowed from v. 24; but on the ground that Paul might have added a postscript or two, not having immediate opportunity to send the epistle there is no need for this supposition.
The “Amen” here has no manuscript authority. What comes after this, where one would have expected the epistle to close, has its parallel in Phil. 4:20, etc., and is simply a mark of genuineness.
VERSES 21-23: GREETINGS FROM PAUL'S COMPANIONS IN CORINTH.
VERSE21:
“Timotheus, my workfellow, and Lucius, and Jason, and Sosipater, my kinsmen, salute you.”
They are all Paul's fellow-countrymen ( Grk.-– sungeneusin).
Paul had, in the former part of the chapter, saluted divers persons himself; here he sends the salutations of those that were with him to the saints or Christians at Rome.
“Timotheus my workfellow and Lucius”
Literally: “Timothy, the fellow-worker of me and Lucius.”—This is Timothy, to whom the epistles which bear his name were written. He was long the companion of Paul in his labors, (Acts 16:1; I Cor. 16:10; II Cor. 1:1,19; Phil. 2:19; I Thess. 3:2; I Tim. 1:2; Heb. 13:23). See Acts 16:1-5.
Timothy was with Paul in Macedonia (II Cor. 1:1) before he came to Corinth. Paul mentions him here rather than in the opening address to this church, as he had not been at Rome. By mentioning those who are with him there in Corinth, Paul is showing that mutual love and happy concord and unity which is and ought to be between all the sincere disciples and followers of Jesus.
WORKFELLOW: (Grk.-– sunergos)—rendered as “helper” (vv. 3, 9; II Cor. 1:24), and “companion in labor” (Phil. 2:25).
LUCIUS: (Grk.-–Loukios)–There are two schools of thoughts as to who to this Lucius really is.
1. This was probably Luke the physician, and writer of the book called The Acts of the Apostles. For a short account of him see the Preface to that book.
This seems to be correct for we know that Luke the physician did travel with Paul and treated his “thorn in the flesh.” |
2. This was not Luke.
For the fuller form of “Lucas” is not “Lucius” but “Lucanus.” The person meant here seems to be “Lucius of Cyrene,” who was among the “prophets and teachers” at Antioch with Paul before he was summoned into the missionary field (Acts 13:1).
“Jason, and Sosipater, my kinsmen, salute you.”
Literally: “Jason, and Sosipater, my kinsmen, greet you.”
JASON (Grk.–Iasôn)–It is likely that this is the same person mentioned in Acts 17:5-9, who at Thessalonica received the apostles into his house, and befriended them at the risk both of his property and life. Paul tells us that this man is a kinsman of his.
SOSIPATER: (Grk.–Sôsipatros)–This may be the longer form of Sopater of Acts 20:4. He was a Berean, the son of one Pyrrhus, a Jew by birth, and accompanied Paul from Greece into Asia, and probably into Judea. Paul tells us that this man is a kinsman of his.
VERSE 22:
“I Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord.”
“I Tertius, who wrote this epistle”
Literally: “I am Tertius, the {one} writing the epistle.” It is evident that Paul employed an amanuensis to write this epistle, and perhaps he commonly did so.
It appears that Paul dictated to Tertius, and he wrote it down; and here he introduces himself as joining with Paul in affectionate wishes for their welfare. Paul may have been afflicted with an Oriental eye disease called ophthalamia, which he probably contracted in the lowlands of Pamphylia while on his first missionary journey, and which induced almost total blindness (see Gal. 4:13-15).
TERTIUS: (Grk.–Tertios)–Of this Tertius nothing more is known than is mentioned here. Some eminent commentators suppose Tertius to be Silas, the companion of Paul. If this were so, it is strange that the name which is generally given him elsewhere in Scripture should not be used in this place.
What we have here is another case where the KJV translators, because of the influence of the Catholic Church over the (Episcopal) Church of England, changed a Greek name into a Roman/Latin name: i.e., from Teritos to Tertius.
“Who wrote this epistle”–Tertius, or Teritos, who wrote this, joins with Paul in affectionate salutations to the brethren at Rome. To the epistle Paul signed his own name, and added a salutation in his own handwriting. (Col .3:18), “The salutation by the hand of me Paul;” and in II Thess. 3:17, he says that this was done in every epistle. (I Cor. 16:21). Paul dictated and Tertius wrote it down
“salute you in the Lord.”
Literally: “Greet you in {the} Lord.”–As Christian brethren.
Wish you well in the Name of the Lord: or, I feel for you that affectionate respect which the grace of the Lord Jesus inspires. So usually did Paul dictate his epistles, that he calls the attention of the Galatians to the fact that to them he wrote with his own hand (Gal. 6:11). Tertius would have the Romans to know that, far from being a mere scribe, his heart went out to them in Christian affection; and Paul, by giving his salutation a place here, would show what sort of assistants he employed.
VERSE 23:
“Gaius, mine host, and of the whole church, saluteth you. Erastus the chamberlain of the city saluteth you, and Quartus a brother.”
“Gaius mine host and of the whole church”
Literally: “Gaius, the host of all the church and of me.”– Who has received me into his house, and shown me hospitality. The person at whose house Paul stayed. The word “host” means one who entertains another at his own house without reward.
GAIUS: (Grk.–Gaios)—Gaius in Greek is the same as Caius in Latin, which was a very common name among the Romans.
Luke (Acts 19:29) mentions one Gaius of Macedonia, who was exposed to much violence at Ephesus in the tumult excited by Demetrius the silver-smith against Paul and his companions; and it is very possible that this was this same person.
HOST: (Grk.–xenos)– Gaius is called not only the host (the entertainer) of Paul orTertius, (if he wrote this and the following verse,) but also of the whole Church. It is possible that a house-church met there in his home.
That is, he received and lodged the apostles who came from different places, as well as the messengers of the Churches. All made his house their home; and he must have been a person of considerable property to be able to bear this expense; and a man of much piety and love to the cause of Christ, else he had not employed that property in this way.
Gaius has opened his house to entertain all Christians; or to show hospitality to them all. He was baptized by Paul himself at Corinth, (I Cor. 1:14) and was so highly esteemed by the church, that John wrote an epistle to him, (III John 1:1). He was probably a wealthy citizen of Corinth, who freely opened his house to entertain Christians, and for the purpose of worship. This phrase may even mean that a local assembly was meeting in his home.
“and of the whole church–(See Acts 20:4). It would appear that he was one of only two persons whom Paul baptized with his own hand (compare III John 1:1-14). His Christian hospitality appears to have been something uncommon.
“Erastus the chamberlain of the city”
Literally: “Erastus the treasurer of the city”– Treasurer of the city of Corinth, from which Paul wrote this epistle. This believed by many expositors to be the same person as is mentioned (Acts 19:22). He was one of Paul's companions, and, as appears from II Tim. 4:20, was left about this time by Paul at Corinth.
CHAMBERLAIN: (Grk.–oikonomos)–which signifies the same as treasurer; he to whom the receipt and expenditure of the public money were entrusted. The word used here is commonly in the N.T. translated “steward.” It properly means one who has charge of domestic affairs, to provide for a family, to pay the servants, etc.
In this place it means one who presided over the pecuniary affairs of the city; and should have been translated the treasurer; the city treasurer; an office of trust and of some importance, showing that all who were converted at Corinth were not of the lowest rank. This is implied in I Cor. 1:26, “Not many wise men, not many mighty, not many noble, are called,” implying that there were some such
He received the tolls, taxes, customs, etc., belonging to the city, and out of them paid the public expenses. Such persons were in very high credit; and if Erastus was at this time treasurer, it would appear that Christianity was then in considerable repute in Corinth. But if the Erastus of the Acts was the same with the Erastus mentioned here, it is not likely that he now held the office, for this could not at all comport with his travelling with Paul. Hence several, both ancients and moderns, who believe the identity of the persons, suppose that Erastus was not now treasurer, but that having formerly been so he still retained the title. Chrysostom thought that he still retained the employment.
“and Quartus a brother.”
Literally, “And Quartus, the brother,” as Sosthenes and Timothy are called (I Cor. 1:1; II Cor. 1:1). Nothing more is known of this Quartus.
QUARTUS: (Grk.–Quartos)–Latin term for “fourth”. Whether the brother of Erastus or of Tertius we know not; probably nothing more is meant than that he was a Christian brother; one of the heavenly family, a brother in the Lord.
NOTES ABOUT CORINTH
Corinth was originally founded about the 10th Century BCE, but the Corinth that Paul found was an almost a new city. Because the Corinthians would not accede to the Roman demand to dissolve the Achaian League in 146 BCE, the Roman Consul Lucius Mummius had destroyed the town, killing all the men and selling the women and children into slavery. For the next 98years only a handful of squatters occupied the site, but in 44 BCE, before he was assassinated, Julius Caesar re-founded the city as a colonia, and renamed it Colonia Laus Julia Corinthiensis. He populated the city with conscripted Italian, Greek, Syrian, Egyptian and Judean freedmen. Because there was so much rioting and looting going on in Rome, Caesar sent the army to round up all these troublemakers and low-lives in Rome, and sent them all to repopulate Corinth.
The primary motive of the colonial movement was in fact to provide land for certain classes of Roman citizens, and any services which the settlements might perform in the districts where they were planted were a secondary con-sideration. Caesar was chiefly interested in the urban proletariat of Rome, and his eastern colonies were probably peopled from this class. Corinth, about which alone we have definite information, certainly was so.
Within a few years, the new Corinthian settlers had changed it into a profitable commercial center. Corinth was a cosmopolitan city because of its location and commerce. It has been called the least Greek of all Greek cities. By the time Paul visited it in 50 CE, Corinth was a wealthy and famous (or should I say, infamous) city, known for its profligate manner of living, and debauchery. Sailors considered Corinth a good liberty port. At the Acrocorinth (the acropolis of Corinth) there was a temple to Aphrodite (goddess of love & sex), with a thousand cult prostitutes free to any “worshiper.” As debauched as the Romans were, Corinth was too debauched even for them. You really had to really be a low life if the debauched Romans couldn’t stomach you. In fact, rhe worst insult you could give a woman in the Roman Empire was to call her a Corinthiadza—a Corinthian Woman.