Useful Bible Studies > Romans Commentary > chapter 16

Paul's 'relatives' in the family of God

Romans 16:13-16

We are looking at the long list of greetings that Paul sent to the church at Rome. Twice in the list, Paul refers to people as his ‘relatives' (verses 7 and 11; also in verse 21), and once to someone as his ‘mother’ (verse 13).

There is only one definite reference in the Bible to a relative of Paul’s. In Acts 23:16-22, the son of Paul’s sister acted in order to save Paul’s life. Probably that relative did not believe in Christ; his act of kindness was rare for a relative of the first Christians. Rarely did a whole family become Christians; more often, the message about Christ separated families (Matthew 10:35-37).

So the reference to ‘relatives’ in Romans chapter 16 may mean that these men, like Paul, were Jews. All the Jews come from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, so their whole nation is one family. Paul uses the word for ‘relatives’ with this meaning in Romans 9:3.

However, Paul’s subject in many of these greetings is a person’s relationship with God. All Christians are brothers and sisters in God’s family (Mark 3:31-35); therefore, they are all relatives.

The reference to Rufus (verse 13), whose mother is also called Paul’s ‘mother’, is especially interesting. Perhaps this same Rufus was the son of Simon, from Cyrene, who carried Christ’s cross (Mark 15:21). Perhaps that same Simon became a leader of the church at Antioch with Paul, then called Saul (Acts 13:1). Perhaps at that time, Rufus’s mother looked after Paul, as if she was Paul’s own mother. However, that can only be a guess.

At the end of Paul’s list, he urges Rome’s Christians to greet each other like a family (16:16). He wanted them to have true love in their hearts for each other (1 Corinthians chapter 13). Therefore, they should be friendly; they too should greet each other.

Next part: How we can protect ourselves from evil leaders in the churches (Romans 16:17-18)

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