Romans 16:16 – A Holy Kiss?
Greet one another with a holy kiss. The churches of Christ greet you.
Truth to Learn
The early church employed a kiss as a customary greeting.
Behind the Words
“Greet” is from aspadzomai, meaning “to enfold in the arms” or as we would say, “to hug,” which we learned in verse three. It can also mean “to salute,” “to welcome,” or “to greet.”
The word translated “kiss” is philēma, which is based on the verb phileō, meaning “to love as brothers or best friends.” Philema refers specifically to a kiss as a token of friendship or love.
Meaning Explained
After sixteen verses of sending greetings, or hugs, to various people in the church in Rome, Paul now tells them to greet one another with a holy kiss. Many of us in the Western churches would respond with, “A what?!” Some of us are real huggers while others will only give or accept a hug from a close friend. But a kiss? To most of us, a kiss is a sign of affection that goes beyond just being friends and we wouldn’t even think of kissing those who occupy the pews or chairs around us on Sunday morning. Not so in the early church. They often greeted each other with a kiss, lip to lip.
To us a kiss on the lips carries a notion of a romantic relationship between a man and a woman. We might consider a kiss on the cheek, but only with someone with whom we have a close familial relationship. Those of us used to a small intimate church family might consider such a kiss on the cheek as acceptable, but those of us in large congregations would never even think of it.
In the Jewish faith at the time of Christ there was a very strict separation of men and women in both temple observances and synagogue services. It was very common for men to kiss men and for women to kiss women as a sign of friendship and brotherly love. This custom carried over into the Christian church in which men and women worshipped together. Christian commentaries over the past two to three centuries, however, have been very careful and very explicit in their description of this type of holy kissing as being only a kiss on the cheek. But, there is sufficient evidence to believe that the holy kiss that Paul was referring to within the church was a kiss on the lips, male to male, female to female, or male to female.
Also, to the first century Christians there was a difference between a brotherly kiss and a romantic kiss. One ancient source even goes so far as to declare, “No erotic kissing in church; instead, one must kiss with a closed and chaste mouth.” Another writer warns against those who kiss a second time because they enjoyed the first kiss so much.”
Does that mean that we have to adopt lip to lip kissing as a greeting in church in order to be a completely scriptural church? No! It means that a customary church greeting in Paul’s day was a kiss on the lips, whereas today it is our custom to give a hug or a handshake.
Application
It is important to greet brothers and sisters in Christ as fellow members of the family of God. It is a sign of acceptance and fellowship. A firm handshake or a familiar embrace can lift the spirits of both parties involved. So, next Sunday morning, greet one another with a holy hug!
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2011 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
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