Tag: fellow worker

Romans 16:21 – Faithful Helpers

Posted on by Will

Timothy, my fellow worker greets you, as do Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my countrymen.

Truth to Learn

Every ministry needs faithful helpers.

Behind the Words

“Fellow worker” is from sunergon, which we have seen a couple of times in this chapter. It refers to someone who works together with someone else.

The word “countrymen,” which we also have seen a couple of times in this chapter, is translated from sungenēs. This word can be used to imply a family member (a relative) or someone with the same ethnic roots. In this case it probably means that Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater were fellow Jews with Paul.

Meaning Explained

A few verses back we went through a series of greetings that Paul extended to various people at the church in Rome. Now, before he closes this letter with an extended benediction, Paul allows several of the people currently working with him to send their greetings to the Christians at Rome as well. As with the earlier greetings, we know very little for sure about any of these people; however, we can make some educated guesses based on other scriptures.

The first one to offer greetings is Timothy. It is very reasonable to assume that this is the same Timothy to whom Paul later wrote two letters (1 Timothy and 2 Timothy). In his second letter to the Christians at Corinth, Paul includes Timothy as a fellow writer (2 Corinthians 1:1). And he told the Christians at Philippi that he was going to send Timothy to help them out until Paul could get there himself. Paul spoke so highly of Timothy to the Philippians that he appears to have been one of Paul’s strongest helpers (Philippians 2:19-24). Paul refers to Timothy as his “son in the Lord” in his first letter to the church at Corinth (1 Corinthians 4:17) and in 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy refers to him as “a true son in the faith,” “son Timothy,” and “a beloved son.” Clearly, there was a close bond between the apostle and Timothy.

About the other three mentioned here we have fewer facts to go on. We do know that all three of them were fellow Jews. Some scholars believe that they were also of the tribe of Benjamin and perhaps even close relatives to Paul. All three of these names are listed among the seventy disciples sent out by Christ and later became church Bishops (senior pastors).

The first of the three is Lucius. There are some who believe that he is one and the same with Luke, the writer of the Gospel of Luke. That is unlikely, however, since the full Greek form of his name is Lucanus, not Lucius. It is more likely that this is the prophet mentioned in Acts 13:1 as Lucius of Cyrene.

Jason is most likely the one mentioned in Acts 17:1-9 who protected Paul and Silas from the hostile Jews. Rather than reveal where they were, Jason suffered a beating from the mob and was even willing to pay a security deposit for their protection. Sosipater is likely the same as Sopater of Berea, mentioned in Acts 20:4 as one of Paul’s traveling companions.

Application

We are finding out just how many people assisted the Apostle Paul in his ministry. Though he is the one we most often hear about and talk about, he couldn’t have done his work for God without many faithful helpers. This is true of every church ministry. God uses a few leaders and a lot of faithful helpers.

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2019 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Romans 16:9 – Hugs and Kisses

Posted on by Will

Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys, my beloved.

Truth to Learn

Family members greet one another with signs of affection.

Behind the Words

The word “greet,” which we looked at back in verse three, is aspadzomai, which refers specifically to greeting a person with a hug. There are two other Greek words that carry roughly the same idea, that of a greeting or a salutation. They are philema, meaning “to greet with a kiss” and enagkalizomai, meaning “to embrace or hug.”

“Urbanus” is a common Roman slave name. It means “city-born.”

“Fellow worker” is the word sunergos, which we looked at back in verse three. It refers to someone who works together with someone else.

The name “Stachys” is a fairly rare Greek name. It means “an ear of corn.” There was a person of this name who was a member of the household of Caesar. Whether or not this is the same person cannot be verified.

Meaning Explained

Paul continues with his salutations to various people in the church at Rome. The two individuals in today’s verse are Urbanus and Stachys. Urbanus was quite possibly a slave owned by a Roman citizen and Stachys may have been a domestic servant in Caesar’s household. This is plausible since Paul greets the two brothers in Christ in the same verse, although we don’t know for certain anything about these two other than what Paul tells us here.

Notice how often Paul has used the word “greet” in this chapter. He continues to use this word repeatedly up through verse sixteen. As we pointed out in “Behind the Words” above, this is one of several Greek words that were commonly used to express a greeting. Two of the words imply a hug or an embrace and the other one implies a kiss. It was very common in the first century church to greet fellow Christians with hugs and kisses. There are many Churches today in which believers greet each other with a hug; however, few churches greet one another with a kiss. In the first century church is was very common for men to greet men with a kiss and for women to greet women with a kiss.

Later, in verse sixteen, Paul will suggest that the members of the church in Rome greet each other with a holy kiss, as he also does to the church in Corinth (1Corinthians 16:20 and 2Corinthians 13:12) and the church in Thessalonica (1Thessalonians 5:26). Likewise, the Apostle Peter in his first general epistle says to “greet one another with a kiss of love” (1Peter 5:14). Because of this common practice of hugging and kissing in the first century church, Christians were often characterized by outsiders as being incestuous.

Application

Since all Christians are part of the body of Christ and we all have a common Heavenly Father, we refer to each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. And, since we are all part of the same family, we should feel comfortable greeting one another with an affectionate hug.

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2018 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Romans 16:21 – Faithful Helpers

Posted on by Will

Romans 16:21 – Faithful Helpers

Timothy, my fellow worker, and Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my countrymen, greet you.

Truth to Learn

Every ministry needs faithful helpers.

Behind the Words

“Fellow worker” is from sunergon, which we have seen a couple of times in this chapter. It refers to someone who works together with someone else.

The word “countrymen,” which we also have seen a couple of times in this chapter, is translated from sungenēs. This word can be used to imply a family member (a relative) or someone with the same ethnic roots. In this case it probably means that Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater were fellow Jews with Paul.

Meaning Explained

A few verses back we went through a series of greetings that Paul extended to various people at the church in Rome. Now, before he closes this letter with an extended benediction, Paul allows several of the people currently working with him to send their greetings to the Christians at Rome as well. As with the earlier greetings, we know very little for sure about any of these people; however, we can make some educated guesses based on other scriptures.

The first one to offer greetings is Timothy. It is very reasonable to assume that this is the same Timothy to whom Paul later wrote two letters (1Timothy and 2Timothy). In his second letter to the Christians at Corinth, Paul includes Timothy as a fellow writer (2Corinthians 1:1). And he told the Christians at Philippi that he was going to send Timothy to help them out until Paul could get there himself. Paul spoke so highly of Timothy to the Philippians that he appears to have been one of Paul’s strongest helpers (Philippians 2:19-24). Paul refers to Timothy as his “son in the Lord” in his first letter to the church at Corinth (1Corinthians 4:17) and in 1Timothy and 2Timothy refers to him as “a true son in the faith,” “son Timothy,” “and a beloved son.” Clearly, there was a close bond between the apostle and Timothy.

About the other three mentioned here we have fewer facts to go on. We do know that all three of them were fellow Jews. Some scholars believe that they were also of the tribe of Benjamin and perhaps even close relatives to Paul. All three of these names are listed among the seventy disciples sent out by Christ and later became church Bishops (senior pastors).

The first of the three is Lucius. There are some who believe that he is one and the same with Luke, the writer of the Gospel of Luke. That is unlikely, however, since the full Greek form of his name is Lucanus, not Lucius. It is more likely that this is the prophet mentioned in Acts 13:1 as Lucius of Cyrene.

Jason is most likely the one mentioned in Acts 17:1-9 who protected Paul and Silas from the hostile Jews. Rather than reveal where they were, Jason suffered a beating from the mob and was even willing to pay a security deposit for their protection. Sosipater is likely the same as Sopater of Berea, mentioned in Acts 20:4 as one of Paul’s traveling companions.

Application

We are finding out just how many people assisted the Apostle Paul in his ministry. Though he is the one we most often hear about and talk about, he couldn’t have done his work for God without many faithful helpers. This is true of every church ministry. God uses a few leaders and a lot of faithful helpers.

In God’s service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2011 Will Krause. All rights reserved.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

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Romans 16:9 – Hugs and Kisses

Posted on by Will

Romans 16:9 – Hugs and Kisses

Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys, my beloved.

Truth to Learn

Family members greet one another with signs of affection.

Behind the Words

The word “greet,” which we looked at back in verse three, is aspadzomai, which refers specifically to greeting a person with a hug. There are two other Greek words that carry roughly the same idea, that of a greeting or a salutation. They are philema, meaning “to greet with a kiss” and enagkalizomai, meaning “to embrace or hug.”

“Urbanus” is a common Roman slave name. It means “city-born.”

“Fellow worker” is the word sunergos, which we looked at back in verse three. It refers to someone who works together with someone else.

The name “Stachys” is a fairly rare Greek name. It means “an ear of corn.” There was a person of this name who was a member of the household of Caesar. Whether or not this is the same person cannot be verified.

Meaning Explained

Paul continues with his salutations to various people in the church at Rome. The two individuals in today’s verse are Urbanus and Stachys. Urbanus was quite possibly a slave owned by a Roman citizen and Stachys may have been a domestic servant in Caesar’s household. This is plausible since Paul greets the two brothers in Christ in the same verse, although we don’t know for certain anything about these two other than what Paul tells us here.

Notice how often Paul has used the word “greet” in this chapter. He continues to use this word repeatedly up through verse sixteen. As we pointed out in “Behind the Words” above, this is one of several Greek words that were commonly used to express a greeting. Two of the words imply a hug or an embrace and the other one implies a kiss. It was very common in the first century church to greet fellow Christians with hugs and kisses. There are many Churches today in which believers greet each other with a hug; however, few churches greet one another with a kiss. In the first century church is was very common for men to greet men with a kiss and for women to greet women with a kiss.

Later, in verse sixteen, Paul will suggest that the members of the church in Rome greet each other with a holy kiss, as he also does to the church in Corinth (1Corinthians 16:20 and 2Corinthians 13:12) and the church in Thessalonica (1Thessalonians 5:26). Likewise, the Apostle Peter in his first general epistle says to “greet one another with a kiss of love” (1Peter 5:14). Because of this common practice of hugging and kissing in the first century church, Christians were often characterized by outsiders as being incestuous.

Application

Since all Christians are part of the body of Christ and we all have a common Heavenly Father, we refer to each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. And, since we are all part of the same family, we should feel comfortable greeting one another with an affectionate hug.

In God’s service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2011 Will Krause. All rights reserved.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, send an e-mail to: