--- title: "Romans 16 - Study King James Bible with cokes commentary on the holy bible" description: "Read Romans 16 with cokes commentary on the holy bible commentary. 1 I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea: 2 That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and t" image: "/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg" url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/romans/16" --- [ Read](/kjv/romans/16)[ Commentary](/study/romans/16)[ Interlinear](/interlinear/romans/16) Audio 1 I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea: 2 That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also. 3 Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus: 4 Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. 5 Likewise *greet* the church that is in their house. Salute my wellbeloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ. 6 Greet Mary, who bestowed much labour on us. 7 Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellowprisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me. 8 Greet Amplias my beloved in the Lord. 9 Salute Urbane, our helper in Christ, and Stachys my beloved. 10 Salute Apelles approved in Christ. Salute them which are of Aristobulus’ *household*. 11 Salute Herodion my kinsman. Greet them that be of the *household* of Narcissus, which are in the Lord. 12 Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labour in the Lord. Salute the beloved Persis, which laboured much in the Lord. 13 Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine. 14 Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren which are with them. 15 Salute Philologus, and Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints which are with them. 16 Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you. 17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. 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. 19 For your obedience is come abroad unto all *men*. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil. 20 And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ *be* with you. Amen. 21 Timotheus my workfellow, and Lucius, and Jason, and Sosipater, my kinsmen, salute you. 22 I Tertius, who wrote *this* epistle, salute you in the Lord. 23 Gaius mine host, and of the whole church, saluteth you. Erastus the chamberlain of the city saluteth you, and Quartus a brother. 24 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ *be* with you all. Amen. 25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, 26 But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: 27 To God only wise, *be* glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen. [Romans 15](/study/romans/15) [1 Corinthians 1](/study/1-corinthians/1) ## Commentary To verse 1 ***[Romans 16:1](/kjv/romans/16/1)*****.*****I commend unto you,*****&c.—** This chapter consists chiefly of salutations. Throughout the whole Epistle the Apostle has demonstrated his affectionate regards to the whole society of Christians at Rome. But it was still more engaging to take a friendly notice of the principal persons by name, adding to several of them the honourable character whichthey deserved, or some special mark of his esteem. In the midst of these expressions of his love, the great design of writing the Epistle, and establishing their happiness, recurs to his thoughts. The Jewish converts were exceeding zealous to reduce all professors of Christianity to a submission to the law of Moses; and on this account not only propagated bad principles of religion, but almost every where broke in upon the peace and unity of the Gentile churches. This was the case of the churches in Galatia; but was not yet the unhappy case of the church at Rome. But the Apostle fearing it might, after all that he has done in this Epistle to settle them upon the principles of pure Gospel, throws in here a very pathetic caution against such authors and fomenters of divisions, [Romans 16:17-20](/kjv/romans/16/17-20). He concludes, after repeated benedictions, (like one who with his whole soul wished their highest felicity,) with a doxology *to the only-wise God.* ***I commend Phebe—which is a servant,*****&c.—** It might be translated, *who is a deaconess of the church at Cenchrea,*a port belonging to the city of Corinth, whence St. Paul wrote this letter. It is agreed that the deacons were officers employed in distributing the church's stock among the necessitous. They were to be persons of an eminent character, 1Ti 3:8-11 and therefore their service in the church might not consist only in relieving the poor, but in visiting the sick, in exhorting, comforting, and teaching, as occasion required. Corinth was a city of Greece, and, according to the customs of that country, men could not well be allowed to perform those good offices to the women: for men to have visited and conversed with women, would have been counted a very great indecency, and must have brought a scandal upon the Christian profession; as in Greece the women were treated in a manner very different from the usages of the western parts of Europe. This appears from Cornelius Nepos, who observes in his preface, "A great many things in our customs are decent, which are thought scandalous among them: for which of the Romans thinks it a shame to take his spouse to a feast? Or whose wife keeps not in the first room of the house, and converses with company? Which is quite otherwise in Greece, where she is never admitted to a feast, unless of relations, and always keeps in a retired part of the house, which is called *the woman's apartment,*whither nobody comes, unless allied to her bynear relation." This being the case, it is not improbable that some women of probity and good understanding might be chosen to attend as *deaconesses*upon their own sex. And this custom of keeping the women in a state of separation might occasion, in Greece, other allowable peculiarities in religious affairs. It is certain that they sometimes exercised their devotions apart from their husbands ([1 Corinthians 7:5](/kjv/1-corinthians/7/5).); and that they had separate assemblies for religious worship will appear probable, if we consider that the Apostle, when he is giving rules about *prophesying,*absolutely enjoins silence to the women in the *church,*or public assembly; [1 Corinthians 14:34-35](/kjv/1-corinthians/14/34-35). They were not allowed to speak or prophesy there, by the *commandment of the Lord,*1Co 14:37 or so much as to ask any question in the public assembly about what was taught, but directed to *consult their husbands at home:*much less were they allowed to *teach*or *usurp authority*over the men, but are expressly ordered to *learn in silence, with all subjection,*[1 Timothy 2:11-12](/kjv/1-timothy/2/11-12). And yet the Apostle supposes, 1Co 11:3-16 without any mark of disapprobation, that the woman might *pray*and *prophesy,*that is, *speak unto others to edification, exhortation, and comfort;*for that is here the meaning of *prophesying,*as the Apostle informs us, 1Co 14:3 therefore *prophesying*is an address to *others,*or to a company of persons. Here then the Apostle gives directions about the woman's praying and prophesying in an *assembly,*or where *others*were present, and yet, in the above-quoted places, he expressly enjoins silence, and forbids her *speaking,*and consequently *prophesying,*in the *churches.*—How shall we bring these things to a consistency?—Thus: the prohibitions and injunctions, [1 Corinthians 14:34-35](/kjv/1-corinthians/14/34-35), 1Ti 2:11-12 expressly relate to those assemblies, in which the *whole church,*men and women, met for the worship of God. In such assemblies the women were to be in silence; consequently (unless the Apostle contradicted himself in the same Epistle, and in a matter upon which he discourses largely and expressly) those assemblies in which women are supposed and allowed to pray and prophesy, were *separate meetings,*which consisted of none but women. Of the decent appearance of women at such meetings, he discourses, 1Co 11:3-16 where we may observe there is not one word of the *church;*—of praying or prophesying in the *church;*—for he did not consider those assemblies of women as proper *churches.*Then at 1Co 11:17 he begins to correct disorders in their proper assemblies, when they *came together in the church,*men and women (1Co 11:28); and discourses upon this subject to the end of ch. 14. In favour of this opinion, Grotius, on the verse before us, remarks, "that in Greece there were Πρεσβυτιδες, *female presbyters,*as well as *deacons,*for the instruction of their own sex; which female *presbyters*were ordained by the laying on of hands; till the *council*of Laodicea;" and for this he appeals to the eleventh canon of that council. This order of priestesses must grow out of the custom of women's holding separate assemblies for their mutual instruction and edification. In those assemblies theysupposed that they might lay aside the veil, the token of inferiority and subjection, and perform their religious exercises uncovered, as if they were upon a par with the men. This the Apostle opposes, and gives his reasons, [1 Corinthians 11:3-9](/kjv/1-corinthians/11/3-9). "But,—the women might object,—we have no men among us; why should we wear the badge of subjection, when we are among ourselves, and therefore are to be considered only in relation to ourselves?" The Apostle answers, [Romans 16:10](/kjv/romans/16/10). *You ought to have power*(that is, a *veil,*the sign of the man's power or authority *upon your* *head, because*or on account *of the*MESSENGERS; for so the word Αγγελους, which we translate *Angels,*most naturally and properly signifies; and so it is rendered, [Matthew 11:10](/kjv/matthew/11/10), [Luke 7:24](/kjv/luke/7/24); [Luke 7:27](/kjv/luke/7/27); [Luke 9:52](/kjv/luke/9/52); [James 2:25](/kjv/james/2/25). This furnishes a hint of what the reason of the case plainly suggests, that the men, upon sundry occasions, especially to inspect their conduct, sent *messengers*to those female assemblies. If we duly reflect upon the general custom of confining and restraining the women, even at home, in their own houses, we need not doubt but those meetings were under particular regulations; and that care would be taken to send proper persons to see how they behaved in them; not to mention that a woman might be wanted at home, and a messenger might be sent to require her attendance. However, it is very probable, that access to messengers was one of the conditions upon which the women held these religious assemblies; and these messengers, coming in the name of their husbands, brought, in a sense, their authority along with them; on which account the women ought to observe a just *decorum,*as if their husbands were present, seeing that they were in effect still under their eye:—*The woman ought to have power upon her head, on account of the messengers.*Mr. Locke, in his note on 1Co 11:3 supposes women were allowed to prophesy in public assemblies, where men were present; not indeed as ordinary doctors and teachers, but when their "prophesying was a spiritual gift, performed by the immediate and extraordinary motion and impulse of the Holy Ghost." But this great commentator did not observe, that women are expressly and absolutely enjoined silence *in the churches,*by the commandment of the Lord, among the rules relative to speaking in this very kind of prophesying, by *revelation.*See [1 Corinthians 14:29-37](/kjv/1-corinthians/14/29-37). Whence, particularly from 1Co 14:32-33 we may conclude, that a revelation given by the Spirit of God was not, at least in general, attended with any such extraordinary *motion*or *impulse,*as constrained the person to speak to whom it was given. With regard to the time of speaking, he might use his discretion;—when he thought proper, he might begin to speak; and when he pleased, he might hold his speech, as decency and good order should require. Therefore, though the Spirit of prophesy might be poured out upon a Christian woman in the church; or though some truth might be revealed to her, yet she might keep it to herself, and was obliged to keep it to herself, among the Christian men, and to confer only with her husband about it, who, it seems likely, might communicate it to the church, if he thought fit. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/romans/16#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","width":672,"height":448,"caption":"Real Bible Believers"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/romans/16#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/romans/16","name":"Romans 16 - Study King James Bible with cokes commentary on the holy bible","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/romans/16#primaryimage"},"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Read Romans 16 with cokes commentary on the holy bible commentary. 1 I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea: 2 That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and t","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/romans/16#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/romans/16"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/romans/16#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","name":"Study Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible","name":"cokes commentary on the holy bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/romans","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/romans","name":"Romans"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/romans/16","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/romans/16","name":"16"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]} ```