Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Romans 16:16
Salute one another with a holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you.
16. Salute one another ] As if to respond to the example set them in the Apostle’s loving greetings.
a holy kiss ] So 1Co 16:20; 2Co 13:12; 1Th 5:26 ; 1Pe 5:14. See also Act 20:37. The kiss, as a mark both of friendship and of reverence, is still almost as usual as ever in the East. In the early offices for Baptism the kiss is given to the newly-baptized. (Bingham, Bk. 12. ch. 4.).
The churches ] A better reading gives, All the churches. He assumes this universal greeting, from the fact of the universal good-report of the Roman Christians. (See Rom 1:8.) And he offers it as a seemly message to the Christians of the mighty Capital.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Salute one another – Greet one another in an affectionate mannner; that is, treat each other with kindness and love, and evince all proper marks of affection.
With an holy kiss – This mode of salutation has been practiced at all times; and particularly in eastern nations. It was even practiced by men; see the note at Luk 22:47-48. The use of the word holy here serves to denote that Paul intended it as an expression of Christian affection; and to guard against all improper familiarity and scandal. It was common, according to Justin Martyr (Apology), for the early Christians to practice it in their religious assemblies.
The churches of Christ – That is, the churches in the vicinity of the place where the apostle wrote this Epistle; probably the churches particularly in Achaia.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 16. Salute one another with a holy kiss.] In those early times the kiss, as a token of peace, friendship, and brotherly love, was frequent among all people; and the Christians used it in their public assemblies, as well as in their occasional meetings. This was at last laid aside, not because it was abused, but because, the Church becoming very numerous, the thing was impossible. In some countries the kiss of friendship is still common; and in such countries it is scarcely ever abused, nor is it an incentive to evil, because it is customary and common. Shaking of hands is now substituted for it in almost all Christian congregations.
The Churches of Christ salute you.] The word , ALL, is added here by some of the most reputable MSS. and principal versions; and Griesbach has received it into his text. St. Paul must mean, here, that all the Churches in Greece and Asia, through which he had passed, in which the faith of the Christians at Rome was known, spoke of them affectionately and honourably; and probably knowing the apostle’s design of visiting Rome, desired to be kindly remembered to the Church in that city.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
From greeting them himself, he proceeds to exhort them to greet or
salute one another: this he adviseth them to do
with an holy kiss. You have the same exhortation, in 1Co 16:20; 2Co 13:12; 1Th 5:26. This the apostle Peter calls a kiss of charity, 1Pe 5:14. Kissing is accounted a great symbol of love and concord: q.d. You have been much troubled with dissensions, about meats and days, &c.; therefore I beseech you that, forgetting all former offences, you would manifest for the future all signs of love to and peace with one another. Kissing was an old custom amongst the Hebrews; we find it used by the patriarchs, Gen 27:26; 29:11. It is still retained more or less in all countries. The primitive Christians did use it in their assemblies; so Tertullian testifieth, Lib. Dec.; and they did it especially in receiving the eucharist. So Chrysostom witnesseth, Hom. 77. in Joh 16. “We do well,” saith he, “to kiss in the mysteries, that we may become one.” This custom, for good reasons, is laid down, and the Romanists, in room of it, keep up a foolish and superstitious ceremony, which is to kiss the pax in the mass.
The churches of Christ salute you: he sends, besides his own, the salutations of others also to the Christians at Rome; and that, first, of whole churches, and by and by of particular persons, Rom 16:21-23. By churches, here, he principally means, the churches in Greece, where he then was, of whose good affection to the Christian Romans he was well assured.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. Salute one another with an holykissSo 1Co 16:20; 1Th 5:26;1Pe 5:14. The custom prevailedamong the Jews, and doubtless came from the East, where it stillobtains. Its adoption into the Christian churches, as the symbol of ahigher fellowship than it had ever expressed before, was probably asimmediate as it was natural. In this case the apostle’s desire seemsto be that on receipt of his epistle, with its salutations, theyshould in this manner expressly testify their Christian affection. Itafterwards came to have a fixed place in the church service,immediately after the celebration of the Supper, and continued longin use. In such matters, however, the state of society and thepeculiarities of different places require to be studied.
The churches of Christ saluteyouThe true reading is, “All the churches”; the word”all” gradually falling out, as seeming probably to expressmore than the apostle would venture to affirm. But no more seemsmeant than to assure the Romans in what affectionate esteem they wereheld by the churches generally; all that knew he was writing to Romehaving expressly asked their own salutations to be sent to them. (SeeRo 16:19).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Salute one another with an holy kiss,…. Christian salutation is a wishing all temporal, spiritual, and eternal happiness, to one another; and which, as it should be mutual, should be also hearty and sincere, and this is meant by the “holy kiss”; the allusion is to a common custom in most nations, used by friends at meeting or parting, to kiss each other, in token of their hearty love, and sincere affection and friendship for each other; and is called “holy”, to distinguish it from an unchaste and lascivious one; and from an hypocritical and deceitful one, such an one as Joab gave to Amasa, when, inquiring of his health, he took him by the beard to kiss him, and stabbed him under the fifth rib, 2Sa 20:9; and as Judas, who cried, hail master, to Christ, and kissed him, and betrayed him into the hands of his enemies, Mt 26:49. I say, it is an allusion to this custom, for it is only an allusion; the apostle did not mean that any outward action should be made use of, only that their Christian salutations should not be mere complaisance, or expressed by bare words, and outward gestures and actions, either of the hand or mouth; but that they should spring from real love and true friendship, and be without dissimulation, hearty and sincere:
the churches of Christ salute you. The Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions read, “all the churches”; that is, in Greece, or in the neighbourhood where the apostle was, and who might know of his writing to this church, and thereby send their Christian salutations to it; or if they did not know of his writing, yet as he knew their sincere affections, and hearty good will to this church, and the members of it, he in their names sent greetings to them: this shows the communion of churches, and how they ought to wish and sincerely desire each other’s welfare.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
With a holy kiss ( ). The near-east mode of salutation as hand-shaking in the Western. In China one shakes hands with himself. Men kissed men and women kissed women. See Rom 16:1; 1Cor 16:20; 2Cor 13:12.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Kiss. Compare 1Co 16:20; 2Co 13:12, 1Th 5:26; 1Pe 5:14.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Salute one another,” (aspasathe allelous) “You all greet or salute one another, each other”; in the church at Rome, and sister churches of the area.
2) “With an holy kiss,” (en philemati hagio) “in or with an holy, pure, or sanctified kiss”; a custom of Middle-East greeting of affections, even among unbelievers; and Christians should surely be no less affectionate or hospitable. The holy (sanctified) kiss was not to be a lingering kiss of lust. It was a Jewish sign of friendship, 1Co 16:20; 2Sa 20:9-10; Luk 7:45; 2Co 13:12; 1Th 5:26; 1Pe 5:14.
3) “The churches of Christ salute you,” (aspazontai humas hoi ekklesia pasai tou Christou) “All the churches (congregations or assemblies) of Christ greet you all;- The phrase “churches of Christ” denote congregations, assemblies, or covenant fellowships of baptized believers, saints who belonged to Christ. The phrase “churches of Christ”, means the churches that belong to Christ, owned, by purchase of his own blood, Act 20:28; Eph 5:25; Mat 16:18.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
16. Salute one another with a holy kiss It is clear from many parts of Scripture, that a kiss was a usual and common symbol of friendship among the Jews; it was perhaps less used by the Romans, though not unfrequent, only it was not lawful to kiss women, except those only who were relatives. It became however a custom among the ancients for Christians to kiss one another before partaking of the Supper, to testify by that sign their friendship; and then they bestowed their alms, that they might in reality and by the effect confirm what they had represented by the kiss: all this appears evident from one of the homilies of [ Chrysostom ] (478) Hence has arisen that practice among the Papists at this day, of kissing the paten, and of bestowing an offering: the former of which is nothing but superstition without any benefit, the other serves no other purpose but to satisfy the avariciousness of the priests, if indeed it can be satisfied.
Paul however seems not here positively to have enjoined a ceremony, but only exhorts them to cherish brotherly love; and he distinguishes it from the profane friendships of the world, which, for the most part, are either disguised or attained by vices, or retained by wicked arts, and never tend to any good. By sending salutations from the Churches, (479) he was endeavoring, as much as he could, to bind all the members of Christ by the mutual bond of love.
(478) It appears from [ Justin Martyr ] and [ Tertullian ], that the early Christians kissed one another always after prayers, or at the end of the service. They did so, says [ Grotius ], to “show that they were all equal; for the Persians and the orientals kissed the mouth of those only of the same rank, and gave their hands to be kissed by their inferiors.” It was evidently a custom among the Jews. See 2Sa 20:9; Luk 7:45; Mat 26:49. This “holy kiss” is mentioned in 1Co 16:20; 2Co 13:12; 1Th 5:26. It is called the kiss of love, or charity, by Peter, 1Pe 5:14. It was one of those things which arose from peculiar habits, and is not be considered as binding on all nations, any more than the washing of feet. The Apostle’s object seems to have been, not to enjoin a rite, but to regulate a practice, already existing, and to preserve it from abuse: it was to be a holy kiss. — Ed.
(479) [ Griesbach ] approves of τάσαι, “all,” after Churches: then it would be “all the Churches;” that is, of Greece, says [ Grotius ], but of Corinth, says [ Wolfius ], even those which assembled at different private houses: and this is a more likely supposition, than that Paul, according to [ Origen ] and others, took it as granted that all the Churches which he had founded wished well to the Church of Rome. That they wished well to it there can be no doubt; but it is not probable that Paul acted on such a supposition. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(16) Salute one another.As a mark of brotherly feeling among themselves, St. Paul desires those who are assembled at the reading of his Epistle to greet each other in a Christian way. It is to be their own act and not a salutation coming from him.
With an holy kiss.A common Eastern and Jewish custom specially consecrated in Christianity. (Comp. 1Co. 16:20; 2Co. 13:12; 1Th. 5:26; 1Pe. 5:14.)
The churches of Christ.The word all should be inserted. As being the Apostle of the Gentiles, and knowing as he did the interest which all would take in the church of the great metropolis, St. Paul feels himself fully justified in speaking for all the churches of his foundation.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
16. A holy kiss (Luk 7:45.) Paul mentions the holy kiss, (1Th 5:26😉 Peter the kiss of charity, (1Pe 5:14.) Tertullian mentions the kiss of peace, and Justin Martyr tells us that the early Christians used the brotherly kiss after the close of prayer in their congregations. The custom is still continued in the Greek Church. The Romanists at mass perform what they call a “Pax, or kissing one another.” All the churches The word all, omitted from our English version, is sustained by the amplest authority. It was doubtless omitted in some manuscripts because the copyists understood not how Paul could answer for all the Churches. Lange thinks that it was because the eastern Churches knew that Paul was about writing to Rome, and had received so many commissioned salutations that he spoke for all. We suppose, however, that he speaks only for the region whence he is writing, namely, Corinth and its adjacent circuit.
The Churches, many of them, were the groups or congregations worshipping in some room of a private house.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Salute one another with a holy kiss.’
The kiss, probably usually on the cheek, was a well known form of Christian greeting. Compare 1Co 16:20; 2Co 13:12 ; 1Th 5:26; 1Pe 5:14. When Judas kissed Jesus it was presumably as a recognised form of greeting among the Apostles. Paul was seemingly encouraging this and perhaps intended it to be carried out at this point during the reading aloud of his letter by one of the leadership.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
‘All the churches of Christ salute you.’
If the church members had at this point given the kiss of love to one another this salutation would come over with great effectiveness. It was in essence the kiss of love from ‘all the churches of Christ’, that is from all the churches with whom Paul had relations. Coming in a long list of salutes it does not, of course, indicate Rome’s superiority. ‘Salute’ simply indicates ‘greet’. Rather it indicates the warmth of Christian fellowship and a desire to bring the church at Rome within the sphere of all the other churches for which he can speak, as Paul is preparing to visit them.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Rom 16:16 . The series of greetings which Paul has to offer from himself is concluded. But he now desires that his readers should also exchange greetings among one another, reciprocally , and that with the loving sign of the holy kiss . The subject of this greeting is thus every member of the church himself , who kisses another (see on 1Co 16:20 ), not Paul , so that meo nomine should be supplied (Bengel, Koppe). This is forbidden by . Comp. 1 Cor. l.c. ; 2Co 13:12 ; Justin, Ap . i. 65. The case is otherwise with 1Th 5:26 (see Lnemann in loc .).
The ancient custom, especially in the East, and particularly among the Jews, of uniting a greeting with a kiss, gave birth to the Christian practice of the (1Pe 5:14 : ; Const. ap . ii. 57. 12, viii. 5. 5 : , Tertullian, de orat . 4 : osculum pacis ), termed , because it was no profane thing, but had Christian consecration, expressing the holy Christian fellowship of love. [47]
] From many churches greetings had been doubtless entrusted to the apostle for the Romans, since he had certainly not previously withheld from them his project of travelling to Rome (perhaps also, of writing thither beforehand). Concerning the rest , what Erasmus says holds good: “Quoniam cognovit omnium erga Romanos studium, omnium nomine salutat.” The universal shape of the utterance by no means justifies us in pronouncing this greeting not to be the apostle’s, and deriving it from 1Co 16:19-20 (Lucht); it rather corresponds entirely to that cordial and buoyant consciousness of fellowship, in which he did not feel himself prompted narrowly to examine his summary expression. Others arbitrarily limit to the Greek churches (Grotius), or simply to the churches in Corinth and its ports (Michaelis, Olshausen, and others), or at least to those in which Paul had been (Bengel).
[47] That Paul actually desires that the reciprocal greeting by a kiss on the part of all should take place after the reading of the epistle, ought not to have been disputed (Calvin, Philippi). A ceremony indeed he does not desire; but he summons not merely to love , but to the kiss of love.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
16 Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you.
Ver. 16. With a holy kiss ] The Independents at Arnheim in Holland propounded this kiss of love to be practised among them. So for anointing the sick with oil, singing of hymns by one man, all the rest being silent, .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
16. ] The meaning of this injunction seems to be, that the Roman Christians should take occasion, on the receipt of the Apostle’s greetings to them, to testify their mutual love, in this, the ordinary method of salutation, but having among Christians a Christian and holy meaning, see reff. It became soon a custom in the churches at the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. See Suicer under and , and Bingham, xv. 3.3.
. . . . ] This assurance is stated evidently on the Apostle’s authority, speaking for the churches; not implying as Bengel, “quibuscum fui, c. xv. 26. His significarat, se Romam scribere,” but vouching for the brotherly regard in which the Roman church was held by all churches of Christ. The above misunderstanding has led to the exclusion of .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Rom 16:16 . . When the epistle is read in the Church the Christians are to greet each other, and seal their mutual salutations . In 1Th 5:26 the apparently are to salute the members of the Church so. In 1Co 16:20 , 2Co 13:12 , exactly the same form is used as here. The custom of combining greeting and kiss was oriental, and especially Jewish, and in this way became Christian. In 1Pe 5:14 the kiss is called ; in Apost. Const., ii., 57, 12, ; in Tert [39] de Orat., xiv., osculum pacis . By the kiss is distinguished from an ordinary greeting of natural affection or friendship; it belongs to God and the new society of His children; it is specifically Christian . : “this phrase is unique in the N.T.” (Sanday and Headlam). The ordinary form is “the Church” or “the Churches of God”: but in Mat 16:18 Christ says “ my Church”: cf. also Act 20:28 , where is found in many good authorities. For “all the Churches” cf. Rom 16:4 , 1Co 7:17 ; 1Co 14:33 , 2Co 8:18 ; 2Co 11:28 . Probably Paul was commissioned by some, and he took it on him to speak for the rest. If the faith of the Romans were published in all the world (chap. Rom 1:8 ), the Churches everywhere would have sufficient interest in them to ratify this courtesy. “Quoniam cognovit omnium erga Romanos studium, omnium nomine salutat.”
[39]ert. Tertullian.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
an = a.
holy kiss. Compare 1Co 16:20. 2Co 13:12; 1Th 5:26. 1Pe 5:14. The kiss was, and is, in the East a sign of respect and affection. Compare the other two occurances of philema, kiss, Luk 7:45; Luk 22:48. See Act 20:37.
The. The texts read “All the”; i.e. those specifically mentioned or referred to above.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
16.] The meaning of this injunction seems to be, that the Roman Christians should take occasion, on the receipt of the Apostles greetings to them, to testify their mutual love, in this, the ordinary method of salutation, but having among Christians a Christian and holy meaning, see reff. It became soon a custom in the churches at the celebration of the Lords Supper. See Suicer under and , and Bingham, xv. 3.3.
. . . .] This assurance is stated evidently on the Apostles authority, speaking for the churches; not implying as Bengel, quibuscum fui, c. xv. 26. His significarat, se Romam scribere, but vouching for the brotherly regard in which the Roman church was held by all churches of Christ. The above misunderstanding has led to the exclusion of .
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Rom 16:16. , salute ye one another) supply: in my name.- , with a holy kiss) This was the flower of faith and love. The kiss of love, 1Pe 5:14. This was the practice after prayers. Paul mentions the holy kiss at the conclusion of the first epistle to the Thessalonians, of both his epistles to the Corinthians, and of this to the Romans. Paul wrote these epistles at the earliest period. Afterwards purity of love was in some cases extinct or abuses arose, for in writing to the Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians, when he was in prison, he gave no charge concerning this kiss. The difference has regard to the time, not to the place, for the Philippians were in Macedonia, as well as the Thessalonians. I do not say however that the difference of time was altogether the only reason, why the holy kiss was commanded or not commanded. In the second Epistle to the Thessalonians there was no need to give directions about it so soon after the first had been received. The condition of the Galatians at that time rendered such directions unsuitable.- [169]) the churches) with whom I have been, ch. Rom 15:26. He had made known to them, that he was writing to Rome.
[169] The Germ. Ver. has restored the reading of , although it was declared on the margin of both Ed. as not quite so certain.-E. B.
DGfg omit . . . . , but add these words at the end of ver. 21. ABC Vulg. have all the words, including , which Rec. Text omits without any good authority.-ED.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Rom 16:16
Rom 16:16
Salute one another with a holy kiss.-This is regarded by some as a command to greet one another in meeting with a kiss. But no ordinance of God is so treated. All the commands and ordinances of God are commanded by Jesus Christ, repeated by the apostles, and then embodied in the main teachings of the Holy Spirit, not left simply to the salutations and greetings at the close of the letters to the churches. We have no example of the apostles practicing it. It is nowhere mentioned in the body of the letters, but is given at the close, among the incidentals and the salutations to the individuals. Kissing was the salutation of the East, and the apostle cautioned that it should be a pure and holy kiss. He did not ordain kissing as a mode of salutation. He found it, and cautioned that it should be pure and holy among Christians.
All the churches of Christ salute you.-[Paul was in communication with most of the churches; all such would feel interested in the believers at Rome; and if, as is probable, his intention of going there was known, how natural that these churches should ask to be remembered to the brethren there! As he knew so well the believers at Rome, which he had not visited, how well qualified he was to speak for the many churches of Christ which he himself had planted!]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
with: Act 20:37, 1Co 16:20, 2Co 13:12, 1Th 5:26, 1Pe 5:14
The: Rom 16:4
Reciprocal: Gen 29:11 – kissed Gen 29:13 – kissed Luk 7:45 – gavest Act 20:1 – embraced 2Co 13:13 – General Phi 4:22 – the
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
:16
Rom 16:16. Holy kiss. I have examined a number of dictionaries and histories, as well as four lexicons, and they all represent the kiss to have been a form of salute between persons of both sexes, the custom dating back to ancient times. The instruction of the apostle, then, was not to start any new form of salutation for the kiss was in use centuries before he was born. The point is in the word holy, and it means for the salutation to be sincere and not one of hypocrisy as was that of Judas. The word “church” in the King James Version of the New Testament is always from EKKLESIA, and its primary meaning according to Thayer is “A gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place; an assembly.” Robinson gives the simple definition, “A convocation, assembly, congregation.” The word has no religious significance unless it is associated with some other word. Hence our phrase means those who have been “called out” by Christ to “assemble in His name.” Any group of men and women thus called out would be one of the assemblies or congregations or churches of Christ.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rom 16:16. Salute one another with a holy kiss. The meaning of this injunction seems to be, that the Roman Christians should take occasion, on the receipt of the Apostles greetings to them, to testify their mutual love, in this, the ordinary method of salutation, but having among Christians a Christian and holy meaning (Alford). See marginal references. The custom is still known in the Greek Church.
All the churches of Christ salute you. The word all was probably omitted by the scribes, because the expression seemed too extensive. But Paul was in communication with most Christian churches; all such would feel interested in the believers at Rome, and if, as is probable, his intention of going there was known, many salutations would be in trusted to him. As he knew so well the believers at Rome which he had not visited, how well qualified he was to speak for the many believing assemblies he had himself organized.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe here, How the apostle proceeds from greeting the saints at Rome himself, to persuade them to salute one another. There had been much dissension amongst them about meats and days; he therefore craves of them for the future to embrace each other with cordial love, and affectionate kindness, and, as a token and symbol of it, to salute one another with an holy kiss, the usual expression of friendship in those times.
The primitive Christians, at the end of their prayers, before the celebration of the sacrament, did salute one another with a kiss, and then the bread and cup was brought forth; and some observe, that it was done by the men apart, and the women apart. But this custom being afterwards abused, was generally laid aside. That which is lawful in its use, and innocent in its own nature, may and ought to be laid aside when it becomes matter of scandal and just offence.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Rom 16:16. Salute one another with a holy kiss The Jews considered the kiss as an expression of friendship. Thus Joab, pretending great friendship to Amasa, took him by the beard to kiss him, when he slew him, 2Sa 20:9. Our Lord says to Simon, Luk 7:45, Thou gavest me no kiss; meaning, that he had not expressed such affection to him as the woman had done who kissed his feet. Judas also kissed our Lord, pretending friendship to him, at the time he betrayed him. This manner of expressing friendship to each other the disciples of Christ adopted, and practised in their religious assemblies. So Justin Martyr informs us, in his account of the religious assemblies of the Christians, Apolog. Prayers being ended, we salute one another with a kiss, and then the bread and cup is brought to the president, &c. This was called the holy kiss, to distinguish it from the lustful kiss; and the kiss of charity, 1Pe 5:14, to distinguish it from the treacherous kiss of Joab and Judas; being given as an expression of that sincere, chaste, and spiritual love, which Christians owed to one another. On the occasions mentioned by Justin, the men and women did not kiss each other promiscuously: the men saluted the men only, and the women kissed none but their own sex; as may be known from their manner of sitting in the public assemblies, described Apost. Constit., lib. 2. c. 57. On the other side let the laics sit, with all silence and good order; and the women, let them sit also separately, keeping silence. Then, after a long description of the worship, the author adds, Then let the men salute one another, and the women one another, giving the kiss in the Lord. Through length of time, and difference of manner, this method of sitting in public assemblies hath been changed. But that it was the ancient method cannot be doubted, being derived from the synagogue. Macknight.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Vv. 16. Salute one another with an holy kiss. All the churches of Christ salute you.
The apostle has just saluted in his own name the influential members of the different flocks of the church of Rome; but he naturally feels the need of also testifying his affection to the whole church; and he charges all its members to do so for him toward another. For this purpose they are to use the customary form of the brotherly kiss. If we did not know positively from the Fathers, particularly Tertullian (osculum pacis) in the De Oratione, c. 14 (comp. 1Pe 5:14) that the reference here is to an external rite, we should be tempted to hold the opinion of Calvin and Philippi, according to which we must give the term holy kiss a purely spiritual meaning: the salutation of brotherly love. But we learn from the Apostolic Constitutions that at a later time rules were laid down to remove from this custom all that might be offensive in it, so that it is more probable the term ought to be taken literally. We may be assured that in the apostolic churches all was done with order and dignity. This is what is expressed by the epithet , holy, which recurs 1Co 16:20, 2Co 13:12, and 1Th 5:26. Probably the president of the assembly gave the kiss to the brother who sat next him, and he to his neighbor, while the same thing took place on the part of the women.
While the apostle in thought sees the Christians of Rome saluting one another by this sign of brotherhood, a greater spectacle is presented to his mind, that of all the churches already composing Christendom, and which are likewise united by the bond of communion in Christ. He has just himself traversed the churches of Greece and Asia; he has spoken to them of his already formed plan of proceeding to Rome (Act 19:21; Act 20:25), and they have all charged him with their salutations to their sister in the capital of the world. Now is the time for him to discharge this commission. Through his instrumentality, the members of Christ’s body scattered over the earth salute one another with a holy kiss, just like the members of the church which he is addressing. The T. R. has rejected the word all, no doubt because it was not understood how Paul could send greetings from other churches than those among which he was at the time.
The Greco-Latin text has transferred this second half of the verse to the end of Rom 16:21, with the evident intention of connecting it with the salutations of Paul’s companions. But these have too private and personal a character to allow of the apostle appending to them so solemn a message as that of all the churches of the East to the church of Rome. This message must form an integral part of the letter; it is quite otherwise with these salutations (see below).
We are now in a position to judge of the question whether this passage belongs to our Epistle. In it twenty-six persons are individually designatedtwenty-four by their names. Of these names it may be said that one or two are Hebrew, five or six Latin, fifteen to sixteen Greek; three Christian communities assembling in different localities are mentioned (Rom 16:5; Rom 16:14-15); besides two groups having more of a private character (Rom 16:10-11). It appears evident to us that the apostle feels the need of paying homage to all the faithful servants and all the devoted handmaids of the Lord who had aided in the foundation and development of this church, and before his arrival completed the task of the apostolate in this great city. Not only is the apostle concerned to testify to them his personal feelings; but he expresses himself in such a way as to force the church, so to speak, to take part as a whole in this public testimony of gratitude toward those to whom it owes its existence and prosperity. If such is the meaning of this truly unique passage in St. Paul’s letters, does it not apply infinitely better to a church which, like that of Rome, had not yet seen an apostle within it, than to those of Ephesus or Corinth, where the entire activity of laying the foundation was, as it were, personified in a single individual? Hence those different expressions used by the apostle: fellow-worker in the Lord, who labored, or who labor, all those who are with them, and even once the use of the title apostle. We seem, as we read these numerous salutations, to have before us the spectacle of a beehive swarming on all sides with activity and labor in the midst of the vast field of the capital of the world, and we understand better the whole passage of chap. 12 relative to the varied gifts and numerous ministries, as well as the remarkable expression: , every man that is [as a worker] among you (Rom 16:3). Here is, says Gaussen, a picture to the life of a primitive church; we can see to what height the most ignorant and weak of its members can rise….We wonder at the progress already made by the word of God, solely through the labors of travellers, artisans, merchants, women, slaves, and freedmen who resided in Rome. Not only did the apostle know a large number of these workers, because he had been connected with them in the East (Andronicus and Junias, Rufus and his mother, for example), or because he had converted them himself (Aquilas and Priscilla); but he also received hews from Rome, as is proved by the intimate details into which he entered in chap. 14; and he might thus know of the labors of many of those saluted, whom he did not know personally. Such is probably the case with the last persons designated, and to whose names he adds no description. The Greek origin of the most of these names constitutes no objection to the Roman domicile of those who bear them. What matters it to us that, as M. Renan says, after Father Garucci, the names in Jewish inscriptions at Rome are mostly of Latin origin? If there is any room for surprise, five or six Latin names would perhaps be more astonishing at Ephesus than fifteen or sixteen Greek names at Rome. Have we not proved over and over that this church was recruited much more largely from Gentiles than from Jews, and that especially it was founded by missionaries who had come from Syria, Asia, and Greece? M. Reuss no doubt asks what became of all those friends of Paul, when, some years later, he wrote from Rome his Epistles to the Colossians and Philippians; and later still, the Second to Timothy. But, in writing from Rome to the churches of Colosse and Philippi, he could only send salutations from individuals who knew them. And a little before the Second to Timothy, there occurred the persecution of Nero, which had for the time dispersed and almost annihilated the church of Rome. Our conclusion, therefore, is not only that this passage of salutations may have been written to the church of Rome, but that it could not have been addressed to any other more suitably. As at the present day, Paris or even Rome is a sort of rendezvous for numerous foreign Christians of both sexes, who go thither to found evangelistic works; so the great pagan Rome attracted at that time the religious attention and zeal of all the Christians of the East.
Let us remark, in closing, the exquisite delicacy and courtesy which guide the apostle in those distinguishing epithets with which he accompanies the names of the servants or handmaids of Christ whom he mentions. Each of those descriptive titles is as it were the rough draft of the new name which those persons shall bear in glory. Thus understood, this enumeration is no longer a dry nomenclature; it resembles a bouquet of newly-blown flowers, which diffuse refreshing odors.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Salute one another with a holy kiss. [Osculatory salutation has always been common in the East (2Sa 20:9; Luk 7:45; Mat 26:49). It early became an established practice among the Jews, from whence it passed to the apostolic church (1Co 16:20; 2Co 13:12; 1Th 5:26; 1Pe 5:14). It is still retained in the Greek Church, in which the men thus salute men, and women, women. Paul is not teaching the Roman church a new custom, but is purifying an old one, insisting that the salutation be holy and void of all such dissimulation as characterized the kiss of Judas (Mat 26:49). His precept still applies to all our salutations, no matter what their form.] All the churches of Christ salute you. [Having ended his own salutation, Paul adds those of the Gentile churches which he had just been visiting in collecting the offering (Rom 15:26). These salutations indicate that the apostle talked much about his letter before he wrote it. Possibly he was drafting it as he journeyed. And it also shows that the church at the great metropolis, the center of government and civilization, was an object of interest and esteem to all. Comp. Rom 1:8]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
16:16 Salute one another with an holy {e} kiss. The churches of Christ salute you.
(e) He calls that a holy kiss which proceeds from a heart that is full of that holy love: now this is to be understood as referring to the manner used in those days.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The "holy kiss" was and is a common affectionate greeting expressing mutual love, forgiveness, and unity in Christ. Paul relayed the greetings of all the churches he represented.
Paul’s acknowledgement of his co-workers (Rom 16:3; Rom 16:9; cf. Rom 16:7) shows that he was not a "lone ranger" minister. The number of women mentioned in these verses argues against the view of some that Paul was a woman-hater. Obviously women played important roles in the ministry of the early church, and Paul appreciated them.