Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the saints with them.
Such remembrances as these are usual in letters between friends; and yet Paul, by the savouriness of his expressions, sanctifies these common compliments. I. Here is the recommendation of a friend, by whom (as some think) this epistle was sent - one Phebe, Rom 16:1, Rom 16:2.
Commenting on Romans 16:1-16
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...
Salute Philologus, etc. - Of these several persons, though much has been conjectured, nothing certain is known. Even the names of some are so ambiguous that we know not whether they were men or women. They were persons well known to St. Paul, and undoubtedly were such as had gone from different places where the apostle had preached to sojourn or settle at Rome.