Romans 16:2Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

“That you receive her in the Lord, as befits the saints,” that is, receive her with honor for the Lord’s sake. One who receives even an insignificant person for the Lord’s sake receives him with care.

Since Phoebe was holy, consider for yourself what care she had the right to receive. Therefore the Apostle added, “as befits the saints,” that is, as saints ought to be received.

You must serve her for two reasons: because you receive her for the Lord’s sake, and because she is holy.

“And assist her in whatever matter she may need from you.” Do you see how this is not burdensome? He did not say, free her from all her needs. He said, provide what you can and lend a helping hand, whatever needs she may have among you.

Receive her in the Lord, as befits the saints. That is, honor her for the Lord’s sake. One who receives even an insignificant person for the Lord’s sake honors the Lord. Phoebe was holy. Therefore she deserved even greater honor.

For this reason he added, as befits the saints, that is, as saints ought to be received. And help her in whatever matter she may need from you. That is, provide what you can and lend a helping hand. He did not say, satisfy all her needs.

For she also has been a helper of many, and of myself as well. First he praised her, then placed the exhortation in the middle. Finally he set praise again, surrounding his exhortation to honor her on both sides.

For she, he says, was a helper of many, even of me, the preacher of the whole world, who endured so many sufferings.

To show her merits, Paul says that she serves in the Church of Cenchreae. Since she has helped many, he says that she also is worthy of help, as one who receives strangers. In order that she may be received and helped if need arises, he persuades the brethren that she helped him too. For the more important a person she appears before others, the more help she will receive, offered to her in love.

Such was the wealth of her progress that she received praises like these even from apostolic lips. “She,” says Paul, “has been a helper of many, and of myself also.” By “help,” I think, he means hospitality and care, and he repays her for this with every honor. Although she probably received him into one house and for the short time he is known to have spent in Corinth, he opened the inhabited world to her. Everywhere, on land and sea, this woman became renowned. Not only the Romans and Greeks learned of her, but all the barbarians also.

Chapter 16 has great importance for Church history, since it contains indications about many persons belonging to the earliest Church, and also about various institutions.

Thus, for example, Phoebe is said to have been a deaconess. This means that she fulfilled for women the same duties that deacons fulfilled for men.

Phoebe was traveling to Rome. With her the Apostle Paul sent his epistle. Since she was not wealthy, he asked that she be given the necessary help when she needed it.

Cenchreae, where Phoebe was a deaconess, is a harbor near the city of Corinth, where the Apostle Paul was when he wrote this epistle.

"Receive her in the Lord" means: receive her with honor for the Lord's sake. "For one who receives even an insignificant person for the Lord's sake receives him with care. Since Phoebe was holy, consider for yourself how she ought to have been served. Therefore the Apostle added, 'in a manner worthy of the saints,' that is, as saints ought to be received. You must serve her for two reasons: because you receive her for the Lord's sake, and because she is holy" (Chrysostom). "And assist her," παραστητε, means: stand up for her, be her protectors and advocates. It is not poverty that presses on her, but she has a matter that must be obtained by petition. Therefore use your mediation there, each where and how he can.