Romans 16:11-16 Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. 12 Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord.
Paul sends greetings to another kinsman, likely meaning a fellow Jew, named Herodion. In English this is a slightly different spelling to the Herod of the Gospels and Acts but some of that can be accounted for by the case endings. Was this man named after one of the Herods, like people name their children after famous people?
There is another family that has come to believe in the Lord, the family of Narcissus. “In the Lord” here can simply mean “Christian,” but it is deeper than that. To be “in the Lord” is to place one’s life under his sovereign care and direction. The whole family has come to believe. This is evidence of the type of transformation Christ can make to the whole family.
There are two more workers in the Lord who have been involved in the ministry. Their names are similar, so perhaps they related somehow.
Paul greets another worker in the Lord, Persis. The relative pronoun that follows this name is feminine. This sister has worked “hard.” She has put a lot of effort out in her ministry. One of the reasons the early church grew so well in these early decades was that there were people like Persis who worked hard in ministering to people. We wish Paul gave more details about what she did, but that he lists her here shows enough to suggest that her name had become known. She had a good reputation.
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