The Epistle to the Romans

547 Pages·1988·2.91 MB·English

by  Leon L. Morris

The Epistle
to the
Romans
LEON MORRIS
THE PILLAR NEW TESTAMENT COMMENTARY
General Editor
D. A. CARSON
WILLIAM B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING COMPANY
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN / CAMBRIDGE, U.K.
© 1988 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
All rights reserved
Published 1988 in the U.K. by
APOLLOS (an imprint of Inter-Varsity Press)
38 De Montfront Street, Leicester, England LEI 7GP
and in the United States by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
255 Jefferson Ave. S.E., Grand Rapids, Mich. 49503
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Morris, Leon, 1914-
The Epistle to the Romans / by Leon Morris
Includes indexes.
Eerdmans ISBN 0-8028-3636-4
1. Bible. N.T. Romans-Commentaries. I. Title.
BS2665.3.M58 1987
227’.107 — dc19 87-28076
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Morris, Leon, 1914-
The Epistle to the Romans
1. Bible. N.T. Romans-Commentaries. I. Title.
227’.107
APOLLOS ISBN 0-85111-747-3
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations in this publication are from the Holy Bible:
New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society.
Used in USA by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and
published in Great Britain by Hodder and Stoughton Ltd.
Contents
Preface
Chief Abbreviations
INTRODUCTION
AUTHORSHIP
DESTINATION
DATE AND PLACE OF WRITING
OCCASION
CONTENTS
THE SHORTER EDITION(S)
THE DESTINATION OF CHAPTER 16
ANALYSIS
TEXT, EXPOSITION, AND NOTES
ROMANS 1
ADDITIONAL NOTE A: THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD
ADDITIONAL NOTE B: TRUTH
ROMANS 2
ADDITIONAL NOTE C: THE LAW IN ROMANS
ADDITIONAL NOTE D: JUSTIFICATION
ADDITIONAL NOTE E: JUDGMENT
ROMANS 3
ADDITIONAL NOTE F: SIN
ROMANS 4
ROMANS 5
ROMANS 6
ROMANS 7
ROMANS 8
ROMANS 9
ROMANS 10
ROMANS 11
ROMANS 12
ROMANS 13
ROMANS 14
ROMANS 15
ROMANS 16
INDEXES
Subjects
Authors
Preface
Throughout the years I have frequently been occupied with Romans. I have worked with
it extensively while writing books on theology (especially the cross). I have lectured on it
many times, and am indebted to students in Britain, Canada, the United States, and
Australia for their interaction. But prior to this I have never written at length on Romans.
Now in my retirement I have finally had the opportunity to devote time to a commentary
on this great epistle. I offer it as my tribute to an apostle to whom I owe so much.
I have included the text of the New International Version as an aid to the reader.
Occasionally I have made my own translation (without specifically drawing attention to
it) in order to bring out some feature of the original. But the commentary is based on the
Greek text, not the translation. It has been my aim to make clear to the general reader
what I see in the Greek text, and it is my hope that this will be of some help to others who
are grappling with the thought of this great epistle.
LEON MORRIS
Chief Abbreviations
ABR Australian Biblical Review
Achtemeier Paul J. Achtemeier: Romans (Atlanta, 1985)
Alford Henry Alford: The Greek Testament7 (London, 1874)
Althaus Paul Althaus: Der Brief an die Römer (Gottingen, 1970)
ANF Ante-Nicene Fathers (American repr. of the Edinburgh edn.; Grand Rapids,
n.d.)
ARV The American Revised Version
AS G. Abbott-Smith: A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament
(Edinburgh, 1954)
ASV The American Standard Version
BAGD Walter Bauer: A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other
Early Christian Literature, rev. and aug. by F. Wilbur Gingrich and
Frederick W. Danker from the 5th edn. (Chicago, 1979)
Barclay William Barclay: The Letter to the Romans (Edinburgh, 1957)
Barrett C. K. Barrett: A Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans (London,1957)
Barth Karl Barth: The Epistle to the Romans (Oxford, 1933)
BDF F. Blass and A. Debrunner: A Greek Grammar of the New Testament, trans.
and rev. R. W. Funk (Chicago, 1961)
Bengel John Albert Bengel: Gnomon of the New Testament, II (Edinburgh, 1873)
Black Matthew Black: Romans (London, 1973)
Bowen Roger Bowen: A Guide to Romans (London, 1975)
Boylan Patrick Boylan: St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans (Dublin, 1947)
Brown John Brown: Analytical Exposition of the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the
Romans (Grand Rapids, 1981 repr. of 1857 edn.)
Bruce F. F. Bruce: The Letter of Paul to the Romans2 (Leicester, 1985)
Brunner Emil Brunner: The Letter to the Romans (London, 1959)
Calvin John Calvin: The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Romans and to the
Thessalonians (Edinburgh, 1961)
CBQ The Catholic Biblical Quarterly
CBSC The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
CGT Cambridge Greek Testament
Chamberlain William Douglas Chamberlain: An Exegetical Grammar of the Greek New
Testament (New York, 1941)
Christian Nigel Turner: Christian Words (Edinburgh, 1980)
Words
Cragg The Interpreter’s Bible, IX, "The Epistle to the Romans," exposition by
Gerald R. Cragg
Cranfield C. E. B. Cranfield: A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle to
the Romans (Edinburgh, I [1975]; II [1979])
Denney James Denney: "St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans" in The Expositor’s Greek
Testament, II (Grand Rapids, 1979 repr.)
DM H. E. Dana and Julius R. Mantey: A Manual Grammar of the Greek New
Testament (New York, 1927)
Dodd C. H. Dodd: The Epistle of Paul to the Romans (London, 1944)
Donfried Karl P. Donfried: The Romans Debate (Minneapolis, 1977)
Earle Ralph Earle: Word Meanings in the New Testament, III, Romans (Grand
Rapids, 1974)
EGT W. Robertson Nicoll, ed.: The Expositor’s Greek Testament, 5 vols. (Grand
Rapids, 1979 repr.)
ET The Expository Times
Foreman K. J. Foreman: Romans, I & II Corinthians (London, 1962)
Gamble Harry Gamble, Jr.: The Textual History of the Letter to the Romans (Grand
Rapids, 1977)
Gifford E. H. Gifford: The Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans (London, 1886)
GNB Good News Bible (Today’s English Version)
Godet F. Godet: Commentary on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, 2 vols.
(Edinburgh, 1895)
Goodspeed Edgar J. Goodspeed: The New Testament: An American Translation
(Chicago, 1923)
Gore Charles Gore: St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, 2 vols. (London, I [1902]; II
[1907])
Grammatica Nigel Turner: Grammatical Insights into the New Testament (Edinburgh,
l Insights 1965)
Griffith Gwilym O. Griffith: St. Paul’s Gospel to the Romans (Oxford,1949)
GT A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, being Grimm’s Wilke’s
Clavis Novi Testamenti, trans. and rev. J. H. Thayer (Edinburgh, 1888)
Haldane Robert Haldane: The Epistle to the Romans (London, 1966 repr.)
Harrison Everett F. Harrison: “Romans” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, 10
(Grand Rapids, 1976)
Harrisville Roy A. Harrisville: Romans (Minneapolis, 1980)
Hendriksen William Hendriksen: New Testament Commentary: Exposition of Paul’s
Epistle to the Romans (Grand Rapids, I [1980]; II [1981])
Hodge Charles Hodge: A Commentary on Romans (London, 1972 repr. of 1864
edn.)
Hunter A. M. Hunter: The Epistle to the Romans (London, 1975)
IBNTG C. F. D. Moule: An Idiom Book of New Testament Greek (Cambridge, 1953)
IDB The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, 4 vols. (Nashville, 1962);
Supplementary Volume (1976)
JB The Jerusalem Bible
JBL The Journal of Biblical Literature
JTS The Journal of Theological Studies
Käsemann Ernst Käsemann: Commentary on Romans (Grand Rapids, 1980)
Kertelge Karl Kertelge and Gerhard Schneider: The Epistles to the Romans and
Galatians for Spiritual Reading (London, 1977)
Knox The Interpreter’s Bible, IX, introduction and exegesis by John Knox
(Nashville, 1978)
Knox, R R. Knox: The Holy Bible, A Translation from the Latin Vulgate (London,
1955)
LAE A. Deissmann: Light from the Ancient East (London, 1927)
Lagrange M.-J. Lagrange: Saint Paul Épitre aux Romains (Paris, 1922)
LB The Living Bible
Leenhardt Franz J. Leenhardt: The Epistle to the Romans (London, 1961)
Lenski R. C. H. Lenski: The Interpretation of St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans
(Minneapolis, n.d.)
Lightfoot J. B. Lightfoot: Notes on Epistles of St Paul (London, 1904)
Lloyd-Jones D. M. Lloyd-Jones: Romans: An Exposition of Chapters 3:20–8:39, 6 vols.
(London, 1970-75)
Loane Marcus Loane: God’s Mere Mercy (Blackwood, South Australia, 1986)
LSJ A Greek-English Lexicon, comp. H. G. Liddell and R. Scott, rev. H. S. Jones
and R. McKenzie, 2 vols. (Oxford, 1940)
Luther Martin Luther: Lectures on Romans (Library of Christian Classics; London,
1961)
LXX The Septuagint
M, I J. H. Moulton: A Grammar of New Testament Greek, I, Prolegomena
(Edinburgh, 1906)
M, II Ibid., II, Accidence and Word-Formation, ed. W. F. Howard (Edinburgh,
1919)
M, III Ibid., III, Syntax, by Nigel Turner (Edinburgh, 1963)
M, IV Ibid., IV, Style, by Nigel Turner (Edinburgh, 1976)
Manson T. W. Manson: “Romans” in Peake’s Commentary on the Bible, ed.
Matthew Black and H. H. Rowley (London, 1980)
Metzger Bruce M. Metzger: A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament
(London and New York, 1971)
Michel Otto Michel: Der Brief an die Römer (Göttingen, 1966)
Minear Paul S. Minear: The Obedience of Faith (London, 1971)
MM J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan: The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament
(London, 1914-29)
Moffatt James Moffatt: The New Testament: A New Translation
Morison James Morison: A Critical Exposition of the Third Chapter of Paul’s Epistle
to the Romans (London, 1866)
Moule Handley C. G. Moule: The Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans (London,
1896)
MS(S) Manuscript(s)
MT Ernest de Witt Burton: Syntax of the Moods and Tenses in New Testament
Greek (Edinburgh, 1955)
Murray John Murray: The Epistle to the Romans, 2 vols. (Grand Rapids, 1960 and
1965)
NASB The New American Standard Bible
NBCR The New Bible Commentary Revised, ed. D. Guthrie et al. (London, 1970)
NEB The New English Bible
NIDNTT The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, ed. Colin
Brown, 3 vols. (Exeter, 1975-78)
NIV New International Version
NPNF Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers
NTS New Testament Studies
Nygren Anders Nygren: Commentary on Romans (London, 1952)
Olshausen Hermann Olshausen: Studies in the Epistle to the Romans (Minneapolis,
1983 repr. of 1849 edn.)
O’Neill J. C. O’Neill: Paul’s Letter to the Romans (Harmondsworth, 1975)
Parry R. St John Parry: The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans
(Cambridge, 1912)
Phillips J. B. Phillips: Letters to Young Churches (Melbourne, 1952)
Rhymer Joseph Rhymer: Good News in Romans (London, 1974)
Ridderbos Herman Ridderbos: Paul (Grand Rapids, 1975)
Robertson A. T. Robertson: A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of
Historical Research (London, n.d.)
Robinson John A. T. Robinson: Wrestling with Romans (London, 1979)
RSV The Revised Standard Version
RThR The Reformed Theological Review
RV The Revised Version
SBk H. L. Strack and P. Billerbeck: Kommentar zum Neuen Testament aus
Talmud und Midrasch, 4 vols. (München, 1922-28)
Schonfield Hugh J. Schonfield: The Authentic New Testament (London, 1956)
Scott E. F. Scott: Paul’s Epistle to the Romans (London, 1947)
SH William Sanday and Arthur C. Headlam: A Critical and Exegetical
Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans (Edinburgh, 1907)
Shedd William G. T. Shedd: Commentary on Romans (Grand Rapids, 1980 repr. of
1879 edn.)
Simeon Charles Simeon: Horae Homileticae, XV, Romans (London, 1847)
Smart James D, Smart: Doorway to a New Age (New York, 1972)
Stott John R. W. Stott: Men Made New (Downers Grove, 1966)
Synonyms Richard Chevenix Trench: Synonyms of the New Testament (London, 1880)
Tasker R. V. G. Tasker, ed.: The Greek New Testament (Oxford and Cambridge,
1964)
TDNT Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, a translation by Geoffrey W.
Bromiley of Theologisches Wörterbuch zum Neuen Testament (Grand
Rapids, 1964-76)
TH Barclay M. Newman and Eugene A. Nida: A Translator’s Handbook on
Paul’s Letter to the Romans (New York, 1973)
Thomas W. H. Griffith Thomas: Romans, 3 vols. (London, 1911-12)
Vaughan C. J. Vaughan: St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans (London, 1880)
Vermes G. Vermes: The Dead Sea Scrolls in English (Harmondsworth, 1972)
Way Arthur S. Way: The Letters of St. Paul (London, 1921)
Wesley John Wesley: Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (London, 1977)
Weymouth R. F. Weymouth: The New Testament in Modern Speech (London, 1907)
WH B. F. Westcott and F. J. Hort: The New Testament in the Original Greek
(London, 1907)
Wilckens Ulrich Wilckens: Der Brief an die Römer, 3 vols. (Zürich, 1978-82)
Wilson Geoffrey B. Wilson: Romans (Edinburgh, 1976)
WTJ The Westminster Theological Journal
Wuest Kenneth S. Wuest: Romans in the Greek New Testament (London, n.d.)
Quotations from the Talmud are from the Soncino edition, and the Mishnah is cited from
Danby’s translation.
Introduction
It is commonly agreed that the Epistle to the Romans is one of the greatest Christian
writings. Its power has been demonstrated again and again at critical points in the history
of the Christian church. Augustine of Hippo, for example, was converted through reading
a passage from this letter, and thus began a period of the greatest importance for the
church. It is not too much to say that at a later time Martin Luther’s spiritual experience
was shaped by his coming to grips with what Paul says in this epistle. The Reformation
may be regarded as the unleashing of new spiritual life as a result of a renewed
understanding of the teaching of Romans. Again, John Wesley’s conversion was triggered
by hearing Luther’s Preface to Romans read, a Preface, of course, inspired by the epistle.
Nearer to our own day it was Karl Barth’s coming to grips with the message of the book
that ended an era of sterile liberalism and ushered in a more fruitful period of biblical
theology. But Romans is not for great minds only. The humble believer also finds
inspiration and direction in these pages. Romans is not an easy book. But it has always
yielded rich dividends to anyone who has taken the time to study it seriously, and it does
so still.1
It is one of a large number of letters, some 14,000 in all, that have come down to us
from antiquity. Many are in copies only, but quite often we have the originals. Some
letters are very private, being intimate communications within the family or among
friends; others are plainly meant for a wider public. In the papyri private letters range in
length from 18 words to 209.2 More literary letters3 tend to be longer, the subject matter
1 The continuing relevance of Romans is illustrated by the articles in the January 1980
issue of Interpretation. This whole number is given over to Romans. The articles cover a
wide range and leave no doubt about the fact that this epistle still plays a vital role in the
life of the church.
2 The statistics in this section are taken from Alfred Wikenhauser, New Testament
Introduction (New York, 1958), pp. 346–47.
3 For a discussion of types of letters in antiquity see especially William G. Doty, “The
Classification of Epistolary Literature”, CBQ, XXXI (1969), pp. 183–99; Martin Luther
obviously having an influence on length. Cicero’s 796 letters average 295 words with a
range from 22 to 2,530 words, while Seneca’s 124 letters range from 149 to 4,134 words
with an average length of 995 words. The New Testament letters tend to be longer,
though 2 and 3 John are quite short. The 13 Pauline letters average around 1,300 words.
Clearly Paul took letter writing very seriously and made it much more of a vehicle for
significant teaching than did most people of the ancient world. Romans is his longest
letter, with about 7,100 words. Its length as well as the profundity of its subject matter
marks it out as a most unusual letter.
AUTHORSHIP
The letter claims to have been written by the apostle Paul (1:1), and no serious objection
appears ever to have been urged against this claim. The few who have objected have not
been able to convince many that their arguments have weight. The style and contents are
what we expect of Paul, and the tradition of the church has always accepted this letter as
a genuine work of the great apostle.
DESTINATION
As it stands, the letter is addressed to the church4 at Rome (1:7, 15). This is supported by
the geographical note in which Paul writes of going to Spain and proceeds, “I hope to
Stirewalt, Jr., “The Form and Function of the Greek Letter-Essay”, Donfried, pp. 175–
206. Doty discerns eight classes with up to seven subclasses grouped under his headings,
and he does not claim to be exhaustive. He points out that the Hellenistic school
handbooks included 21 and later 41 specific types (pp. 196–97).
4 E. A. Judge and G. S. R. Thomas argue that there was no church in Rome when Paul
wrote, nor indeed right up to the time when he came to Rome as a prisoner. That was
when he formed the individual Christians in that city into a church (“The Origin of the
Church at Rome: A New Solution?” RThR, XXV [1966], pp. 81–94). They point to the
lack of reference to an ἐχχλησία at Rome, or to officials like bishops, priests, and
deacons, or to ordinances like baptism (though cf. Rom. 6:3–4) and the Lord’s Supper.
But Paul rarely refers to these anywhere. He has general references to churches, but the
only specific groups to which he applies the term are house churches (including Rom.
16:5) and those at Corinth, Cenchraea, Philippi, Laodicea, and Thessalonica. This despite
the fact that his use of the plural (e.g., Gal. 1:2; 1 Thess. 2:14) shows that he saw the term
as widely applicable. Apart from Rom. 6:4 the only occurrences of βάπτισμα in the
Pauline corpus are in Eph. 4:5 and Col. 2:12, while the corresponding verb is used a
number of times in 1 Corinthians and is found in Gal. 3:27 but occurs nowhere else in the
corpus except Romans. The discussion of the reference in Suetonius (see below, p. 4) I do
not find convincing, while the failure of the Jews Paul met when he eventually came to
Rome to mention a local church (Acts 28:22) does not mean that there was not one there.
It may have been politic on their part to be silent on the matter, as William Neil thinks
(The Acts of the Apostles [London, 1973], pp. 257–58). And Godet held that Roman
Christianity was of Gentile origin; there had been no Christian preaching in the
synagogues and thus no way the Jewish leaders would mention it (Godet, pp. 60–70). The
article is a warning not to be overconfident and it reminds us that the small amount of
evidence can be understood in more ways than one. But the best explanation of the
evidence still seems to be that there was a church in Rome (Rom. 1:8). SH, of course,
long ago suggested that Peter and Paul may have “founded” the church in Rome in the
sense that they organized scattered groups into one whole (SH, p. xxxv).
visit you while passing through” (15:24). Some scholars have been so impressed by the
fact that the words “in Rome” (1:7, 15) are absent from a few manuscripts that they have
concluded that the Roman church was not the epistle’s original destination. They hold
that it was meant as a circular letter, perhaps sent to Rome as one of its addressees.
However, the evidence is not strong and there is no reasonable doubt about the text.5
But the question is not as simple as this, for there are many who deny that we should
take the letter as it stands. Quite a few hold that chapter 16 was not originally part of this
letter but was meant for the church at Ephesus (see below, pp. 41ff.). Usually this is
understood to mean that all or part of a letter to Ephesus has somehow been attached to a
letter to Rome. A different line is taken by T. W. Manson. From the fact that P46 (our
oldest copy of Romans) has the doxology at the end of chapter 15 he argues that Paul
wrote a 15-chapter edition. Manson thinks that the apostle sent a copy to Ephesus with
the addition of chapter 16 and sent another copy, without the addition, to Rome.6 On this
view we have the letter to Ephesus. I shall discuss this view more fully later. Here it is
enough to say that the personal references in chapters 1 and 15 make it difficult to accept
any circular-letter hypothesis. It would not have been insuperably difficult to remove
them or, if this copy was meant for Ephesus, to replace them with matter more
appropriate to that city. And we should not overlook the fact that even on Manson’s view
the bulk of the letter was intended for the Roman church just as much as for that in
Ephesus.
We have no precise information about how and when and by whom the church was
established at Rome. Acts 2:10 informs us that visitors from Rome were among those in
Jerusalem who heard the Christians preach on the day of Pentecost. There is nothing
improbable in the suggestion that some of them responded to Peter’s sermon and became
Christians, though we must immediately add that we have no knowledge of this. There is
a tradition that Peter and Paul founded the church. But this epistle shows that the church
was flourishing in Rome long before Paul visited that city. If Peter was the founder in the
same sense as Paul, this can mean only that he was interested in the church, that he may
have visited it at some time, and that it accepted his teaching. It cannot mean that he was
responsible for its first converts. This is in any case unlikely, for Peter’s primary
responsibility was to the Jews, just as Paul’s was to the Gentiles (Gal. 2:7–8). It is most
improbable that Peter settled in Rome as bishop of the church as some traditions hold, for
5 The words in question are lacking in 1:7 in the MSS designated G 1739mg 1908mg itg
Orlat. In 1:15 they are not found in G itg Orlat. The case against the words can, however, be
made a little stronger. The reading in G itg in v. 7 may be translated “to all who are in the
love of God”. Now the reading of some MSS, “to all who are in Rome in the love of
God”, seems to be an adaptation of this reading to the more usual text (so, e.g., Bruce, pp.
25–26). If so, the scribes must have had both readings before them. We should also notice
that the commentaries of Ambrosiaster and apparently also of Pelagius lacked the
reference to Rome (see Gamble, p. 32). This is an interesting list, but even the combined
testimony of these witnesses is scarcely enough to prove the point. They show that at
some time the reference to Rome was missing. But the evidence of the overwhelming
bulk of the MSS must be accepted as giving us the true reading.
6 See his article “The Letter to the Romans—and Others”, BJRL, 31 (1948), pp. 224–40,
reprinted in Manson’s book Studies in the Gospels and Epistles (Manchester, 1962), pp.
225–41. Quotations are from this reprint. Cf. also Manson, p. 941.
he seems to have exercised a wandering ministry (1 Cor. 9:5). There is no record of his
ever settling down anywhere. As for Paul, it is impossible to hold that he had much to do
with the church in Rome in its early years. When he wrote this epistle he had never been
to Rome (1:10–13), and he makes it clear that there was already a significant group of
believers there (1:6, 7, 8; 15:14).
There is then no reliable tradition about the founding of this church, and we are left to
speculation. The probability is that traders and other travellers first brought Christianity
to Rome. As they witnessed to their faith they brought others to believe, and in this way a
church was born. It seems likely that the first converts were won from among the Jews,
and they may even have been organized as a synagogue (or synagogues).7 This is
speculation, but it is supported by a note in the Roman historian Suetonius. This man tells
us that the Emperor Claudius expelled the Jews8 from Rome because they “constantly
made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus (impulsore Chresto).”9 Most scholars
take “Chrestus” as equivalent to “Christus” (the two words had similar pronunciations),
that is, Christ. If this understanding of it is correct, it would seem that the fairly large
group of Jews in Rome10 had mixed feelings about Christianity. Some followed Christ.
7 Any ten adult male Jews could form a synagogue (Mishnah, Meg. 4:3; Sanh. 1:6; Ab.
3:6). There were many synagogues in Rome (W. Wiefel gives the names of 13 of them
[Donfried, p. 106]). In Rome the term “synagogue” seems to have signified the
community, the place of worship being called a proseucha (see R. Penna, NTS, 28
[1982], p. 327). It would be strange if Jewish Christians did not form synagogues of their
own. The term is, of course, used of a Christian assembly (Jas. 2:2).
8 For the relations between the Romans and the Jews see the note by Vincent M.
Scramuzza, “The Policy of the Early Roman Emperors towards Judaism” (F. J. Foakes-
Jackson and Kirsopp Lake, The Beginnings of Christianity, V [Grand Rapids, 1966], pp.
277–97).
9 Life of Claudius xxv.4 (Loeb translation). Dio Cassius denies that Claudius expelled the
Jews, saying that there were too many of them (lx.6.6). But he mentions the danger of
rioting and speaks of the repressive measures adopted by Claudius. Clearly there was
trouble, and this is the main point. Our interest is in “Chrestus” rather than in the precise
action Claudius took. W. Wiefel understands Dio Cassius to mean that the Jews lost their
right to assemble. He thinks that this refers not to the initial trouble but to the situation
when the Jews were permitted to return. As a first step they were allowed to come back to
Rome, but “synagogue assemblies were prohibited for some time since they were seen as
seedbeds of dispute” (Donfried, p. 111). Judge and Thomas argue that “Chrestus” cannot
refer to Jesus Christ (RThR, XXV, pp. 84ff.). Rather, it signifies “some religious star
whose appearance at Rome caused an upheaval among the Jews, but whose fame was
sufficiently ephemeral for his precise identity to have been lost” (ibid., p. 87). This is
certainly possible. But riots instigated by Jews on account of Christian claims (like that at
Ephesus, Acts 19:23ff.) seem more probable.
10 J. Juster estimated that there were 50-60,000 Jews in Rome in the time of Tiberius (Les
Juifs dans l’Empire Romain, I [Paris, 1914], p. 209). Penna thinks this number too high,
as also the 30-40,000 of S. Collon, but regards Encyclopedia Judaica’s estimate of
10,000 as too low. Reasoning from the 8,000 Jews mentioned by Josephus (Ant. xvii.299–
303) and the 4,000 men of military age deported in A.D. 19 (Ant. xviii.81–84), he
estimates the number as 20,000 in Nero’s day (NTS, 28, p. 328 and p. 341 nn.51–53).