1 Corinthians 16:19

Conclusion, 19-24.

1 Corinthians 16:19. The churches of Asia salute you Proconsular or Roman Asia, of which Ephesus was the capital. Seven of these churches are named in the book of Revelation. This Christian “salutation” was no unmeaning ceremony: it was the Hebrew “Peace be unto you” in its highest, warmest sense, which was first uttered in that new sense by our Lord Himself (Luke 24:36; John 20:21), and left by Himself as His legacy to His own in words which have carried it into myriads of receptive bosoms in every land, and will do, as long as there are such on earth the words, we need not say, of John 14:27.

Aquila and Prisca [1] salute you much in the Lord (the Lord Jesus), with the church that is in their house. This lovely couple driven from Rome by the persecuting edict of Claudius (Acts 18:2) we find settled at Corinth, where they were joined by Paul, the two being of the same secular occupation. After a time they accompanied our apostle to Ephesus, and there settled, doing eminent service to the cause of Christ. For there it was that to Apollos they were privileged to open up such enlarged views of the Gospel, as, until then, he had had no opportunity of learning. On another occasion, when the apostle's life at Ephesus was in imminent danger, they interposed for his rescue at the risk of their own lives, receiving for this the enduring record of his own and the Church's warm gratitude (Romans 16:4). And here, again, we find them with a “church,” regularly assembling “in their house,” and sending to their former Corinthian brethren their warmest greetings. From this and similar references to churches regularly meeting in the private houses of their members, it is plain that up to this time and probably for long after the Christians met only in private houses; perhaps holding distinct meetings, according to the capacity of the “house.” No house would be choicer for such a purpose than that of Aquila, whose occupation required large premises. At these homely gatherings the progress of the Gospel and the state of several churches seem to have been reported sometimes by written communications (as we learn from Colossians 4:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:27), sometimes orally by persons who had received intelligence, or had themselves brought it (as appears from 3 John 1:3); and occasion would then be given for special thanksgiving and prayer. In this way the tie between Christians in different localities, and between those little communities themselves, would be drawn close, and be felt to be a blessed reality.

[1] This shortened form of the word “Priscilla” which in Romans 16:3 is certainly the correct reading, and probably also in 2 Timothy 4:19 is best attested here also.