who risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the assemblies of the Gentiles.
Parallel Translations
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who risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the assemblies of the Gentiles.
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which have for my lyfe layde doune their awne neckes. Vnto which not I only geve thankes but also the congregacion of the gentyls.
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(Which haue for my life laide downe their owne necke. Vnto whom not I onely giue thankes, but also all the Churches of the Gentiles.)
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to Romans 16:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 John 3:16 By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
- Philippians 2:30 because for the work of Christ he came near to death, risking his life to supply that which was lacking in your service toward me.
- Joshua 10:24 When they brought those kings out to Joshua, Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said to the chiefs of the men of war who went with him, “Come near. Put your feet on the necks of these kings.” They came near, and put their feet on their necks.
- 2 Samuel 22:41 You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, that I might cut off those who hate me.
- Micah 2:3 Therefore Yahweh says: “Behold, I am planning against these people a disaster, from which you will not remove your necks, neither will you walk haughtily; for it is an evil time.
- John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
- Acts 15:41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the assemblies.
- Acts 16:5 So the assemblies were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.
- Romans 5:7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man. Yet perhaps for a righteous person someone would even dare to die.
- 1 Corinthians 7:17 Only, as the Lord has distributed to each man, as God has called each, so let him walk. So I command in all the assemblies.
- 1 Corinthians 16:1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I commanded the assemblies of Galatia, you do likewise.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:14 For you, brothers, became imitators of the assemblies of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus; for you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews
- Revelation 1:4 John, to the seven assemblies that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from God, who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits who are before his throne;
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 4. To whom not only I, etc. As Prisca…
4. To whom not only I, etc. As Prisca and Aquila had not spared their life for preserving the life of Paul, he testifies that he himself was individually thankful to them: he however adds, that thanks were given them by all the Churches of Christ; and he added this that he might, by such an example, influence the Romans. And deservedly dear and precious to all the Gentiles was the life of such a man, as it was an incomparable treasure: it was therefore no wonder that all the Churches of the Gentiles thought themselves to be under obligations to his preservers.
What he adds respecting the Church in their house is worthy of being observed; for he could not have more splendidly adorned their household than by giving it the title of a Church. The word congregation, which Erasmus has adopted, I do not approve; for it is plainly evident, that Paul, by way of honor, had used the sacred name of Church.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 4 Who have for my life laid down their…
4 Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.
Ver. 4. Who have for my life] A rare example. Fast friends are in this age for the most part gone on pilgrimage (said one once), and their return is uncertain.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Who have for my life laid down their own…
Who have for my life laid down their own necks; i.e. they hazarded their own lives to save mine. The Scripture speaks of this as the duty of Christians, 1Jo 3:16. He refers (it may be) to that uproar that was at Corinth, of which see Act 18:12; or that in Asia, of which see Act 19:23.
Unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles; because he was the apostle of the Gentiles, and his preservation redounded to the benefit of them all.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Who for my life laid down their necks,.... That…
Who for my life laid down their necks,.... That is, exposed themselves to great danger to save the apostle's life: the allusion is to the manner of executions by beheading, and to one person's laying down his head, and offering his neck to the executioner the room of another: this we are not to suppose was literally done; but the design of the expression is, that in some shape or another they risked their own lives for the apostle's; which might be done either at the insurrection in Corinth against Paul, when the Jews dragged him to the judgment seat of Gallio, and beat Sosthenes the ruler of the synagogue before him; or the uproar in Ephesus by Demetrius and the craftsmen, when Paul and his companions were in great danger; at both which times and places these two persons were, and being very zealous, were no doubt active to preserve the apostle, and which he acknowledges with thankfulness:
unto whom not only I give thanks, but all the churches of the Gentiles; both for the care they took of him, and the danger they exposed themselves to on his account; which the apostle expresses his sense of gratitude for, and which all the Gentile churches were under obligations to do likewise, since they had a common share in his labours and usefulness, he was the apostle of them all; and also for their help and assistance in carrying on the work of the Lord in all the churches of the Gentiles.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Who have for my life, as it were, laid…
Who have for my life, as it were, laid down their own necks - That is, exposed themselves to the utmost danger. But likewise all the churches of the gentiles - Even that at Rome, for preserving so valuable a life.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 4. Who have for my life laid down…
Verse 4. Who have for my life laid down their own necks] What transaction this refers to we know not; but it appears that these persons had, on some occasion, hazarded their own lives to save that of the apostle; and that the fact was known to all the Churches of God in that quarter, who felt themselves under the highest obligations to these pious persons, for the important service which they had thus rendered.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Who have for my life - In order to…
Who have for my life - In order to save my life.
Laid down their own necks - To “lay down the neck” is to lay the head on a block to be cut off with the axe; or to bow down the head as when the neck was exposed to be cut off by the sword of the executioner. The meaning is, that they had hazarded their lives, had exposed themselves to imminent danger, to save the life of Paul. On what occasion this was done, is not known, as it is not referred to in the New Testament elsewhere. As Paul, however, lived with them Act 18:3, and as he was often persecuted by the Jews, it is probable that he refers to some such period when he was persecuted, when Aquila and Priscilla took him into their house at the imminent hazard of their lives.
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All the churches of the Gentiles - All the churches that had been founded by the apostles. They “felt” their deep obligation to them for having saved the life of him who had been their founder, and who was their spiritual father.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain It is not exactly known to what the apostle…
It is not exactly known to what the apostle here refers. Origen thinks that they delivered the apostle from the snares of the Jews. Others, that they exposed themselves from him in the sedition raised at Corinth, or in that at Ephesus, when he was in such danger, on account of the outcry of the silversmiths. The obligations of the Churches of the Gentiles towards them must be understood of the hospitality, which these faithful servants of Christ exercised to all. (Calmet) --- Greek: Ton eauton trachelon upethekan, a proverbial expression, as in Latin, præbere cervices, caput objicere periculis, to support any thing, or person, that is in a sinking way, or in great danger.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain who have for my life laid down--"who did for…
who have for my life laid down--"who did for my life lay down"
their own necks--that is, risked their lives; either at Corinth (Act 18:6, Act 18:9-10), or more probably at Ephesus (Act 19:30-31; and compare Co1 15:32). They must have returned from Ephesus (where we last find them in the history of the Acts) to Rome, whence the edict of Claudius had banished them (Act 18:2); and doubtless, if not the principal members of that Christian community, they were at least the most endeared to our apostle.
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unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles--whose special apostle this dear couple had rescued from imminent danger.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 4. Laid down their necks—A strong figure, as if…
4. Laid down their necks—A strong figure, as if they had laid their necks upon the block to be beheaded in the apostle’s place; the meaning being that they had imminently risked their lives for his. It was probably in the fray at Ephesus.
All… Gentiles—For rescuing the apostle of the Gentiles. The fact of their self-devotion would of course be better known in the eastern Churches than at Rome.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 4. who have for my life, &c.] Lit., and…
4. who have for my life, &c.] Lit., and better, who did for my life lay down their own neck, (not necks). An entirely unknown occasion, on which Aquila and his wife had risked their lives for St Paul’s.—“Laid down:”—the figure is of presenting the neck, or throat, to the executioner. Whether the word is only figurative here, we cannot determine.
all the churches of the Gentiles] To whom they had, by their self-devotion, preserved their Apostle.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (4) Laid down their own necks.—Whether this expression is…
(4) Laid down their own necks.—Whether this expression is to be taken literally or figuratively we do not know, neither can we do more than guess at the event to which it refers. It may have something to do with the tumult at Ephesus, and with that “fighting with beasts” mentioned in 1Co_15:32.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 4. Who have for my life laid down, etc.…
4. Who have for my life laid down, etc. It is evident that at some time they had endured great peril for Paul's sake. We know from 2 Cor. 11:23–27, that only a small part of his perils have been recorded. Also all the churches of the Gentiles. Are under a debt of gratitude to Priscilla and Aquila.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain who for my life laid down their own necks…
who for my life laid down their own necks [As Paul's chief danger lay in Ephesus ( 1Co_15:32 ), it was evidently there that Aquila and Priscilla risked their lives for him, though no specific account is given us of any such service, or of other dangers than the great riot-- Act_19:23-41 ]; unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles [being grateful to the pair for aiding in saving so precious a life as that of their apostle, their light in gospel truth, the bulwark guarding their liberties against Jewish aggression]:
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.