Romans 16
v.7
Greet Andronicus and Junias, my relatives who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.
v.13
Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too.
Rufus also in Mark 15:21.
v.17
I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.
In keeping with the point of the letter (see the discussion of the situation in the introduction), those who cause schisms and divisions are Paul’s main object of warning.
v.19
Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.
Paul might allude here to Adam and Eve seeking fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2:9; 3:6); see comment on 16:20. He may also intend a contrast with Jeremiah 4:22: “wise to do evil, but ignorant of how to do good” (cf. Mt 10:16).
v.20
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
Genesis 3:15 promised that the serpent who deceived Adam and Eve to partake of the fruit (cf. Rom 5:12-21) would ultimately be crushed beneath the feet of Eve’s seed. In many Jewish traditions the serpent represented *Satan or his instrument. Some texts seem to have understood Eve’s “seed” as Israel, others as the *Messiah; but here Paul applies it more broadly to the Messiah’s followers as well. His point is that they should persevere to the end, and God will bring triumph.