Paul is the author, but Tertius the scribe or amanuensis (a person who takes dictation or copies manuscripts) who actually did the writing. Tertius means "third" in Latin and it was a common name of slaves. Some slaves were trained as scribes. Then there are some who think he was Silas, who was a constant companion of Paul. The Hebrew word is the same for Teritus. Some say that he was one of the seventy disciples that were sent out by Jesus (John Gills commentary on Luke 10:1).
Tertius greets the readers of Romans. It is possible he was known among the Christians in Rome. Tertius himself was probably a Christian. It is also possible that he was one of the Jews expelled from Rome and found his way to Corinth.
Whether slave, disciple or Christian one thing is known for sure is that he was either a scribe or an amanuensis to Paul and wrote the letter.
No comments:
Post a Comment