(59) The Worthy Recipient of Praise

Romans 16:24

 


Scripture

24 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.


Commentary

24 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

This is Paul’s typical closing benediction. It is the same as II Thessalonians 3:18[1], and the same as verse 20b with the addition of all. As a matter of fact, in most manuscripts of Romans, this is the last verse, and the doxology in verses 25–27 comes after chapter 14. Both the benediction and the doxology are beautiful ways to end the book. And both end with Amen
One difference between this verse and the benediction given in verse 20 is that Paul always takes the pen from his secretary to write the benediction with his own hand (see 2 Thessalonians 3:17[2]). He also writes the doxology personally.
I believe in the inerrancy of Scripture; therefore, I believe that every word is God breathed and that God maintained its purity throughout human history. I say that, even though all the Bible commentators that I am aware of, either ignore verse 24 or they say that it was not part of earlier translations. By the way, I believe the King James Bible to be the Best translation, because it was the first and therefore not diluted by human reasoning.

______________________Verse 24 notes_____________________________

[1] (Thessalonians 3:18) The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.”

[2] (2 Thessalonians 3:17) The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write.” At this point Paul apparently took the pen from the hand of his amanuensis (secretary) and wrote the closing salutation. He speaks of his greeting as being the sign in every epistle he writes. Some have understood this to mean that Paul’s own handwriting at the end of each Letter proved it to be genuinely his. Others believe that the sign is the characteristic Pauline benediction: the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all (Rom. 16:24; 1 Cor. 16:23; 2 Cor. 13:14; Gal. 6:18; Eph. 6:24; Phil. 4:23; Col. 4:18; 1 Thess. 5:28; 1 Tim. 6:21; 2 Tim. 4:22; Tit. 3:15; Phmn. 25; and, if Paul wrote Hebrews, Heb. 13:25). From these references, we see that all his Epistles end on a grace note.

 

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