<p>16:10 <i>Greet Apelles the approved in Christ- </i>A name used among Jews and the name of a famous tragic actor. If this individual is referred to, then the point would be that his approbation was from Christ, and not because of his secular fame. And he is listed alongside petty slaves, at the other end of the social spectrum, but all together in Christ.</p><p><i>Greet them that are of the household of Aristobulus- </i>Paul writes to them as if there was one church in Rome, and yet he mentions the house groups of Aristobulus and Narcissus (Rom. 16:10,11). Indeed, in Rom. 16:14,15 we have lists of names of brethren, and then the comment &ldquo;and all the saints which are with them&rdquo;. It could be that the long list of greetings to named individuals was more like a list of greetings to the various house churches which comprised the larger &lsquo;ecclesia&rsquo; in Rome. Robert Banks observes: &ldquo;Justin in his <i>First Apology</i> refers to several distinct house-based meetings in Rome as much as a century after the New Testament&rdquo;.</p><p>Lightfoot suggests that this Aristobulus may have been the grandson of Herod the Great. But the reference to his &quot;household&quot; may not require that he himself was converted. For Paul doesn't greet him, but rather those of his household. So here we have a Roman of considerable distinction who had Christians among his servants or his slaves. He may have been dead, and the slaves continued to be known by their association with his extended family. Again we have the picture of slaves being a significant part of the Rome ecclesia. The metaphors in Romans related to slavery, and the message of radical freedom in Christ, would have been the more meaningful to them.</p>