Tertius
Tertius
Info
- #coworker #slave-freedman
- Home:: Corinth (likely)
- Other Locales:: None recorded
- References:: Romans 16#16:22
Notes
- Paul's amanuensis (scribe) for the letter to the Romans
- Inserts his own personal greeting into the letter
Summary
Tertius is the only named scribe in the Pauline corpus who personally interjects into a letter he is writing for Paul. In Romans 16#16:22, amid Paul's chain of greetings, Tertius breaks in: "I, Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord."
Paul routinely dictated his letters to scribes (amanuenses), as was standard practice in the ancient world. He typically signed off with a personal note in his own hand (Galatians 6#6:11, 1 Corinthians 16#16:21, Colossians 4#4:18, 2 Thessalonians 3#3:17), a practice that confirms the rest was written by someone else. Tertius is the only scribe Paul allows to identify himself and send his own greeting. This detail humanizes the letter-writing process and suggests Tertius was a fellow believer, not a hired professional secretary.
His Latin name, Tertius, meaning "third," follows the numerical naming pattern of Quartus ("fourth") and Secundus ("second"), names associated with slaves and freedmen in the Roman world. If Tertius was a freedman or slave, his literary skills came from servile training in a Roman household. These skills put him in a position to produce one of the most theologically important letters in Christian history. Some scholars have suggested Tertius may have contributed to the letter's polished Greek style, though the theological content is unmistakably Paul's.
The role of amanuensis could range from mere dictation to a freer arrangement where the scribe was given an outline and composed the actual prose. The precision and density of Romans suggests Paul dictated closely, but Tertius's personal insertion shows he was no passive stenographer. He was a coworker in the Lord who felt comfortable enough to add his voice to Romans.
References
- theodoretCommentaryRomansc425 - Theodoret of Cyrus's patristic commentary on Romans, with early church interpretation of Tertius in Romans 16:22.
- mouleEpistlePaulApostle2015 - Moule's commentary on Romans covering Tertius's mention in Romans 16:22.
- bruceRomans2014 - F.F. Bruce's Romans commentary addressing Tertius in Romans 16:22.
- mcclainRomansGospelGod1989 - McClain's Romans commentary covering Tertius in Paul's closing greetings.
- mooEncounteringBookRomans2002 - Moo's Romans survey covering the greetings context where Tertius appears in Romans 16:22.
- Romans 16:22 Commentaries - BibleHub
- Tertius - Wikipedia