Evidence of the Presence of Jewish Christians at Rome

 

•        A number of the individuals that Paul singles out for greeting at the end of the letter are Jews:

–       Aquila (Romans 16:3) who is identified as a Jew in Acts 18:2

–       Andronicus, Junias, and Herodion all of whom Paul (a Jew) describes as his “kinsmen” (Romans 16:7,11 - NASB translation)

•        In the chapters 14 and 15, Paul addresses two groups which he refers to as the “weak” and the “strong”.  At the end of this section he seems to imply that those he referred to as “weak” were the Jewish believers (Romans 15:7-12).

•        There is historical evidence that a number of Jews lived in Rome at the time Paul wrote this letter

•        We know that there were Jewish visitors from Rome present on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:10) - perhaps some of them believed the gospel that day (cf. Acts 2:41) and carried the message back to Rome.