^1:1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the Gospel of God. [n. 15]

15. This letter is divided into two parts, namely, the greeting and the body of the letter, which begins at first, I give thanks (Rom 1:8).

In the first part three things are done.

First, the person sending the greeting is described;

second, the persons greeted, at to all who are at Rome (Rom 1:7);

third, the blessings invoked, at grace to you (Rom 1:7).

Concerning the first, he does two things. First, the person of the author is described; second, his office is commended, at which he had promised before (Rom 1:2).

16. The person writing is described by four things.

First, by his name, Paul, concerning which one should consider three things.

First, its accuracy; for this name, as it is spelled here, cannot be Hebrew because Hebrew does not have the letter P in its alphabet; but it can be Greek and Latin. Still, if it be taken as some letter close to P, it can be Hebrew.

17. Second, one should consider its meaning. Considered as Hebrew, it means ‘wonderful’ or ‘chosen’; taken as Greek, it means ‘quiet’; taken as Latin, it means ‘small.’

And these meanings suit him. For he was chosen as regards grace; hence he is a chosen vessel of mine (Acts 9:15). He was wonderful in his work: a marvelous vessel, the work of the Most High (Sir 43:2). He was quiet in contemplation: when I enter my house, I shall find rest with her (Wis 8:16). He was small by humility: I am the least of the apostles (1 Cor 15:9).

18. Third, one should consider when that name was conferred on the Apostle, since he had formerly been called Saul, as is found in Acts 9.

There are three opinions about this.

Jerome says that whereas he had formerly been called Saul, later he wished to be called Paul on account of something notable he had done, namely that he converted Sergius Paulus, a proconsul (Acts 13:7), just as Scipio was called Africanus because he had conquered Africa.

Others say that this name was conferred on account of the growth in virtue, which is signified by this name, as was said. For names are conferred by God on certain men at the very beginning of their lives to indicate the grace they receive at the beginning, as in the case of John the Baptist (Luke 1:13). In other cases the names of persons are changed to indicate their growth in virtue, as Chrysostom says. This is clear in the cases of Abraham (Gen 17) and Peter (Matt 16).

But others have a better explanation, namely, that Paul always went by two names. For it was customary among the Jews, along with their Hebrew name, to take a name from among the people they served; thus, those who served the Greeks took Greek names, as is clear in the cases of Jason and Menelaus (2 Macc 4).

19. Now the name Paul was held in esteem among the Romans from the earliest times; accordingly, he was called Saul among the Hebrews and Paul among the Romans, although he does not seem to have used the latter until he began to preach to the gentiles. Hence, it is said: but Saul, who is also called Paul (Acts 13:9). This third opinion is the one Augustine favors.

20. Second, the writer’s person is described by his station, when he says, a servant of Christ.

Now the state of servitude seems a lowly one, if it be considered absolutely; this is why it is imposed with a curse as a punishment for sin: cursed be Canaan; a slave of slaves shall he be to his brothers (Gen 9:25). But it is made commendable by reason of what is added, namely, of Jesus Christ.

For Jesus means savior: he will save his people from their sins (Matt 1:21); Christ means anointed: therefore God, your God, has anointed you (Ps 45:7). This indicates Christ’s dignity both in regard to his holiness, since priests were anointed, as is clear from Exodus 29; and in regard to his power, since kings, too, were anointed, as is clear in the cases of David and Solomon; and in regard to his knowledge, since prophets were also anointed, as in the case of Elisha.

Furthermore, it is praiseworthy for a person to be subjected to his own well-being and to the spiritual anointing of grace, because a thing is perfect to the extent that it is subjected to its perfection, as the body to the soul and air to light: O Lord, I am your servant (Ps 116:16).

21. This seems to conflict with John: no longer do I call you servants, but friends (John 15:15).

But one should say that there are two kinds of servitude: one is the servitude of fear, which does not befit saints: you have not received the spirit of slavery again in fear: but you have received the spirit of adoption of sons (Rom 8:15); the other is that of humility and love, which does befit saints: say: we are unworthy servants (Luke 17:10).

For while a free man is one who exists for his own sake, a servant is one who exists for the sake of another, as moving by reason of another’s moving him; if then a person acts for the sake of another as though moved by him, the service is one of fear, which forces a man to act in opposition to his own will. But if he acts for the sake of another as an end, then it is the servitude of love; because a friend serves and does good to his friend for the friend’s own sake, as the Philosopher says in the ninth book of the Ethics.

22. Third, the person writing is described by his dignity when it says, called to be an apostle.

The apostolic dignity is the foremost in the Church, in accord with 1 Corinthians: God has appointed in the Church, first, apostles (1 Cor 12:28). For apostle means ‘sent’: as the Father has sent me, even so I send you (John 20:21), i.e., out of the same love and with the same authority.

Moreover, he says, called to be an apostle, to indicate a gift: one does not take the honor upon himself, but he is called by God as Aaron was (Heb 5:4); or to emphasize excellence, so that just as Rome is antonomastically called ‘the city,’ so Paul is called the apostle: I worked harder than any of them (1 Cor 15:10); or to show his humility, as though to say: I do not dare to call myself an apostle, but men call me that: I am unfit to be called an apostle (1 Cor 15:9).

23. Fourth, the person writing is described by his office when it says, separated unto the Gospel of God.

Separated, I say, from unbelievers by his conversion: but when he who had set me apart from the womb of my mother, i.e., of the synagogue (Gal 1:15); or separated from other disciples by his being chosen: set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them (Acts 13:2).

Gospel means good news. For it announces the news of man’s union with God, which is man’s good: it is good for me to cleave to God (Ps 73:28).

24. Indeed, a threefold union of man with God is announced in the Gospel.

The first is by the grace of union: the Word was made flesh (John 1:14). The second is by the grace of adoption, as implied in the Psalm: I say: you are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you (Ps 82:6). The third is by the glory of attainment: this is eternal life, that they know you (John 17:3); how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good tidings (Isa 52:7).

These good tidings were not from men, but from God: what I have heard from the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I announce to you (Isa 21:10). Hence he says, unto the Gospel of God.