Editing Epistle to the Romans (section)

== Textual variants ==
=== Fourteen-chapter form ===
There is strong, albeit indirect, evidence that a [[recension]] of Romans that lacked [[Romans 15|chapters 15]] and [[Romans 16|16]] was widely used in the western half of the Roman Empire until the mid-4th century.<ref name="beduhn">{{cite book |last=BeDuhn |first=Jason |author-link=Jason BeDuhn |title=The First New Testament: Marcion's Scriptural Canon |page=305 |year=2013 |publisher=Polebridge Press |isbn=978-1598151312 }}</ref>{{sfn|Longenecker|2011|pp=20ff}}{{sfn|Gamble|1977|pp=16ff}} This conclusion is partially based on the fact that a variety of [[Church Fathers]], such as [[Origen]] and [[Tertullian]], refer to a fourteen-chapter edition of Romans, either directly or indirectly. The fact that Paul's [[doxology]] is placed in various different places in different [[manuscript]]s of Romans also strengthens the case for an early fourteen-chapter recension. However, while there is some uncertainty, Harry Gamble concludes that the canonical sixteen-chapter recension is likely the earlier version of the text.{{sfn|Gamble|1977|pp=19ff}}

The [[Codex Boernerianus]] lacks the explicit references to the Roman church as the audience of the epistle found in Romans 1:7 and 1:15. There is evidence from [[Church Fathers|patristic]] commentaries indicating that Boernerianus is not unique in this regard; many early, no longer extant manuscripts also lacked an explicit Roman addressee in chapter 1.{{sfn|Longenecker|2011|p=31}} It is notable that, when this textual variant is combined with the omission of chapters 15 and 16, there is no longer any clear reference to the Roman church throughout the entire epistle. Harry Gamble speculates that 1:7, 1:15, and chapters 15 and 16 may have been removed by a scribe in order to make the epistle more suitable for a "general" audience.{{sfn|Gamble|1977|pp=29ff}}

=== Fifteen-chapter form ===
It is also possible that a fifteen-chapter form of Romans, omitting chapter 16, may have existed at an early date. Several scholars have argued, largely on the basis of internal evidence, that Chapter 16 represents a separate letter of Paul – possibly addressed to [[Ephesus]] – that was later appended to Romans.{{sfn|Longenecker|2011|pp=20ff}}{{sfn|Gamble|1977|pp=16ff}}

There are a few different arguments for this conclusion. First of all, there is a concluding peace benediction at 15:33, which reads like the other Pauline benedictions that conclude their respective letters. Secondly, Paul greets a large number of people and families in chapter 16, in a way that suggests he was already familiar with them, whereas the material of chapters 1–15 presupposes that Paul has never met anyone from the Roman church. The fact that [[Papyrus 46]] places Paul's doxology at the end of chapter 15 can also be interpreted as evidence for the existence of a fifteen-chapter recension of the epistle.{{sfn|Longenecker|2011|pp=20ff}}{{sfn|Gamble|1977|pp=16ff}}

=== Subscript ===
Some manuscripts have a subscript at the end of the Epistle:
* {{lang|grc|προς Ρωμαιους}} ("to the Romans") is found in these manuscripts: [[Codex Sinaiticus]], [[Codex Alexandrinus]], [[Codex Vaticanus]], [[Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus]], [[Codex Claromontanus]];
* {{lang|grc|προς Ρωμαιους εγραφη απο Κορινθου}} ("to the Romans it was written from Corinth"): B{{sup|2}}, D{{sup|2}} ([[Codex Porphyrianus|P]]);
* {{lang|grc|προς Ρωμαιους εγραφη απο Κορινθου δια Φοιβης της διακονου}} ("to the Romans it was written from Corinth by Phoebe the deacon"): [[Minuscule 42|42]], [[Minuscule 90|90]], [[Minuscule 216|216]], [[Minuscule 339|339]], [[Minuscule 462|462]], [[Minuscule 466|466*]], [[Minuscule 642|642]];
* {{lang|grc|εγραφη η προς Ρωμαιους επιστολη δια Τερτιου επεμφτη δε δια Φοιβης απο Κορινθιων της εν Κεγχρεαις εκκλησιας}} ("the epistle to the Romans was written by Tertius and was sent by Phoebe from the Corinthians of the church in [[Kechries|Cenchreae]]"): only in [[Minuscule 337|337]];
* {{lang|grc|προς Ρωμαιους εγραφη απο Κορινθου δια Φοιβης της διακονου της εν Κεγχρεαις εκκλησιας}} ("to the Romans it was written from Corinth by Phoebe the deacon of the church in Cenchreae"): [[Minuscule 101|101]], [[Minuscule 241|241]], [[Minuscule 460|460]], [[Minuscule 466|466]], [[Minuscule 469|469]], [[Minuscule 602|602]], [[Minuscule 603|603]], [[Minuscule 605|605]], [[Minuscule 618|618]], 1923, 1924, 1927, 1932, followed by [[Textus Receptus]].<ref>Bruce M. Metzger, ''A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament'' (2001), p. 477.</ref>