Greet Apelles approved in Christ. Greet them who are of Aristobulus' household.
Read Chapter 16
Ambrosiaster
AD 400
Paul does not greet Apelles as a friend or fellow worker, but because he has been tried in temptations and found to be faithful to Christ. Aristobulus is to be understood as having assembled the brethren in Christ. Paul approves of this so much that he regards those whom he has gathered together to be worthy of greeting as well. Commentary on Paul’s Epistles.
There is no praise like this, for the words “approved in Christ” include the whole list of virtues…. By setting out the praises particular to each, he sets before us their individual virtues. He does not excite envy by honoring one and not the other, but neither does he cater to cynicism by praising them all in exactly the same way.
