Yes, even you, genuine companion
(genuinely "bound together" – Gk. gnesie syzyge) [my true, real, and rightful partner], I ask
[a favor]:
Help
("take hold together" – Gk. syllambano) these women
[sisters in the Lord] who have struggled with me
(who have wrestled with me) [like athletes] in the service of the gospel,
and also with
Clement (Clemens) [meaning: "mild, gracious"] and the rest of my co-workers
whose names are in the book of life
(in a "book of life" – Gk. biblio zoes) [].
[The Greek word syzygus (meaning someone who shares the burden under a yoke) could be the name of a man in the congregation, or possibly Epaphroditus, but it is more likely that Paul is addressing a specific person who is listening to the letter being read aloud. Perhaps Timothy, Silas, or some other leader, see ; . Clement, who is mentioned here first among the co-workers ("they worked together" – Gk. synergos) was a common name. Sometimes the person Paul mentions here has been assumed to be the third bishop of Rom who wrote the First Epistle of Clement to the church in Corinth around 95 AD.]
