Tertius

TERTIUS (tûr’shĭ-ŭs, Gr. Tertios). The scribe or amanuensis of Paul. At the apostle’s dictation, he wrote the Letter to the Romans. He added a personal salutation (Rom.16.22).

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TERTIUS tûr’ shĭ əs (Τέρτιος, G5470), the scribe or amanuensis to whom Paul dictated his Epistle to the Romans. Among Paul’s greetings to the Christians in Rome Tertius inserts his own, “I Tertius, the writer of this letter, greet you in the Lord” (Rom 16:22). Some identify him with Silas, seeing that shalish is Heb. for “third” as tertius is the Lat. Others conjecture that he was a Rom. Christian living in Corinth. Paul seems to have customarily dictated his letters to an amanuensis, adding a greeting in his own hand as “the mark in every letter of mine” (2 Thess 3:17).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)

The amanuensis of Paul who wrote at his dictation the Epistle to the Romans. In the midst of Paul’s greetings to the Christians in Rome he interpolated his own, "I Tertius, who write the epistle, salute you in the Lord" (Ro 16:22). "It is as a Christian, not in virtue of any other relation he has to the Romans, that Tertius salutes them" (Denney). Some identify him with Silas, owing to the fact that shalish is the Hebrew for "third (officer)," as tertius is the Latin Others think he was a Roman Christian residing in Corinth. This is, however, merely conjecture. Paul seems to have dictated his letters to an amanuensis, adding by his own hand merely the concluding sentences as "the token in every epistle" (2Th 3:17; Col 4:18; 1Co 16:21). How far this may have influenced the style of his letters is discussed in Sanday-Headlam, Romans, Introduction, LX.