EPENETUS. - A Christian remembered in Rom 16:5.
The name (Ἐπενέτοις, “praiseworthy”) is not known to have been borne by any Jew, while it was fairly common in the Greco-Roman world (W. Dittenberger, Sylloge inscriptionum Graecarum, 3rd ed., Leipzig 1915–24, pp. 43, 39; 385, 230; 944, 26; 177, 4). E. was of pagan origin, the first convert from the Roman province of Asia (the “firstfruits of Asia for Christ”; Rom 16:5; cf. 1 Cor 16:15, to which the variant Ἀγχάζει in Rom is due); this does not mean that he was the first fruit of Paul’s preaching at Ephesus. Before him Aquila and Priscilla had labored there, and the fact that E. comes after the two spouses and after the little group gathered in their house is good reason to regard him as one of their converts. His relations with Paul were very cordial, and Paul calls him “beloved.” He is commemorated in the Greek Menologia on July 30 and by the Latins on the 13th.