What about Quartus?

 

What’s in a name?

God instituted a timeless tradition when He named the first human Adam. Since then, humans have been given names.

We are all intrinsically unique and being given a name just adds to our individuality and identity. Names once held much greater meaning than they do today and in Old Testament times, names were only given to persons in positions of authority. The person’s name signified that they were appointed a particular position, function or relationship.

For instance, as Rachel lay dying after giving birth, with her last breath, she named her son Benon, “son of my sorrow”, however Jacob, changed his name to Benjamin, “son who will be fortunate” (ref. Genesis 35:18).

Names were often determined by circumstances at the time of birth or changed as one’s status changed.

King Neco made Josiah's son Eliakim king of Judah as successor to Josiah, and changed his name to Jehoiakim – 2 Kings 23:34 (GNT)

God changed Abram’s name to Abraham and Sarai to Sarah, signifying a change to their destiny and in the same way, Jacob became Israel.

Other than position, function or relationship, people were named for animals, tribes, precious things, plants, characteristics, historical events and even for the work that they did. Names were sometimes connected to a promise or an aspiration.

In those days, people were given one name but by New Testament times, there was a slight change to that practice; having a personal and family name became common. Descriptive phrases were added and in this bilingual culture, names were used interchangeably.

Then he took Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “Your name is Simon son of John, but you will be called Cephas.” (This is the same as Peter and means “a rock.”) – John 1:42 (GNT)

Where Cephas is Aramaic, Peter is Greek and both mean “rock”.

Now, Apostle Paul, who was charged with converting the Gentiles had made his way to Corinth, this was his third missionary journey. While there he was compelled to write to the church in Rome which was facing challenges related to Jewish/Gentile issues.

Near the end of his epistle he wrote,

My host Gaius, in whose house the church meets, sends you his greetings; Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus send you their greetings. – Romans 16: 23 (GNT)

Here we have three names, Gaius, Erastus and Quartus who all sent their greetings.

Gaius, who we are told, hosted Paul and the Church in Corinth, must have been a Roman citizen since his personal name is of Latin origin, meaning “one who rejoices”.

The city treasurer bore the Greek name, Erastus which means “beloved”. Erastus may have been a freed slave; freedmen were often given positions to steward the city’s properties or manage the city’s financial affairs. Though former slaves, these men were often wealthy.

What about Quartus? While Paul gave brief but pertinent background information on Gaius and Erastus, Quartus is simply identified as, our brother. Quartus is the Roman word for “fourth”.

It was a common Roman practice to name children based on their order of birth, especially those children born to enslaved mothers. It is believed that Quartus was such a child. Under Roman rule, he was neither considered a citizen nor worthy of a proper name as the child of an enslaved woman. As far as Rome was concerned, a number was good enough.

Similarly, numerical names like Primus, “first”, Secundus “second” and Tertius “third”, were all derived from this Roman naming tradition.

Whoever was Quartus’ owner at birth, could never have imagined that this child identified only by a number meant to relegate him to a life of obscurity, would have lived on for thousands of years in the pages of the bible.

Quartus, like so many others in the bible, is only mentioned once but once is more than enough to validate him. The mere fact that the apostle considers him a brother speaks volumes. Quartus undoubtedly was a valued member of the Corinthian Christian community.

Beloved, your name is integral to who you are. The name that you now bear has meaning to God and even if others don’t know your name, God knows your name.

The gatekeeper opens the gate for him; the sheep hear his voice as he calls his own sheep by name, and he leads them out. – John 10:3 (GNT)

Your name distinguishes you just as Quartus’ name, though meant to identify him as a nobody, still distinguished him as somebody. God also knew his name and if you didn’t before, now you know his name too.

Amen †

Shelley Johnson “What about Quartus?” © 2026 October 11, 2026