Lecture

At the end of the letter to the Romans, in chapter 16, we find a number of women listed. Paul worked with many women throughout his ministry and travels, and he considered them co-laborers and siblings. I'd like to focus on two, Phoebe and Junia.

First, Phoebe, she's described as “our sister,” a deacon of the church in Cenchreae, and a benefactor of Paul and of others. Most commentators today rightly add another characteristic. She brought the letter to the Romans from Corinth, where Paul was when he composed it. Let's look at each of these things in turn.

First, Phoebe, the letter carrier. Well, this means that she read the letter to the Romans, much as Tychicus did for Paul to the Colossians. And Tychicus also filled them in on what was going on with Paul. So in a sense, he spoke for Paul. So too, Phoebe—she was the first exegete of Romans, if you will. She read the letter and explained it to the Roman churches. So clearly, she had excellent biblical and theological knowledge.

She is also a deacon in the Church of Cenchreae, the Eastern port of Corinth. Some earlier translations used the word “servant” rather than “deacon,” which does capture the importance of service in Christian leadership. Even Christ is identified as a servant to the Jewish people in Romans 15:8. But the noun can also refer to a church office and it likely does here. First, the noun is in the masculine declension. And if it were describing Phoebe herself, Paul would've used the feminine. Again, Paul identifies the church in which she serves as deacon.

Now, we don't know all the duties of deacons at this time, but it probably includes a minister of the Word. This also fits her role of reading Romans to the church in Rome. Deacon might also carry responsibilities of hospitality. Phoebe is also called a benefactor or patron. Now, some translation watered down the Greek by saying “helper.” But she was likely wealthy or had some financial means, some kind of influence. And her opinion mattered, her voice was sought out. Paul recommended her to the Roman church which is a high honor indeed.

Now, in a later session, we will look at a well-known husband and wife pair, Priscilla and Aquila. But here in Romans, we find a lesser-known husband-wife pair, who receive high praise from Paul. Their names are Andronicus and Junia. In Romans 16:7, they are described as “my relatives,” “fellow prisoners,” and “well-known among the apostles, who were in Christ before me.” Now, later church history questioned whether Junia was, in fact, a woman, and we will explore that question now.

English readers can't tell by looking at the names whether they signify a man's name or a woman's name. In our culture, some names can refer to either a man or a woman, like my own name, Lynn. It's spelling and sound can be used for either a woman or a man. If my parents had attached an E to the end of the name, then in print, people would know that I'm female. Also in English, a name does not change spelling based on its place in a sentence. I always write Lynn, L-Y-N-N, whether it is the subject or the object of a sentence. It stays the same whether I say, “Lynn went to the bank,” or “Jim went with Lynn to the bank.”

In the ancient world, however, names took on different endings depending on their place in the sentence. In our case here, the singular name is in the accusative form. Now, the name Junia is a very common Roman name from the gens, Junia. It occurs over 250 times in Roman inscriptions alone. Its male equivalent is Junius. However, the name Junias, as a masculine name, is unattested in any evidence.

Now, the church fathers consistently understand Paul to be referring to Junia, a woman. But in the late 13th century, one Giles of Rome decided on exegetical grounds that a woman could not hold the title of apostle. And so, he created a man's name by adding an S to the end of Junia. Her fate was sealed, in no small part, by Martin Luther, whose enormously influential translation of the Bible into German included the reference to two men, Andronicus and Junias.

Now, after plodding through the necessary literarian epigraphical evidence, it becomes clear that the male name Junias is unattested in the Greco-Roman world while the female name Junia is widely witnessed. So the pressing question becomes, why have so many of the critical Greek editions and translations relying upon them insist on Junias? And the answer lies in the committees' convictions that a female apostle was unlikely. And so, this name, Junias, unknown throughout the Greco-Roman world, was created ex nihilo to match their presuppositions.

While recognizing the weakness of the argument over the name Junias, some have suggested that Paul did not, in fact, address Andronicus and Junia as holding the office of apostle, but rather was acknowledging that the apostles were very impressed with this pair. Said another way, Andronicus and Junia were highly regarded by the group of apostles.

In the first case, a comparison is implied. The two, Andronicus and Junia, are highly virtuous within the group of apostles. And such a reading makes perfect sense of the Greek. A parallel might be from Matthew 2:6, “You, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah” (NRSV).

In the second case, one wonders why Paul would say that the apostles point to this couple, Andronicus and Junia, and praise them. Because he doesn't name drop in other places and he doesn't promote the apostles as some special group elsewhere. In fact, to the Galatians, he minimizes their high esteem by saying, “God shows no favoritism.” And when would the apostles have convened to create a list of those about whom they were especially proud?

In sum, if we follow the biblical text, then we must admit that Paul greets a couple with the title of apostle. Note that Paul does not christen them as apostles, he salutes their already held position, confirming what had been granted previously. Well, what does the term “apostle” mean? Paul nuances the term “apostle” in a variety of ways. Paul identifies himself as apostle and describes as apostles Timothy, Silas, Silvanus, and Epaphroditus. In that latter instance, Paul is likely using the term in a non-technical sense of a messenger that is sent, in this case, by the Philippians to aid Paul in his imprisonment. The term “apostle” might carry the sense of a traveling missionary, perhaps as we see in 2 Corinthians 8:23. What is implied in the title use in 1 Thessalonians 2:7, where Paul identifies himself, Timothy, and Silas as apostles. I think Paul intends something with more authority behind it as he speaks to the Thessalonians that these three are approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. Whatever authority and responsibilities Paul himself is claiming, he includes Timothy and Silas with the same as he introduces them as apostles to this church in Thessalonica.

Looking now at Romans 16:7, Paul uses the definite article “the” in referring to this group of apostles to which Junia and Andronicus belonged. Now, if he intended to describe them as traveling missionaries, why not simply say that they were outstanding among apostles? Attending to the context, it seems best to compare Junia's and Andronicus's label of “apostle” to that of Paul, Timothy, and Silas, as those especially called and gifted to lead the church.

In the Book of Acts, Luke identifies Barnabas as an apostle alongside Paul. He also includes Peter's discussion of a replacement apostle after Judas's death. The criterion for the post is that one walked with Jesus from His ministry in Galilee until His resurrection. And Paul stresses that he was called as an apostle to the Gentiles and suggests that this calling is rooted in part in having seen the risen Lord. So clearly, an apostle is one who knows well the person of Christ. And the title itself is not limited to the twelve apostles, but they are a unique subset.

So what does it mean that Junia was an apostle? Did she get the corner office? A parking space close to the front door? A company car? For Paul, apostles were the last in line. The ones who are mocked, scorned, brutally treated, at times despairing of life itself. They had the privilege of treacherous travel, sleepless nights, beatings, imprisonments.

And so, it seems that Junia lived up to these requirements. For Paul notes that she and Andronicus suffered imprisonment as he had and presumably for the same reason, preaching the gospel. She was in the Lord before Paul, suggesting that she knew Jesus during His earthly ministry in Galilee and Judea. Paul notes that she's a relative, likely implying that she's a fellow Jew. As an apostle, she had responsibilities to preach the gospel faithfully, to train up young leaders, to shore up sagging churches and plant new ones.

Junia and Phoebe served in leadership roles within the church, as deacon, and apostle, speaking and acting with authority, suffering and bearing the social shame and abuse that believers faced as they proclaimed the good news of the gospel. In our next session, we'll jump into the Book of Acts to meet other leading women, Priscilla and Lydia.