There’s a Female Apostle in Romans 16

The Today’s New International Version of Romans 16:7 reads, “Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.” Junia is a female name. But look at this: the New International Version reads, “Greet Andronicus and Junias, my relatives who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.” Junias is a male name. What’s with that?

A fourth century bishop of Constantinople, Johm Chrysostom, praised Junia for her great devotion that “she should be counted worthy of the appellation of apostle.” Origen of Alexander (185-253) also took her as a female. Theologians are saying that the female name is more likely to be the better translation because the earlier manuscripts have the female form and not until later do the translations have the male form. Also, apparently, not a single example of the male name, Junias, has been found in ancient literature or inscriptions, either Greek or Latin. It’s odd that not a single commentator took the name to be male until about the year 1300. See the Junia link in the sidebar for more theological research details.