CLAIM: Paul writes to a person who is “outstanding among the apostles” (Rom. 16:7). Of course, this does not refer to one of the apostles who could write Scripture like the Twelve or like Paul or James, but rather, someone who held the office of an apostle (i.e. a church planter and leader).
Scholars debate whether this name should be understood as Junia (feminine, see KJV, NRSV, NLT, TNIV, and REB) or Junias (masculine, see NIV, RSV, NASB, TEV, and NJB). Note that the TNIV renders the person as a female, while the NIV renders the person as a male! In Greek, the only difference between the engendering of the names is a simple accent mark. So, which is it? Is this a case of a female apostle (Junia) or a male apostle (Junias)?
Let’s consider some of the key questions raised in this debate:
Was Junia(s) a woman or a man?
John Piper and Wayne Grudem write, “We cannot know. The evidence is inconclusive.”[1] However, most NT scholars are not so agnostic. In fact, F.F. Bruce,[2] Douglas Moo,[3] Grant Osborne,[4] John Stott,[5] Robert Jewett,[6] and James Dunn[7] all hold that Junia(s) was most likely a woman—not a man. There are several lines of evidence for thinking this:
First, the Greek evidence favors Junia(s) being a woman. Plutarch (AD 50-120) uses this name to refer to a woman,[8] and Chrysostom (AD 347-407) refers to Junia as a woman.[9]
On the flip side, Epiphanius (4th century AD) refers to Junia(s) as a man (Index discipulorum 125). Piper and Grudem argue that Epiphanius should be given “somewhat more weight” than Chrysostom, because Epiphanius has more information about Junia(s).[10]
However, Douglas Moo (a fellow complementarian) notes, “The reliability of [Epiphanius’] information is called into question by his identification, in the same passage, of Prisca as a man.”[11] Thus, he concludes, “We have no evidence elsewhere for this contracted form of the name.”[12] James Dunn concurs, “The simple fact is that the masculine form has been found nowhere else, and the name is more naturally taken as… Junia.”[13]
Second, Latin evidence favors Junia(s) being a woman. Junia (feminine) was very common in Latin. Peter Lampe’s research reveals over 250 examples of the feminine Junia in Latin, but zero examples of the masculine Junias in Latin.[14]
Third, commentators (with the exception of Epiphanius) before the 13th century unanimously referred to Junia as a woman. Citing Fitzmyer’s work, Douglas Moo writes, “It appears that commentators before the thirteenth century were unanimous in favor of the feminine identification.”[15]
Was Junia an apostle, only because she was married to Andronicus?
Paul lists other couples in Romans 16. For example, he lists Prisca and Aquila (v.3) and Philologus and Julia (v.15). We know that Prisca (Priscilla) and Aquila were married (Acts 18:2), so this would argue in favor of the other couples being married.
However, Paul also lists women paired together in the same context (Tryphaena and Tryphosa, v.12). So it isn’t necessarily the case that Junia and Andronicus were married. Regardless, even if Junia and Andronicus were married, Junia is still listed as an “apostle.” Therefore, this wouldn’t significantly change the argument that Junia was a female apostle.
Was Junia “outstanding among the apostles” (NASB) or was she “well known to the apostles” (ESV)?
Piper and Grudem argue that the term en should be rendered “to,” instead of “among.”[16] However, other commentators disagree.
Douglas Moo (a fellow complementarian): “With a plural object, en often means ‘among’; and if Paul had wanted to say that Andronicus and Junia were esteemed ‘by’ the apostles, we would have expected him to use a simple dative or hupo with the genitive.”[17]
Robert Jewett: “The adjective episemos lifts up a person or thing as distinguished or marked in comparison with other representatives of the same class, in this instance with the other apostles.”[18]
James Dunn: “The full phrase almost certainly means ‘prominent among the apostles,’ rather than ‘outstanding in the eyes of the apostles.’”[19]
Conclusion
In our estimation, Junia (not Junias) is an example of a female apostle in the early church. This does not mean that she was an apostle on the level of the Twelve or Paul or James, but she was likely a church planter and leader in Rome.
[1] John Piper and Wayne Grudem, 50 Crucial Questions: An Overview of Central Concerns about Manhood and Womanhood (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2016), 58.
[2] Bruce, F. F. (1985). Romans: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 6, p. 272). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
[3] Moo writes, “Probably, then, ‘Junia’ was the wife of Andronicus.” Moo, D. J. (1996). The Epistle to the Romans (p. 923). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
[4] Osborne, G. R. (2004). Romans (pp. 406–407). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
[5] Stott, J. R. W. (2001). The message of Romans: God’s good news for the world (p. 396). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
[6] Jewett, R., & Kotansky, R. D. (2006). Romans: A commentary. (E. J. Epp, Ed.) (pp. 961–962). Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.
[7] Dunn, J. D. G. (1998). Romans 9–16 (Vol. 38B, p. 894). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.
[8] Plutarch’s Lives of Illustrious Men, 3:359
[9] John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Romans, 31.7
[10] John Piper and Wayne Grudem, 50 Crucial Questions: An Overview of Central Concerns about Manhood and Womanhood (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2016), 59.
[11] See footnote. Moo, D. J. (1996). The Epistle to the Romans (p. 922). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
[12] Moo, D. J. (1996). The Epistle to the Romans (p. 922). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
[13] Dunn, J. D. G. (1998). Romans 9–16 (Vol. 38B, p. 894). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.
[14] Peter Lampe, From Paul to Valentinus: Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries (Trans. M. Steinhauser. Foreword by R. Jewett. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003), 167.
[15] Moo, D. J. (1996). The Epistle to the Romans (p. 922). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
[16] John Piper and Wayne Grudem, 50 Crucial Questions: An Overview of Central Concerns about Manhood and Womanhood (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2016), 58.
[17] See footnote. Moo, D. J. (1996). The Epistle to the Romans (p. 923). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
[18] Jewett, R., & Kotansky, R. D. (2006). Romans: A commentary. (E. J. Epp, Ed.) (p. 963). Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.
[19] Dunn, J. D. G. (1998). Romans 9–16 (Vol. 38B, p. 894). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.