The Bottom Line on Junia of Romans 16:7 - "Apostle" Means "Apostle"

part 3 in the Junia series

For the past two weeks, we have walked through Romans 16:7, where the Apostle Paul greets a woman apostle named Junia and her teammate Andronicus. We’ve shown that neither the argument that Junia was a man nor the argument that she is “well known to the apostles” but not included “among the apostles” is a good argument.

As the battle lines have moved from discussions of Junia’s name, sex, and status among the apostles, some allege that, even if Paul mentions a woman apostle, this doesn’t mean what we think it means. They are wrong. Let’s dive in:

When You’re Prejudiced by a Bad Supposition …

“Apostle,” writes Kevin DeYoung, “can be used in a less technical sense as a messenger or representative (2 Cor. 8:23; Phil. 2:25).”¹ And thus, if Paul calls a woman an apostle, it must be in this lesser sense. Because she’s a woman.

Before we look at Paul’s use of “apostle,” we should set the table by examining the underlying objection: that Paul would not applaud a woman who exercised some proclamatory role or authority over men.

If this is the hypothesis, then Paul invalidated it in Romans 16 well before 16:7. Paul launches his chapter with a commendation of Phoebe, whom nearly all commentators agree is the bearer of his letter to the Roman house churches, who may have read it aloud to them, and who would have been the obvious person to answer any questions.² Peter M. Head’s study “Letter Carriers in the Ancient Jewish Epistolary Material” concluded,

It is clear that the letter carriers do sometimes have an important role in the communication process (esp. when named, where it is generally assumed that they will have a larger role) …. we do find letter carriers involved in reinforcing and supplementing the message of the written letter and thus facilitating the communication process envisaged by the author and sender of the letter.³

Paul not only names Phoebe but calls her a διάκονος, variously translated as “deacon,” “servant,” or “minister.” This was not an ordained office with an identical “job description” from church to church in the first century (i.e., it doesn’t necessarily mean what “deacon” means at your church). John Collins has shown that in its original Christian context, “διάκονος is an authorized agent of a person, church, or God.⁴ Phoebe is authorized to represent the church of Cenchreae—both sexes.

Paul never names anyone an elder or pastor in his letters, man or woman. Not once. Never. And the only person he labels a “teacher” is himself (1 Tim. 2:7; 2 Tim. 1:11).⁵ Διάκονος, however, is one of his favorite terms for someone doing lead ministry work. The late Robert Jewett wrote, “Although earlier commentaries interpret the term diakonos as a subordinate role, it now appears more likely that she functioned as the leader of the congregation.”⁶ Frederick Dale Bruner acknowledges this as “the major modern consensus.⁷

Church leadership in Pauline churches seems to have been generally plural, so I’m cautious about thinking of Phoebe like a modern American evangelical “Senior Pastor of Cenchreae Christian Chuch.” Gordon Fee wrote, “No evidence exists for a single leader as the ‘head’ of the local assembly in the Pauline churches,” although he adds in a footnote, “it seems very likely on sociological grounds that the head of the household, the paterfamilias, functioned in a similar role of leadership in the house church that met in his or her household as he or she did in the household itself.”⁸ We should think of Phoebe as a leader in Cenchreae, who could rest knowing that other leaders kept the church going while she represented Paul in Rome.

Paul uses the term διάκονος for six people besides Phoebe, including the famed preacher Apollos (1 Cor. 3:5) and the one who is to appoint elders and correct false teachers in Ephesus, Timothy (1 Tim. 4:6). Paul calls himself a διάκονος in four of his letters (1 Cor. 3:5; 2 Cor. 3:6; Eph. 3:7; and Col. 1:23). And just one chapter before commending Phoebe, he calls Jesus Christ a διάκονος (Rom. 15:8).

After telling the Romans to assist Phoebe in anything she asks, Paul also calls her a προστάτις, usually translated as “patron” or “benefactor.” This is the feminine form of προστάτης, which carries a semantic range including “leader,” “chief,” “president or presiding officer,” “ruler,” “guardian,” “champion,” “one who stands before and protects,” and “patron.”⁹

Neither the noun προστάτης nor προστάτις occurs elsewhere in the New Testament, but Paul uses the verb form several times. In each occurrence relating to church organization, English translations use words that imply authority over congregations (Rom. 12:8 “leads” (ESV), “to lead” (NIV); 1 Thess. 5:12 “are over you” (ESV), “care for you” (NIV); 1 Tim. 5:17 “rule” (ESV), “direct” (NIV). Note that Paul says she has been a προστάτις “of many people, including me.” Phoebe did not restrict her ministry to other women. I wrote much more about Phoebe here.

Paul’s other preferred terms for ministry leaders include “fellow worker” (συνεργός)¹⁰ and those who “work hard/labor” (κοπιάω)¹¹ in the Lord. Paul most often uses κοπιάω to describe his own ministry.¹² Still, he applies it to four women (no men) in Romans 16:

1. Mary (v. 6)

2. Tryphena, Tryphosa, and Persis (v. 12).

And he writes that Priscilla and her husband Aquila are his “fellow workers” (συνεργούς μου) (v. 3), a term he also uses for leaders like Timothy (1 Thess. 3:2) and Philemon (Phlm 24).

We must not be anachronistic with Paul’s terms. Today, just as a deacon might be someone who runs an after-school daycare or cleans the communion cups, a male pastor might say that Sister Betty “worked hard” to organize Trunk or Treat, but Paul uses these words in the sense of gospel proclamation and apostolic labor,¹³ as in 1 Corinthians 3:9; 4:12; 15:10; Galatians 4:11; and 1 Thessalonians 5:12, where he says, “Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you.

Contextually, these are the same people. “Admonish” (νουθετέω) carries the sense of “instruct” and “warn.”¹⁴ “Care for” (προΐστημι) carries the sense of “manage,” “direct,” and “govern.”¹⁵ Paul is saying that those who “work hard” also instruct and direct.

In 1 Corinthians 16:15-16, Paul tells the women and men¹⁶ of that church to submit (ὑποτάσσω) to everyone who is a “fellow worker” (συνεργός) and who “works hard” (κοπιάω). Surely he’d expect the same of the women and men in the Roman house churches.

So, we have six women besides Junia in Romans 16 with some degree of authority within the women and men¹⁷ of the Roman house churches (including Phoebe, as long as she is with them). This knowledge will help us consider whether Paul’s use of “apostle” for Junia must preclude spiritual authority.

“Apostle” (ἀπόστολος) often just means “messenger” in Greco-Roman literature. In the eighty occurrences of the word in the New Testament, most scholars agree that this generic definition fits the context of Philippians 2:25. Many also cite 2 Corinthians 8:23.

Discounting Romans 16:7, that’s two passages with ἀπόστολος as a “secular”¹⁸ messenger and seventy-seven with the theological sense of divinely appointed, foundational witnesses for Jesus on whom God builds the church, with Christ as the cornerstone. If we only count Paul’s usage, again discounting Romans 16:7, that’s two passages that carry the meaning of a routine messenger versus thirty-three where ἀπόστολος is a divinely called, authoritative witness.

33>2

Michael Gorman writes, “Having seen the resurrected Lord (1 Cor 9:1; 15:8-9) and having been commissioned by him seem to be the two basic requirements for apostleship, in Paul’s view.”¹⁹ Lynn Cohick notes that Paul doesn’t restrict “apostle” to the Twelve but includes himself, Silvanus, Barnabas, Andronicus, and Junia (also Epaphroditus, but this is the instance where all agree he was simply a messenger from the Philippian church).²⁰

Bauckham adds that Paul seems to call the Lord’s brother James an apostle in Galatians 1:19 and perhaps Apollos in 1 Corinthians 4:9 (given the context of 4:6). When he points out that our knowledge of the early churches is patchy, he counters the charge that if Andronicus and Junia were highly esteemed apostles, we’d see more evidence:

Andronicus and Junia could have spent two or three decades as extremely important missionaries in Rome and neighboring areas: if that were the case, there is no early Christian literature other than Romans in which we could expect to hear about it.²¹

And of course, if Junia is Joanna, she’s in the Gospel of Luke (see part 1).

Finally, Paul seems loath to use ἀπόστολος in a common sense because he “felt compelled to defend his apostleship (especially in 2 Cor 12:11-12), which he does vigorously,” writes Eldon Epp, who concludes that Paul believed being an apostle involved endurance through suffering and was certified by signs, wonders, and mighty works (1 Cor. 15:9-10; 2 Cor 12:11-12).²²

However, the best way to ascertain what Paul meant by “apostles” in Romans 16:7 is to survey his other instances of the word in the same letter. There are three such instances (1:1; 11:13; 16:7), along with “apostleship” (ἀποστολή) in 1:5. He refers to himself as the apostle in each case except 16:7. In 1:1, he is “called” (κλητός) to be an apostle. Paul talks about apostleship as that which God conferred.²³

Paul says the purpose of his apostleship is to “call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith” (εἰς ὑπακοὴν πίστεως ἐν πᾶσιν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν) (v. 5). This follows Paul’s claim to have been called as an apostle and set apart for the gospel, which he describes as the news of God’s Son, foretold through the prophets, who was descended from David according to the flesh and appointed the Son of God in power through the Spirit by his resurrection, “Jesus Christ the Lord” (Rom. 1:1-4).

So, Paul is saying the apostolic ministry calls the nations to obedient allegiance to the true king, Jesus.²⁴ This, Paul teaches his Roman audience, is what an “ἀπόστολος” does. No wonder elsewhere Paul says apostles are foundational to the church (Eph. 2:20), first in the list of those whom God gave “to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up” (Eph. 4:11-12).

When he calls Andronicus and Junia apostles at the end of Romans, his audience understands how he’s used the term in their letter, especially when he says the pair are outstanding among the apostles and have been in prison with him.

Rom. 16:7f – “and they were in Christ before I was.”

Junia was in Christ before Paul’s conversion (around 34 C.E.), which is the only way she could be an apostle if Paul thought of himself as the last one. Yii-Jan Linn writes:

Paul consistently emphasizes his place as the last apostle. In both 1 Cor. 15:3-11 and Gal. 1:11-2:10, Paul presents himself chronologically and eschatologically as the ultimate apostle, commissioned by Christ .... Paul’s description of Andronicus and Junia as before him in Christ is not an afterthought, tacked on merely as further praise. Paul adds this clause because he has named other apostles, and in doing so he never fails to return to his own role as the last and the “least.”²⁵

Indeed, Paul’s only other use of πρό ἐμοῦ (“before me”) is Galatians 1:17, where he says, “I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was (πρό ἐμοῦ).” This is one more indication that it doesn’t work to claim that Paul’s designation of “apostle” for Junia simply means “messenger.” He stresses she was “before I was” because he has said she is part of the order of apostles, of which he elsewhere claims to be the last.

Conclusion

All the evidence for each word and phrase in Romans 16:7 (grammatical, morphological, and contextual) favors the interpretation that our earliest translations and all of the Greek patristic writers favored: that a woman named Junia was an outstanding apostle. Most contemporary scholars agree, as Matt Hamilton acknowledged in his survey of scholarly literature on Junia from 2010 to the present: “The scholarly consensus concludes that Junia was indeed ‘prominent among the apostles.’”²⁶

Paul greets more people in Romans 16 than in any other letter.²⁷ He had never been to Rome but had worked with many current leaders and standout members of the Roman house churches. Nine of these twenty-six people are women, including the only one Paul calls a διάκονος (deacon/servant/minister) and προστάτις (patron/benefactor), one of only two that he calls a συνεργός (co-worker), the only three he commends for working (κοπιάω) hard, and one of only two he names an ἀπόστολος (apostle), a term “for someone like him who has seen the resurrected Lord and has been called and commissioned to take the gospel into the world.”²⁸

Paul regarded the reception of this letter as vital to his mission, yet he did not shy away from spotlighting these women. He does not feel he needs to offer a theological argument for sending Phoebe or praising the women as he does.

When Paul finished dictating this letter to his scribe Tertius, it is inconceivable that he would have thought, “Maybe I shouldn’t have stuck my neck out for women in the closing greetings; I probably blew it with the complementarians.” Paul expects his audience to agree with his assessment of those he greeted and to hold him, a writer they’ve never met, in higher esteem because of it.

The church needs women like Phoebe, Priscilla, Mary, Tryphena, Tryphosa, Persis, Junia, and the other women Paul greets in Romans 16. Fortunately, the church has women like this.

What, then, is missing? More men like Paul who encourage, empower, and celebrate these women as coworkers in our mission to call the nations to obedient allegiance to Christ as Lord. Many women are willing to risk everything for the gospel, as Junia did. Their brothers must be willing to risk everything to stand alongside them, as Paul did.

Women’s stories must be told. We must end the silence of Junia and give Junia her voice again. So I am urging you to tell stories of women from the Bible and from the history of the church. If you are a writer, tell stories of women in what you write.
— Scot McKnight²⁹

Want to drop a comment to say, “This must be wrong because of 1 Timothy 2:12” or “the Genesis created order?” First, please see my articles about 1 Peter 3:1-7, Ephesians 5, Genesis 1-3 (here and here), and 1 Timothy 2:11-15 (quite a few articles, including here, here, here, here, and here).

1. Kevin DeYoung, Men and Women in the Church: A Short, Biblical, Practical Introduction (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2021), 112.

2. Beverly Roberts Gaventa, When in Romans: An Invitation to Linger with the Gospel According to Paul, Illustrated edition (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2018), 14.

3. Peter M. Head, “Letter Carriers in the Ancient Jewish Epistolary Material,” Jewish and Christian Scripture as Artifact and Canon (London, New York: T&T Clark, 2009), 219.

4. John N. Collins, Diakonia: Re-Interpreting the Ancient Sources, 1st edition (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009).

5. Cynthia Long Westfall, Paul and Gender: Reclaiming the Apostle’s Vision for Men and Women in Christ (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2016), 276.

6. Robert Jewett, Romans: A Commentary (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2007), 944.

7. Frederick Dale Bruner, The Letter to the Romans: A Short Commentary (Chicago: Eerdmans, 2021), 190.

8. Gordon D. Fee, Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, TNICOTNT (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1995), 67.

9. LSJ, s.v. “προστάτης”

10. Paul uses συνεργός twelve times, always referring to those who proclaim the gospel with him (Rom. 16:3, 9, 21; 1 Cor. 3:9; 2 Cor. 1:24; 2 Cor. 8:23; Phil 2:25, 4:3; Col. 4:11; 1 Thess. 3:2; Phlm. 1:1, 24).

11. Paul uses κοπιάω thirteen times. Twice it carries the sense of manual labor (1 Cor. 4:12; Eph. 4:28). The other eleven times it’s in the sense of spreading or teaching the gospel (Rom. 16:6, 12; 1 Cor. 15:10; 16:16; Gal. 4:11; Phil. 2:16; Col 1:29; 1 Thess. 5:12; 1 Tim. 4:10; 5:17; 2 Tim. 2:6). In the last example, the context shows that Paul is using the metaphor of a “hard working farmer” to describe Timothy’s work to entrust Paul’s teaching “to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others” (v. 2).

12. Westfall, Paul and Gender, 223–24, 275.

13. Gaventa, When in Romans, 8

14. LSJ, s.v. “νουθετέω”

15. LSJ, s.v. “προΐστημι”

16. ἀδελφοί - most literally “brothers” but contextually, “brothers and sisters”

17. Again, ἀδελφοί

18. I realize this is an anachronistic term, but it gets to the heart of the complementarian contention that Junia was a “messenger” of simple things, like someone who tells the Browns that Pastor Bill accepts their dinner invitation for Tuesday night.

19. Michael J. Gorman, Romans: A Theological and Pastoral Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2022), 60.

20. Lynn H. Cohick, Women in the World of the Earliest Christians: Illuminating Ancient Ways of Life, 1st edition (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2009), 216.

21. Bauckham, Gospel Women, 180.

22. Eldon Jay Epp, Junia: The First Woman Apostle (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2005), 69-70.

23. Gaventa, Romans, 25.

24. Matthew W. Bates, Gospel Allegiance: What Faith in Jesus Misses for Salvation in Christ (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2019), 70–72.

25. Yii-Jan Lin, “Junia: An Apostle Before Paul”: 206, 208.

26. Matt H. Hamilton, “Junia as a Female Apostle in Romans 16:7: A Literature Review of Relevant Sources from 2010 to Present,” (Eleutheria: John W. Rawlings School of Divinity Academic Journal Vol. 6, Issue 1 (June 2022): 32.

27. Scot McKnight, Romans: Experiencing Peace Together in a Chaotic World (Grand Rapids: HarperChristian Resources, 2023), 23.

28. Gorman, Romans, 295.

29. Scot McKnight, “Junia is Not Alone” from The Blue Parakeet, 2nd Edition (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2018), 304.