Marquis’ “Who’s Who in America” is one of the most widely known lists of leaders and influencers in America. Forbes publishes similar lists of noteworthy individuals in various fields. These lists seek to celebrate individuals who have helped shape society, inspire progress, and leave a lasting legacy. The Bible contains several “Who’s Who” lists as well. Most of them are genealogical records that seek to establish a historical record, or, in the case of Matthew 1:1-17, to authenticate Jesus as the descendant of Judah, the rightful heir to David’s throne, and the longed-for Messiah of Israel. Hebrews 11, often dubbed “The Hebrews Hall of Faith,” lists noteworthy men and women of great faith, not unlike Marquis’ Who’s Who. Romans 16 is another such list, a Who’s Who of Paul’s network of co-workers in Rome with a sizeable portion of shout-outs addressed to women, unequivocally praising them for their ministry and leadership. According to Dr. Nijay Gupta, “Historians would have trouble coming up with another list commending 10 or more women from anywhere else in the Jewish, Greek, or Roman world.”(1)
Unlike Paul’s typical closings of his letters, the closing of this letter to the church at Rome is a long list of greetings to various people, one-third of them women, whom Paul often refers to as his “co-workers. One possible reason for the list is to shape the Romans’ attitudes toward Christian ministry and leadership.(2) In her book “Daughters of the Church,” Ruth Tucker writes that the proportion of women included in this list is startling, “but even more striking is that the range of specific roles is greater for women than for men.”(3) It is also notable that although more men are mentioned than women, Paul uses words of praise for more women than men. What is so noteworthy about these women, and what can we learn from this list of Paul’s co-workers?
Paul’s Co-workers: The Women of Romans 16
The first woman we meet in Romans 16 is Phoebe, the bearer of the letter to the church in Rome. It’s important to note that Paul had not yet been to Rome, so while Paul is introducing Phoebe to the Romans, she is also his introduction to the church in Rome. Letters in Paul’s day carried the embodied presence of the author. This means that Phoebe was chosen to be Paul’s embodied presence in a city he had never been to before, which was the largest city in the Mediterranean world, and could quite likely become the next hub of Christianity. As the deliverer of the letter, Phoebe bore the responsibility of interpreting and explaining it, answering questions, clarifying its meaning, and helping the church in Rome work out its implications. Paul introduces Phoebe as a deacon, a term Paul typically uses when speaking about himself or others who are involved in the ministry of the church, those who have some level of authority in the church.
Another woman introduced with a title Paul used for himself and other leaders is Junia. She is said to be “outstanding among the apostles” (Rom. 16:7). Historically, apostles in the church have carried a high level of authority and influence. For this reason, debate has raged in recent decades regarding her gender and whether or not she was counted as an apostle. There was no debate in the early centuries of the church. Church fathers like Jerome, Origen, and others recognized her as an apostle and spoke highly of her. John Chrystostom writes this of Junia: “To be an apostle is something great, but to be outstanding among the apostles—just think what wonderful song of praise tht is! They were outstanding on the basis of their works and virtuous actions. Indeed how great the wisdom of this woman must have been that she was even deemed worthy of the title of apostle” (Epistle to the Romans Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Volume I, 11:555).(4) Paul also informs his readers that Junia was “in prison with me” and “in Christ before I was” (Rom. 16:7). Amy Peeler concludes that “these qualifications—being Jewish, being an early believer in Christ, and facing imprisonment—are true of the known apostles of Jesus.”(5) Ben Witherington III suggests that Paul’s description of Junia means that she and Andronicus were likely involved in evangelism and church planting.(6)
Paul continues to equate the work of women in Rome with his work in his introduction to Mary, Tryphena, Tryphosa, and Persis by saying these women “work hard.” Mary and Persis are said to work “very hard.” The Greek word for “work hard” is “kopiao,” and “implies honorable toil for the sake of the gospel or the Christian community.”(7) It is a word Paul typically uses to refer to his missionary work. Furthermore, as Cynthia Westfall tells us in her book, “Paul and Gender,” “kopiao” is one of several terms that in 1st-century Christianity “closely correlate with what would later become ordained clergy.”(8)
Paul also commends Rufus’ mother, saying she was also a mother to him. Priscilla receives no additional comments in this passage but is mentioned numerous times in Acts and Paul’s letters, revealing her work as a teacher and leader in the church. Julia and Nereus’ sister receive shout-outs, but without any added comments as to their work. All ten of these women stand as a testimony to us regarding the participation of women in the ministry of the church. Witherington suggests that Paul felt he was indebted to these people, both men and women, in his ministry and felt obliged to address them before he came to Rome, believing this “witnesses to the crucial role women played in the Roman house churches.”(9)
Impact on Women and Gender Issues
Today, the church grapples with what Paul said women can and cannot do based on a couple of Pauline passages that seem to restrict women. Although largely overlooked in modern church gender debates, Romans 16 is one Pauline passage that, if brought into the discussion, can have a profound impact on how the debate is settled: women can and do work for the gospel. The language he employs in his commendations of these women draws a parallel between the work they are doing and Paul’s ministry. Witherington posits, “The overall impression one gets from Romans 16 is that not only were a wide variety of women involved in the work of the church, but also that they were doing a wide variety of things including missionary work, carrying letters, serving in charitable tasks as deaconesses, providing aid or shelter for traveling apostles, etc.”(10) The women are intermixed with the men, all of whom are serving the Lord in ministry. There is no implication or inference of any role distinction between the men and women. This is significant in what it reveals about men and women working together for the furtherance of the gospel without separate places or roles. Gupta writes, “The casual intermixture of male and female names (some couples, some single or widows), and the general terminology used to describe their ministry work, point to a non-gendered conception of leadership.”(11)
Many women, myself included, have had some level of antipathy towards Paul and his teaching, but are conflicted because it’s part of the Bible. “I like Jesus, but Paul I could do without.” His views seem to hint at misogyny. Romans 16 tells us a different story and reveals a Paul who celebrates the contribution of women. Paul trusted a woman to represent him and explain his theologically dense letter to the Romans; he extols a female apostle; he commends several women for their kingdom work and shines a spotlight on other women in the church, bestowing words of affirmation on them in a manner he does not do for the men. Through the commendations Paul bestows on these women, it is obvious that Paul holds them in high esteem.
It is significant to remember that Paul had not yet been to Rome, but he knew the names of these women and the value of their work well enough to give them high commendations. Some of them, like Priscilla, he had worked with in other churches. Some, like Junia, he likely knew because of the longevity of service to Christ. But it is not unlikely that for some, their reputations as ministers in the Kingdom traveled far, and Paul had heard of their hard work in the Lord. Paul knew these women and viewed them as equal contributors to the Kingdom.
In Romans 16, we see a picture of a vibrant, multi-faceted church using the gifts and graces of both men and women to spread the Gospel. This begs the question, “Why not today? Why not in our modern churches?” It’s time to stop debating and look to Paul’s example. Gupta reminds us that “Women were out there in ministry. They worked hard for the Lord. Paul valued their laboring and did not commend women differently or for a different ministry than the men he mentions.”(12) Not only should Romans 16 end the debate regarding women’s place in the church, but it can also reassure women that Paul valued their contribution to the gospel, placing it on par with his own.
Footnotes:
- Nijay Gupta, BS304 SU25 Women of the Bible, Lecture Week 8.
- Gupta, Nijay K., Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught and Ministered in the Early Church (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2023), p. 98.
- Ruth A. Tucker and Walter Liefeld, Daughters of the Church: Women and Ministry from the New Testament Times to the Present (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1987), 72.
- Amy Peeler, Vindicating the Vixens: Revisiting Sexualized, Vilified, and Marginalized Women of the Bible, ed. Sandra Glahn (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publishing, 2017), 277.
- Peeler, Vindicating the Vixens, 281.
- Ben Witherington, III, Women in the Earliest Churches (New York: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, 1988), 116.
- Nijay Gupta, Tell Her Story, 99.
- Cynthia Westfall, Paul and Gender: Reclaiming the Apostle’s Vision for Men and Women in Christ (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2016), 275.
- Witherington, Women in the Earliest Churches, 116-117
- Witherington, Women in the Earliest Churches, 116.
- Nijay Gupta, Tell Her Story, p. 99.
- Nijay Gupta, BS304 SU25 Women of the Bible, Lecture Week 8.