Romans 16:7

• In Greek, the name Junia can refer either to a man named Junias or to a woman named Junia. Most interpreters understand it as a woman’s name. In this section, Paul often lists men and women together as husband-and-wife teams. For this reason, Junia was most likely a woman.

• fellow prisoners: We do not know when this happened. The book of Acts reports that Paul was imprisoned overnight in Philippi (Acts 16:19–28). After Paul wrote Romans, he was imprisoned for two years in Caesarea and for two years in Rome (Acts 24:27; 28:30–31). Paul also mentions other imprisonments that Acts does not record (see 2 Corinthians 11:23).

• They are outstanding among the apostles: This phrase most likely means that Andronicus and Junia were apostles. Here, apostles refers to recognized missionaries sent by the church (see Acts 14:4, 14; 1 Corinthians 9:5–6; Galatians 2:9).

Although Paul had not yet visited the Christian community in Rome, he built a relationship with these believers by greeting many of them by name. The names show that the Roman church was very diverse. Jews and Gentiles, enslaved people and free people, men and women all formed a new community in the church (see Galatians 3:26–29).

Paul greeted twenty-seven Christians in Rome, ten of whom were women. This shows that women played important roles in the early church.

Paul had not yet visited Rome. This has led some people to wonder how he knew so many Christians there. One idea is that chapter 16 was part of a different letter that Paul sent to Ephesus. However, there is no strong manuscript evidence for a separate letter (see study note on 15:33). A more likely explanation is that Paul met these Christians while they were traveling outside Rome (see Romans Book Introduction, “Setting”).

This final section includes elements often found at the end of New Testament letters:

• a discussion of travel plans (15:14–29),

• requests for prayer (15:30–33),

• references to ministry partners (16:1–2, 21–23),

• greetings (16:3–16), and

• a short hymn of praise (16:25–27).

Only the warning about false teachers is a non-standard feature in this conclusion (16:17–19).