Passage Viewer

The list of men and women is long and detailed. This list provides valuable insights into the Christian communities of that time. For example, it is surprising to see the high number of women holding positions of responsibility in the Church. He begins by greeting Phoebe, a “deaconess.” Was she a woman who had received “holy orders,” or did she perform charitable functions? We do not know, but she certainly held significant authority in the community. Another name mentioned, “Junia” (7), has long intrigued scholars. Is it ‘Junia’ (a masculine name) as shown in the most recent manuscripts, or “Julia” (a feminine name) as transcribed in the oldest manuscripts? It seems likely that it is indeed “Julia,” the wife of Andronicus. Paul states that both of them “stand out among the apostles” (7). A woman with the status of an apostle? That must have seemed impossible, and the scribe thought years later, who “masculinized” Julia’s name by changing just one letter. By then, women had been silenced in many Christian communities. Other cherished names are Prisca and Aquila, Paul’s married friends. Prisca’s name is mentioned first, as Luke does in Acts 18:2ff, not out of courtesy, but because Prisca must have been the one truly responsible for the Christian community that met in her home. Thus, Paul lists the names of collaborators, friends, and Christian leaders who kept the Church’s vitality and enthusiasm alive, not only in Rome.
He ends this letter with a hymn of praise to “God, the only wise one” for revealing, in Jesus Christ, the secret that had been kept silent for centuries, now “made manifest to all the Gentiles” so they might embrace the faith.