Iounia (G2458)

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G2458 Iounia (ee-OO-nee-ah) — Junia, a common Roman woman's name. Paul calls her outstanding among the apostles. 

Word: Ἰουνία, written Ἰουνιαν (Iounian) in Romans 16:7 · proper name · Strong's G2458 — with ἐπίσημοι ἐν τοῖς ἀποστόλοις (episēmoi en tois apostolois), Strong's G1978

In brief

In Romans 16:7, Paul greets Andronicus and Junia, fellow Jews who were in prison with him, "outstanding among the apostles," who were in Christ before he was. Junia was a common Roman woman's name, and early Christian writers read her as a woman and an apostle. Over the centuries, translators first changed her into a man, then, once she was restored as a woman, changed what Paul says about her.

Where it appears

  • Romans 16:7 — the only occurrence.

What the evidence says

  • The name: "Junia" appears more than 250 times in ancient sources. The male form "Junias" has no clear ancient example.
  • Early readers: Origen, Jerome, and John Chrysostom read Junia as a woman. Chrysostom, a native Greek speaker, marveled at how great this woman's wisdom must have been to be counted worthy of the title apostle.
  • Episēmoi en tois apostolois: most naturally "outstanding among the apostles," counting Junia as one of them. In 2001, Michael Burer and Daniel Wallace argued it means "well known to the apostles." Richard Bauckham, Linda Belleville, Eldon Epp, and others replied that the evidence does not support that reading, and that no one proposed it until the verse was accepted as naming a woman.

How translations render it

Translation Name Phrase
KJV (1611) "Junia" "of note among the apostles"
NASB (1995) "Junias" "outstanding among the apostles"
NASB (2020) "Junia" "outstanding in the view of the apostles"
ESV "Junia" "well known to the apostles"
NIV (2011) "Junia" "outstanding among the apostles"
NRSV "Junia" "prominent among the apostles"
CEB "Junia" "prominent among the apostles"

The NASB shows the pattern in one translation: once she became a woman again, she stopped being an apostle.

Translation history

  • 2nd–5th centuries: Origen, Jerome, and Chrysostom read Junia as a woman and an apostle.
  • About 1300: Giles of Rome is the first named writer known to describe Junia as a man, with no explanation.
  • 1516: Erasmus's Greek New Testament accents the name as feminine. Critical Greek texts keep it feminine for four centuries.
  • 1611: the King James Version prints "Junia."
  • 1927: the Nestle Greek New Testament, the standard text translators work from, switches to the masculine "Junias," without new manuscript evidence.
  • 20th century: translations including the RSV and NASB print "Junias," following the English Revised Version (1881) and American Standard Version (1901), which first put "Junias" in major English Bibles.
  • 1998: the Nestle-Aland 27th edition restores "Junia" [Wikipedia gives 1998].
  • 2001: Burer and Wallace propose "well known to the apostles"; the ESV adopts it.
  • 2020: the NASB restores "Junia" but changes "among" to "in the view of."

See for yourself

  1. Read Romans 16:7 and notice everything Paul says about Junia: his kin, his fellow prisoner, in Christ before him, and episēmoi en tois apostolois. Who earns that much praise?
  2. The KJV, translated in 1611, has a woman named Junia. When did she become a man, and why?

Related words

apostolos (G652, apostle, one who is sent) · diakonos (G1249) · prostatis (G4368)

Sources