Romans 16:7: The Junia Test
It’s been a while, because birds. So let’s do an easy one! Who is Paul asking the Romans to greet?
“Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Israelites who were in prison with me; they are prominent among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.”
| Translation/Language: | Date: | Phrase: | Approach: |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original Greek text | Iounian | ||
| Popular translations: | |||
| King James Version (KJV) | 1611 | Junia | Female |
| American Standard Version (ASV) | 1901 | Junias | Male |
| The Living Bible (TLB) | 1971 | Junias | Male |
| New King James Version (NKJV) | 1982 | Junia | Female |
| New International Version – 1984 | 1984 | Junias | Male |
| New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) | 1989 | Junia | Female |
| Good News Translation (TEV/GNB/GNT) | 1992 | Junia | Female |
| Contemporary English Version (CEV) | 1995 | Junias | Male |
| New Living Translation (NLT) | 1996 | Junia | Female |
| New International Version (NIV) | 2011 | Junia | Female |
| Common English Bible (CEB) | 2011 | Junia | Female |
| English Standard Version (ESV) | 2016 | Junia | Female |
| Christian Standard Bible (CSB) | 2017 | Junia | Female |
| The Message (MSG) | 2018 | Junias | Male |
| New American Standard Bible (NASB) | 2020 | Junia | Female |
| NRSV Updated Edition (NRSVUE) | 2021 | Junia | Female |
| Specialty translations: | |||
| God’s Word (GW) | 1995 | Junia | Female |
| New Century Version (NCV) | 2005 | Junia | Female |
| The Inclusive Bible (TIB) | 2009 | Junia | Female |
| Expanded Bible (EXB) | 2011 | Junia | Female |
| Names of God (NOG) | 2011 | Junia | Female |
| New Testament for Everyone (NTE) | 2011 | Junia | Female |
| The Passion Translation (TPT) | 2011 | Junia | Female |
| New English Translation (NET) | 2011 | Junia | Female |
| First Nations Version (FNV) | 2021 | Junia | Female |
Ah, Junia. Her name appears in the Bible exactly once, in this verse. The name, however, is a perfectly normal name for a woman in that time and place. Lots of women were named “Junia”. So, why is this difficult, exactly?
Maybe she went by “Jill”! That’s at least as likely as “Junias”. Or, maybe “Andronicus” was a nickname for “Adria”! You can’t prove it wasn’t! That’s exactly how silly this is.
It presents as a grammar problem. In Greek, nouns (including names) take different forms depending on how they fit into the sentence. Junia’s name appears as the object of the sentence, so it is in the form Junian (or Iounian).
So, is Junian the object (accusative) form of the female name Junia or of the male name Junias? Grammatically, either is possible, technically.
But Junias, as far as we can tell, is not a name that has ever actually existed. There is no record, anywhere, of anyone ever being named “Junias”.
So, which is it? Is it the common, standard, ordinary name, or is it the totally hypothetical name we just made up? Wait, how is this even a question?
Well, you see, it’s the rest of the verse. Junia and Andronicus, according to Paul, are “well known apostles” or possibly “well known among the apostles”, or “well known to the apostles”, because prepositions are hard to translate, and…
Wait, does that mean Junia, a woman, was an apostle? Or even that she might have been an apostle? And not just any apostle, but a famous one? A woman, really???
To prevent you from even thinking these kinds of questions, the name “Junias” was invented.
Nowadays, even the ESV admits this was silly, so honestly, it’s kind of embarrassing that anyone still tries.
For what it’s worth, if I were translating this verse, it would be something like:
“Please say “hi” to my relatives, Andronicus and Junia, who were in prison with me. They are fantastic apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.”