The Apostle Junia Romans 16:7

"Greet Andronicus and Junias (Junia) my relatives who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was." Romans 16:7 NIV

When died Egypt’s Great Pharaoh Queen Hatshepsut died Thutmose III destroyed countless artifacts in an attempt to wipe her memory from history. Diligent archeologists and Egyptologists continue to unravel her life and history.

Like Hatshepsut, the female apostle Junia, was lost for centuries. The record of her ministry was cleverly disguised by biblical copyists. It appears that medieval copyists beginning with Aegidus of Rome (1245-1316) started adding a masculine ending to her name to hide Junia’s gender. They were so successful that for years Junia was considered a man. Moreover, if they recognized the manuscripts and acknowledged that the fact that Junia was a woman, they refused to give her the title “apostle” choosing instead to consider Junia as one whom the apostles “highly regarded.”

Unravel the mystery

Best manuscripts listed Junia as a woman

The early church fathers considered Junia a woman.

Archaeological evidence supports her claim to apostleship.

Etymological evidence indicates that masculine ending is awkward and difficult. Furthermore while the name Junia (meaning “youthful”) was a popular female name there is no record of it’s ever being used in masculine form.

"Without exception the church fathers in late antiquity identified Andronicus' partner in Romans 16:7 as a woman as did minuscule 33 in the 9th century which records Iounia (Greek for Junia) with an acute accent. Only later medieval copyists of Romans 17:7 could not imagine a woman being an apostle and wrote the masculine name Iounias (Junias) with an s. This later name Junias did not exist in antiquity; its explanation as a Greek abbreviation of the Latin name 'Junianus' is unlikely." The Anchor Bible Dictionary, (1992), Vol. 3, p. 1127

Links on Junia

English Bibles Blog http://englishbibles.blogspot.com/2006/11/junia-apostle-part-7.html
God's Word to Women http://godswordtowomen.org/rissjunia.htm