In order to share with you an observation I had in class yesterday, I have to share a little background about a certain woman who Paul praises in his letter to the Roman church. In Romans 16:7, amidst his chapter of greetings to specific people in the Roman church, Paul mentions “Junia” who he says is “outstanding” (ἐπίσημος) among the apostles (ἐν τοῖς ἀποστόλοις). In his sermon on this passage in Romans, John Chrysostom (c.347–407) wrote, “Oh! how great is the devotion of this woman, that she should be even counted worthy of the appellation of apostle!”

Yet many in church history could not conceive of a woman apostle and thus they gave her a “sex change operation” (as my advisor Bartchy likes to say). Instead of Junia, they called her “Junias,” and assumed her to be a man. Junia is actually a common female name in antiquity, while Junias is not. The explanation for this was that it is a shortened form of the common male name, Junianus. What was Occam’s Razor again? Oh yes: “All other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best.” So, either this name is the common female name, Junia, or a strangely shortened form of Junianus. If there were no theological concern here to make sure Paul is not calling a woman an apostle, the argument about a shortened form of Junianus would never be suggested. It is illogical.

Nevertheless, as recently as the publication of the New International Version (NIV) in 1973, translators were using this faulty logic: “Greet Andronicus and Junias, my relatives who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.” But notice that this “Junias” is indeed “outstanding among the apostles.”

More recently, it has become more and more difficult to defend the idea that female Junia was actually the male Junias. Even conservative scholars with a traditional understanding of female subordination to men are cautious about making such an argument nowadays. So, what’s the traditionalist to do? They can’t have a female apostle in the early church! The up and coming favorite translation of conservative evangelicals these days, the English Standard Version (ESV – published in 2001), reflects another angle on Junia: “Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles, and they were in Christ before me.”

Notice the difference between the NIV (the old conservative standard translation) and the ESV (the new conservative standard translation). In the NIV, Junia is a man (“Junias”) and is an outstanding apostle. In the ESV, Junia is indeed a woman, but she is no longer an outstanding apostle. Rather, she is simply “well known” to the apostles. I might mention that the ESV was originally published first by Crossway publishers, who are also the favored publishers of the conservative Council of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW). In fact, the CBMW boasts on their blog that many of their team contributed to the ESV Study Bible.

This jump from NIV to ESV is what I noticed while we were discussing the issue in Bartchy seminar on sexuality yesterday. It is probably wise to save the arguments for the second change for a future post, but I will share a passage I found in one outstanding book today. For anyone interested in this topic, I highly recommend Eldon Jay Epp’s treatment in Junia: The First Woman Apostle. I will leave him with the last word here:

I note the juxtaposition of these two interpretations, though I would not presume to judge the motives, but it is interesting to observe that, over time, the male “Junias” and the female “Junia” each has his or her alternating “dance partners”–first one, then the other: first and for centuries, Junia with “prominent apostle”; then Junias with “prominent apostle.” Then for a time Junia disappears from the scene, hoping upon her return to team up once again with “prominent apostle,” only to encounter “known to the apostles” cutting in during this latest “dance.” [72]