At the end of his Epistle to the Romans, St. Paul writes, “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.” This is the NRSV translation. But if you go back to the RSV, you’ll notice an interesting twist: instead of “they are prominent among the apostles,” these lines are translated as “they are men of note among the apostles”.
So who was St. Junia? Professor Nijay K. Gupta tells us, “there was a span of several hundred years where Bible translations treated this person as a man (with the name Junias—notice the s), mostly because it was unthinkable that Paul could call a woman an ‘apostle.’ But biblical scholars have rediscovered her female identity in the last few decades for several reasons, including the fact that Junia was a popular female name in the Roman period, while the name Junias is not attested at all.”
If we needed any more encouragement that this rediscovery of Junia’s apostleship is correct, Gupta goes on to refer to the Fathers of our faith:
“In fact, most early church fathers and theologians in the second, third, and fourth centuries took it for granted that (1) Junia was a woman and (2) Junia was an apostle.
“As the fourth century theologian and preacher John Chrysostom wrote, ‘To be an apostle is something great. But to be outstanding among the apostles—just think what a wonderful song of praise that is! … Indeed, how great the wisdom of this woman must have been that she was even deemed worthy of the title of apostle.’”
From their writings, it seems evident that St. Junia was considered a fellow apostle and co-sufferer with Paul and many other Christian believers of their time. Other sources tell us that she was likely imprisoned for preaching Christ to those who held traditional pagan beliefs.
Through St. Junia’s efforts, along with many others, the Church of Christ was strengthened, many were converted to the knowledge of God, pagan temples closed, and in their place Christian churches were built. Their commemoration on May 17th states that they suffered martyrdom for Christ. Four centuries later, during the reign of the emperors Arcadius and Honorius, their holy relics were uncovered on the outskirts of Constantinople together with the relics of other martyrs at the gate of Eugenius.
Only several weeks ago, we commemorated the Myrrhbearing Women - the “Apostles to the Apostles,” as many have called them. It seems only fitting to commemorate St. Junia today, the often-forgotten Apostle among the Apostles, a woman who courageously shared the Good News of Christ to those who could be saved by its life - a woman who offered her own life so that others may live in its fullness.
Holy Mother Junia, pray to God for us!
Kontakion
Let us praise the apostle of Christ, Andronicus, the all-radiant star who illumined the nations with the light of the knowledge of God. Together with him we praise all-wise Junia, who shone with righteousness. To them let us cry out: “Unceasingly pray to Christ God for us all.”