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Saints & Mothers
The final three women referenced in Romans 16 are Rufus’s mother, Julia, and Nereus’s sister. Paul simply greets Julia and Nereus’s sister, designating them as “saints” (Romans 16:15). Christ-following women, alongside men, are saints. In Paul’s greeting to Rufus, we learn more about his mother than Julia and Nereus’s sister
Women Working
In Romans 16, Paul describes four women as working for others and in the Lord. Paul asks the Roman church to “Greet Mary, who has worked very hard for you… Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord” (Romans 16:6, 12).
Priscilla (Prisca)
We first encounter Priscilla (or Prisca) in Acts 18 when she and her husband, Aquila, meet Paul in Corinth. Luke describes Aquila as “a Jew…from Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome”
Phoebe
Paul chose Phoebe, a woman, to carry, deliver, and explain his letter to the Roman church. In Romans 16, Paul begins by recommending her to the Romans with two verses: “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church at Cenchreae, so that you may welcome her in the Lord, as is fitting for the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a benefactor of many and of myself as well”