Women Working

This beautiful Ravenna mosaic depicts Daria, Perpetua, and Felicitas. Though not the women described in Romans 16, these women also labored in the Lord, ultimately becoming early Christian martyrs.

Image source: Shala Graham, Visual Museum of Women in Christianity

Mary, Tryphaena, Tryphosa, Persis

Working in the Lord

            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).

Elsewhere, Paul uses this same term, often translated as “labor,” in referring to himself or others who labor in the gospel.[1] In fact, Beverly Gaventa notes that the language he uses for these four women is similar to his descriptions of apostolic labor, undistinguished from men’s labor.[2] When discussing elders, Paul says that those who rule well should “be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching” (1 Timothy 5:17). There is great dignity for those who labor for Christ. When Paul uses this term in Romans 16, he uses it in reference to these four women alone.[3] Their work receives great, public honor.

References

[1] Lynn Cohick, “Romans,” in The IVP Women’s Bible Commentary, ed. Catherine Clark Kroeger and Mary J. Evans (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2002), 644.

[2] Beverly Gaventa, “Romans” in Women’s Bible Commentary, ed. Carol A. Newsom, Sharon H. Ringe, and Jacqueline E. Lapsley, 3rd ed. (Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 2012), 555.

[3] Cohick, “Romans,” 644.

Note: All Bible quotations come from the NRSVUE.