Junia: The First Woman Apostle [Paperback]

Eldon Jay Epp (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2005

The name "Junia" appears in Romans 16:7, and Paul identifies her (along with Andronicus) as "prominent among the apostles." In this important work, Epp investigates the mysterious disappearance of Junia from the traditions of the church. Because later theologians and scribes could not believe (or wanted to suppress) that Paul had numbered a woman among the earliest churches' apostles, Junia's name was changed in Romans to a masculine form. Despite the fact that the earliest churches met in homes and that other women were clearly leaders in the churches (e.g., Prisca and Lydia), calling Junia an apostle seemed too much for the tradition. Epp tracks how this happened in New Testament manuscripts, scribal traditions, and translations of the Bible. In this thoroughgoing study, Epp restores Junia to her rightful place.

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About the Author

Eldon J. Epp is Harkness Professor of Biblical Literature (Emeritus) at Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, Ohio), and the President of the Society of Biblical Literature (2003–4). He is the author of Studies in the Theory and Method of New Testament Textual Criticism (Eerdmans, 1993) and the editor of several works. He is a member of the Hermeneia editorial board.

Product Details

• Paperback: 156 pages
• Publisher: Fortress Press (October 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0800637712
• ISBN-13: 978-0800637712
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,017,801 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A rose by any other name..., January 1, 2006

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FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Junia: The First Woman Apostle (Paperback)

Eldon Jay Epp has written an interesting, scholarly text exploring the identity of one of the persons mentioned by the apostle Paul in Romans 16.7, Junia. Some translations have rendered the name Junias, a masculine name, but the King James Version of the bible actual has the word Junia included (together with Andronicus in the same verse). Why is there confusion, and why is this important?

Perhaps the most significant reason for figuring out the gender of this person is not just because of the list of names, but because of the title the apostle Paul gives to the persons mentioned in Romans 16.7 - he calls them apostles. Again the KJV has Paul referring to them as 'my fellow-prisoners, who are of note among the apostles'; the NIV translates this as, 'They are outstanding among the apostles', but translates the name 'Junia' as 'Junias'. Why the change?

Epp traces both exegetical ideas as well as the history of exegetical and translation practice with regard to this name to discover that, with rather few exceptions, the critical editions of Greek texts and translations prior to the twentieth century carried the name Junia as a female name, but that in the early twentieth century, a change was made to change the name to a masculine form, in part because of the view that Paul would never refer to a female with the appellation of 'apostle'.

Epp crafts his argumentation well, showing side examples of textual criticism exegetical technique with other difficult passages, with particular emphasis on different kinds of readings possible in verses and pericopes dealing with gender issues.

Perhaps one of the more telling issues apart from the translation of the Bible itself is that of the names Junia and Junias themselves. Whereas Junia is a common name in antiquity, attested to in many documents beyond the biblical texts for women throughout the Roman world, there are no examples of the masculine form of the name, Junias, anywhere. Early biblical commentators such as Origen, John Chyrsostom, Jerome and Abelard make reference to Junia, Chyrsostom making the remark that it was a significant thing that Paul recognised her as an apostle.

Epp has provided an incredibly well-documented text, with extensive notes, charts and tabular information, and no fewer than five different indexes. The bibliographic information goes on for thirteen pages (which is a significant amount, considering the base text itself barely tops eighty pages). This grew out of an article Epp was writing, but became a more significant project, worthy of being a stand-alone text.

This is not a book for general or light reading - it is a scholarly, academic text, and not a narrative account or fictionalised biography of the person Junia, about whom we can really only guess at any such details as might comprise a worthwhile biography.

Those who are interested in biblical exegetical scholarship (and some of the motivations that lie behind how and why certain translations are as they are), and for students in seminary, upper-level undergraduates and graduate students, as well as biblical scholars themselves, this can prove to be a fascinating and worthwhile text.

Eldon Jay Epp is a professor at Case-Western Reserve University in Cleveland (a school I like very much) and president of the Society of Biblical Literature (whose joint conferences with AAR I've attended often in the past). As a teacher and scholar, I suspect he would be pleased to know I learned many new things reading this book, as most any reader will.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hear Junia's Roar, September 4, 2007

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Jedidiah Palosaari "Not My Real Name" (Fes, Morocco) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Junia: The First Woman Apostle (Paperback)

After this work, there really aren't any arguments left for giving Junia a sex change, or acting as if she wasn't in full apostolic authority. Epp goes through source by source, text by text, and looks at every scholarly Biblical reference to Junia/Junias over the last two thousand years. It is an astounding litany of sexism and mysogyny. Surprisingly, she is fully woman, even through the extreme anti-feminism of later Church Fathers like Chryostome. It is only in the late Middle Ages that she starts to be masculinized; it is only in the 1920s that we really start to see her made such in the Greek texts.

What a different world it would be if we grew up reading in English about a female apostle! Kudos to recent translations like the NRSV and New American Bible, who are using good scholarship in referring to Junia. Shame on those like The Message (alone with only the CEV), bucking the more recent scholarly trend and insisting on Junias. Epp shows how much our own culture influences our translation, even to the point of diacritical marks.

A word of warning- this is a highly scholarly work. If you don't know Greek, you probably won't enjoy it. I have only a smattering of Greek, and had to wade through a good deal of grammar and manuscript analysis terms that I had no understanding of. I still enjoyed the book because of my commitment to women's empowerment and recognition of Junia, but for most without a textual analysis background, this book will seem too heavy. This is the kind of work that scholars typically share with only each other.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Study on Romans 16:7, December 23, 2006

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P. Pieraccini "PP" (Phoenix, Az United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Junia: The First Woman Apostle (Paperback)

I wish people would read a book before posting a comment. This book is a textual criticism into the study of Romans 16:7. It is completely void of any Feminist theology or writing.

Look at the following Bible translations.

English standard Version

Rom 16:7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles, and they were in Christ before me.

American Standard Version

Rom 16:7 Salute Andronicus and Junias, my kinsmen, and my fellow-prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also have been in Christ before me.

New American Standard Bible

Rom 16:7 Greet Andronicus and Junias, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners, who are outstanding among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.

King James Bible

Rom 16:7 Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.

Both Junia and Junias carry the Strong's number 2458.

You can see from the Bible versions above. The KJV, ESV, both use the Female name while ASV and NASB use the Male name. It is interesting the the male is shown to be an Apostle in the NASB.

The book is about 80 pages with about 55 pages of notes, bibliography and index's. It is well documented and reads with a textual criticism style of writing. A nice book for your library, especially if you like a little controversy.