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Romans 16:7 — What Changed in the Bible Text

Translation choice · documented · Feminine

What the source readsἸουνίαν — Junia, a woman; Paul calls her and Andronicus 'outstanding among the apostles' (so the earliest text, the Greek Fathers, and even the KJV).

What this version readsre-accented as 'Junias', a masculine name unattested anywhere in antiquity — printed by the modern critical editions (Nestle-Aland) and translations like the RSV through most of the 20th century, quietly erasing a female apostle. Since reverted.

For a thousand years Junia was read as a woman; John Chrysostom marvelled that a woman was 'worthy to be called an apostle'. Then modern editors gave her name a masculine accent it never had, and 'Junias' — a man who never existed — stood in the standard Greek text and English Bibles for decades. Textual scholarship (Epp, Brooten) forced the correction. The clearest single case of a woman edited out of the New Testament.

Translation choice · documented · Feminine

What the source readsGiunia — a woman, 'notable among the apostles' (Diodati and Martini both keep her)

What this version reads'Giunio' — the Riveduta 1927 changes the ending and makes the apostle a man

The same erasure as the Greek 'Junias', in Italian and modern: where Diodati (1649) and the Catholic Martini both read 'Giunia', a woman, the Protestant Riveduta of 1927 prints 'Giunio' — a man's name — quietly unmaking a female apostle. Restored in later revisions.

Read this chapter side by side — Romans 16:7 →

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