Today’s QQ: What’s the evidence that Phoebe hand-carried Paul’s letter of Romans?
Phoebe is the first of ten women that Paul mentioned and affirmed in his letter to the churches at Rome. He introduces and commends Phoebe to the Roman church.
Scriptures: “Now I [Paul] commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon [or servant] of the church in Cenchreae. I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me” (Rom 16:1–2 NIV).
In biblical interpretation, context is king. So let’s briefly consider the context for Romans.
Scholars agree that Paul wrote this letter from Corinth or nearby Cenchreae, a busy seaport east of Corinth. He addressed it to “all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people” (1:7). It is thought that there were between four to seven house churches active in Rome at the time. Paul dictated Romans to Tertius: “I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord” (16:22).
Australian theologian Mike Bird describes Romans as Paul’s “greatest letter-essay, the most influential letter in the history of Western thought, and the singularly greatest piece of Christian theology.”[1]
In his closing salutation, Paul introduces Phoebe to the Romans with three distinctive designations: “our sister,” “deacon” [diakonos], and “benefactor.” Recommendation letters were frequently sent in the first century. Especially, when it was anticipated that the letter courier might need assistance and/or hospitality. Paul makes it clear that he wants Phoebe to receive “any help she may need from you.” Lynn Cohick, a New Testament scholar writes, “Specifically, he [Paul] is telling the Romans that Phoebe is worthy of their attention because he can vouch for her character.”[2]
Phoebe, a woman of means, was a patron to Paul and to “many people” (16:2). Patronage was a system within the Greco-Roman society in which access to limited resources was organized and dispersed through networks of patron/client relationships. Acting as long-term benefactors, guardians, and/or sponsors, patrons provided clients with a range of resources from employment, food, goods, financial and legal services, to introductions and favors. Wealth and social status were the keys that opened the locks of influence, power, and agency in society. Many women functioned as patrons, and acceptably so, in a time period in which wealthy women represented about one-tenth of all patrons.[3]
Evidence: A subscriptio with the words “written through Phoebe” is found in numerous ancient manuscripts of Romans.st!
A subscriptio is a technical phrase or note written at the end of a New Testament letter that may repeat the title of the letter, indicate who carried the letter to its destination, and sometimes included where the letter was sent from, or a date.
Daniel Wallace, Senior Research Professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary and founder of The Center for the Study of New Testament Studies, first told me about the manuscript evidence authenticating Phoebe as Paul’s letter carrier during a conversation in his office. In his 2016 presidential address at the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS), Wallace highlighted the overwhelming number of manuscripts with a subscriptio “written through Phoebe.” Evidence which confirms that Phoebe hand-carried Paul’s letter to the Roman house churches.
In his ETS address he said, “This particular subscription I suggest, makes an important statement about the early church’s view on the role of women in ministry and is almost surely a correct implication derived from Rom 16:1-2. However, the subscription is routinely overlooked by exegetical literature. To be sure, most exegetes note that Phoebe in all likelihood brought the letter to Rome but they equally neglect to mention the ancient manuscript evidence that supports this conclusion.”
Wallace continues, “For some evangelicals, it may seem scandalous that Paul would entrust a woman to deliver this most important of his epistles. But the history of interpretation, from a very early period until the modern era, argues decisively that the apostle Paul had no qualms with investing Phoebe, a woman, with this marvelous and sacred task.”
Wallace provides an extensive, but not exhaustive list, of manuscripts with Phoebe noted as the courier:
L 049 35 42 69 90 101 201 209 216 218 241 339 460 462 466 469 489 602 603 605 618 642 927 945 999 1243 1244 1245 1315 1448 1628 1720 1768 1874 1876 1877 1923 1924 1927 1932 1962 2400[4]
Side note: In early 2020, my husband and I traveled to Greece on a study trip led by Dr. Wallace. During our trip we visited Athens, Kalambaka, Corinth, and Cenchreae with the primary aim to examine ancient Bible manuscripts. During our touring we saw the marble bema seat where Paul spoke in a forum in ancient Corinth, walked the streets where Priscilla and Aquila ministered, toured monasteries in Kalambaka, and stood at the harbor in Cenchreae where Phoebe welcomed believers.
Scholars’ Views: Egalitarians and complementarians
Thomas Schreiner, a complementarian, describes Phoebe as the likely courier of Romans because of the subscriptio in manuscripts of Romans.
New Testament scholar N.T. Wright proposes that in addition to being the letter carrier, Phoebe would have explained Paul’s theology in the letter, “Almost certainly in the ancient world, the person who delivers the letter is the person who will read it out …And also—this isn’t absolutely certain but it’s a high probability—she is the first person to explain when people [asked], “What did Paul mean by that?”
Scholar Peter M. Head writes, “I agree that Phoebe carried Romans; I agree that she was a ‘deacon’ …and I agree that she would have had a role in explaining the contents of Romans.”
Egalitarian scholars Jennifer Powell McNutt and Amy Peeler write, “Phoebe’s story will not allow any Christian who seeks to understand Scripture in its historical setting to believe that being a woman disqualifies someone from the realm of theology.”[5]
Key Takeaways:
- Compelling manuscript evidence, in the form of a subscriptio, shows that Phoebe was the letter-carrier.
- As one seeks to understand what the Bible teaches about women and teaching roles in the early church, it’s significant that a woman was likely the first person to publicly explain/teach Romans.
If you lived in the early church era, can’t you just imagine Paul back in Corinth signaling Phoebe with two thumbs up?
Until next time,
| [1] Mike Bird, “Fretting Over Phoebe,” patheos.com https://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2011/12/09/fretting-over-phoebe-mike-bird/ [2] Lynn Cohick, Women in the World of the Earliest Christians, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2009), 306. [3] Craig Keener, NIV Cultural Backgrounds Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016), 1761.[4] Daniel B. Wallace, “Medieval Manuscripts and Modern Evangelicals: Lessons from the Past, Guidance for the Future,” JETS 60, no.1 (2017): 5–34. [5] Jennifer Powell McNutt and Amy Beverage Peeler, “Paul’s Most Beloved Letter was Entrusted to a Woman,” Christianity Today, February 9, 2021. https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2021/novermber/phoebe-paul-women-new-testament-first-interpreter.html |
