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

Skipping over verse 5b and 6 for a moment, we now look at another two noteworthy individuals, Andronicus and Junias, to whom Paul sends greeting. O that we would follow his example and lavish praise on others! Unfortunately we so often fall into the morass of scarcity thinking, that there is a limited amount of praise to go around, so if we give praise to others there might not be as much left for us. We need to be careful of this kind of sub-spiritual and selfish attitude. Instead, we should glory in the greatness and praise of others. The apostle was so secure in his relationship with Christ and his own “crown of righteousness” (2 Tim 4:8) that he did not need to be stingy.

The first of the identifiers Paul mentions is their kinship with him. This is not a veiled arrogance on Paul’s part, but that three of them are part of a genus of people (literally the Greek word is “sungenes”) that is at least noteworthy enough for Paul to even mention it. Translators render this variously as close relatives, being fellow Jews or coming from the same Jewish tribe. Paul does use the identical word in Romans 9:3 to refer to Jews as a whole, but other Jews mentioned in this chapter are not described as “kinsmen,” so it would seem odd to single these two out in this way. On the whole, it seems best to see them as fellow members of the tribe of Benjamin (and likely from the same hometown of Tarsus). Such an affiliation, though having been rejected as rubbish in terms of the Gospel (Phil 3:5-7), was appreciated on the social level much as one today might appreciate a shared Italian-American heritage.

Paul had also witnessed Andronicus’ and Junias’ level of commitment through their shared experience of imprisonment because of the Gospel. Once a person has suffered physical persecution, that person can be counted on as faithful, and should be so honored. The apostle also highlights them as having preceded him in coming to faith in Christ, and honors them because of their being spiritually older than he.

Finally, Paul commends these two for their reputation in the eyes of the apostles (“well known to the apostles” ESV, see also NET and NKJV). Some understand this to mean they were actual apostles; but since Junias was a woman, this interpretation would be problematic in light of other clear passages about gender roles (e.g. 1 Tim 2:11-12). At best, the passage is ambiguous (see NASB, NIV). There is no higher human affirmation of one’s ministry than that which comes from the acknowledged leaders of the Christian movement.

Lord, help me live an honorable life and not to withhold praise for others.