Andronicus — person in the Bible

Andronicus

Man living at the time of the New Testament

Andronicus, along with Junia, was a fellow prisoner with Paul and was noted as outstanding among the apostles.

Andronicus is mentioned by Paul in his letter to the Romans as one of his fellow prisoners and kinsmen. Along with Junia, Andronicus is described as being "outstanding among the apostles" and having been "in Christ" before Paul himself. This suggests that Andronicus and Junia were well-known and respected members of the early Christian community, possibly having been converted to Christianity before Paul's own conversion. Paul's greeting to them in his letter indicates a close relationship and high regard for their faith and service in the gospel.

Connections

Paul's "kinsmen" in Romans 16

FamilyDebated

Paul calls Andronicus, Junia, Herodion, and Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater his syngeneis. The word can mean blood relatives or fellow Jews. Whether Jason is Paul's host at Thessalonica is uncertain.

PaulAn apostle JuniaA prominent apostle and relative of Paul AndronicusFellow prisoner with Paul, outstanding among the apostles HerodionA relative of Paul in Rome.JasonPaul's host in Thessalonica; relative of Paul

Where the text shows it: Romans 16:7 — Andronicus and Junia, kinsmen and fellow prisonersRomans 16:11 — Herodion, kinsmanRomans 16:21 — Lucius, Jason and Sosipater, kinsmenActs 17:5-9 — Jason hosts Paul and Silas in Thessalonica

Ways people read this (3)

Blood relatives (Origen, later commentators).
Fellow Jews, as in Romans 9:3, where Paul calls all Israel his kinsmen.
Jason of Acts 17 and Jason of Romans 16 may or may not be the same man.

Sources: Scripture

Junia and Andronicus "among the apostles"

RoleDebated

Paul greets Andronicus and Junia as prominent "among the apostles" and as having been in Christ before him. Whether Junia was a woman and whether "among" means "counted as apostles" or "esteemed by apostles" is argued.

JuniaA prominent apostle and relative of Paul AndronicusFellow prisoner with Paul, outstanding among the apostles PaulAn apostle

Where the text shows it: Romans 16:7 — Notable among the apostlesGalatians 1:19 — Paul also uses "apostle" of James, beyond the Twelve

Ways people read this (3)

Junia was a woman, and they were counted as apostles (Chrysostom).
They were well known to the apostles but not apostles themselves.
The name Junias (a man) is a medieval reading; the early manuscripts do not settle accents.

Sources: Scripture

Bible dictionary

Andronicus Easton Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897)

Man-conquering, a Jewish Christian, the kinsman and fellowprisoner of Paul (Rom. 16:7); “of note among the apostles.”

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Andronicus Smith Smith’s Bible Dictionary (1863)

(man-conqueror).

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Andronicus Hitchcock Hitchcock’s Bible Names Dictionary (1869)

a man excelling others

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Andronicus Hastings Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible (1898)

ANDRONI'CUS (victorious man), a Roman Christian whom Paul salutes in Rom 16:7.

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Andronicus Schaff Schaff’s Dictionary of the Bible

ANDRONI'CUS (victorious man), a Roman Christian whom Paul salutes in Rom 16:7.

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Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.

Where Andronicus appears

1 verse in 1 book · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s G0408

Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.