Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, who have labored in the Lord. Greet the beloved Persis, who labored much in the Lord.
Parallel translations
- WEB Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who labor in the Lord. Greet Persis, the beloved, who labored much in the Lord.
- KJV Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labour in the Lord. Salute the beloved Persis, which laboured much in the Lord.
- BSB Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, women who have worked hard in the Lord. Greet my beloved Persis, who has worked very hard in the Lord.
- NASB Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, workers in the Lord. Greet Persis the beloved, who has worked hard in the Lord.
- NLT Give my greetings to Tryphena and Tryphosa, the Lord’s workers, and to dear Persis, who has worked so hard for the Lord.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul greets Tryphaena, Tryphosa, and Persis, three women he honors for their hard work in the Lord. It shows that diligent gospel labor was valued in the early church regardless of social standing.
Overview
Continuing his roll-call of greetings, Paul singles out three women, twice using the verb for laboring 'in the Lord,' the same word he uses elsewhere for his own apostolic toil. Tryphaena and Tryphosa, possibly sisters, and Persis 'the beloved' are commended not for status but for wholehearted Christian service. The passage testifies to the prominent and active role women had in the work of the early church, all of it grounded in union with Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- 1 Th 5:12–13But we beg you, brothers, to know those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you,
- 1 Cor 15:58Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
- Heb 6:10–11For God is not unrighteous, so as to forget your work and the labor of love which you showed toward his name, in that you served the saints, and still do serve them.
- 1 Cor 16:16that you also be in subjection to such, and to everyone who helps in the work and labors.
- Matt 9:38Pray therefore that the Lord of the harvest will send out laborers into his harvest.”
- 1 Th 1:3remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and perseverance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father.
- Col 1:29for which I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily.
- 1 Cor 15:10But by the grace of God I am what I am. His grace which was given to me was not futile, but I worked more than all of them; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
- 1 Tim 4:10For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we have set our trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.
- Col 4:12Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, salutes you, always striving for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
- 1 Tim 5:17–18Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and in teaching.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 16:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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