Romans Chapter 16 Vs. 12

 

Personal Greetings

Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labour in the Lord. Salute the beloved Persis, which laboured much in the Lord. Rom 16:12

Salute Tryphena and... Tryphena and Tryphosa are not mentioned anywhere else. All we know is that they worked for the Lord. Possibly twin sisters, who names mean “delicate and dainty”.

Salute the beloved... The only thing we know about Persis is that this woman was a laborer for the Lord.

Persis seems to be named after her native Persia since her work is spoken of in the past tense, she was probably older that the other two women in this verse.

Paul sent greetings jointly to Tryphena and Tryphosa, identifying them as those women who work hard (“toil”) in the Lord. Some believe they were sisters, possibly even twins. Then Persis, addressed as my dear friend (lit., “the one loved”), was another woman who has worked very hard (“toiled much”) in the Lord. Interestingly four women were said to have “worked hard” (cf. Mary, Rom. 16:6).