The Mother of Rufus and Paul in Romans 16

Abstract

Rufus’s mother features in Paul’s concluding list of church leaders such as Phoebe in Romans 16. Paul calls her his own mother. I argue that Rufus’s mother’s inclusion indicates higher status and influence within the Pauline house-churches, building on Elmer’s notion of corporate Pauline authorship.

Keywords

• church leaders
• pauline authorship
• women leaders
• motherhood
• benefaction
• romans