Bible Dictionary
Andronicus
Andronicus was a Jewish Christian related to Paul and once imprisoned with him. Paul describes him and Junias as respected among the apostles and believers in Christ before Paul himself.
Definition
Andronicus was a Jewish Christian related to Paul and associated with Junias. He lived at Rome, had become a Christian before Paul, and had suffered imprisonment like Paul.
Biblical Usage
Paul describes Andronicus and Junias as being of note among the apostles. This may mean that they were highly esteemed by the apostles or that they belonged to the wider apostolic missionary group.
Historical Background
The name means “man-conquering” or “man-conqueror.” One other Andronicus, a deputy under Antiochus Epiphanes, is mentioned in 2 Maccabees, but he is distinct from Paul’s kinsman.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Man-conquering, a Jewish Christian, the kinsman and fellowprisoner of Paul (Rom. 16:7); “of note among the apostles.”
Smith's Bible Dictionary
(man-conqueror).
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>an-dro-ni'-kus (Andronikos):</p><p>(1) A deputy of Antiochus Epiphanes, who, while ruling at Antioch, excited the Jews by the murder of Onias, and, upon their formal complaint, was executed by his superior (2 Macc 4:32-38); generally distinguished from another officer of the same name, also under Antiochus (2 Macc 5:23).</p><p>(2) A kinsman of Paul, residing at Rome (Ro 16:7). He had been converted to Christianity before Paul, and, like Paul, had suffered imprisonment, although when and where can only be surmised. When he and Junias, another kinsman of Paul, are referred to as "of note among the apostles," this may be interpreted as either designating the high esteem in which they were held by the Twelve, or as reckoning them in the number of apostles. The latter is the sense, if "apostle" be understood here in the more general meaning, used in Ac 14:14 of Barnabas, in 2Co 8:23 of Titus, in Php 2:25 of Epaphroditus, and in the Didache of "the traveling evangelists or missionaries who preached the gospel from place to place" (Schaff, The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, 67; see also Lightfoot on Philippians, 196). On this assumption, Andronicus was one of the most prominent and successful of the traveling missionaries of the early church.</p><p>H. E. Jacobs</p>