Do you ever skip over the sections where Paul thanks people in the New Testament? Guilty as charged. I’m always eager to get to the “good stuff,” and him thanking people without so much as even saying what he’s grateful for doesn’t often feel like a “meaty passage” to me. Such happens in Romans 16 when Paul thanks Tryphena, a Christian woman in the early church.
That said, anytime we encounter a name in the Bible, God meant for it to be there. We need to explore the mention of Tryphena in the Bible, what Paul has to say about her, and what church tradition has to say about her as well—and her likely martyrdom. Let’s dive in.
Who Was Tryphena in the Bible?
In Romans 16, Tryphena’s name is linked with another woman’s name, Tryphosa. People have speculated about the nature of their relationship. Given the name resemblance, most theologians agree they were likely sisters.
Speaking of names, what does Tryphena mean? It means “delicacy.” And Tryphosa’s name means “thrice shining,” or shining three times.
We can probably gather that these women were Romans, as Paul had addressed Romans to, well, you guessed it, the Romans. Paul was also a Roman citizen, which allowed him to preach to Jewish and Gentile audiences.
The Bible tells us one thing about these ladies: they worked hard for the Lord.
We don’t know their occupation or how they worked hard in the Lord. Women in the New Testament church had a variety of capacities. They did everything from, yes, the housework and hosting—but it extended to so much more.
Women preached, taught, used apologetics, funded ministries, served, and created products to earn income and fund the church (tentmakers and cloth dyers, for instance). They used their resources, power, and everything else to spread the Gospel.
Since Tryphena grew up in a patriarchal Roman society, we can assume that she may have had limits, dependent on her class. The richer a woman was in Rome, the less technical influence and autonomy she had.
Nevertheless, whatever this looked like, Tryphena “bloomed where she was planted” for the Lord.
So, do we know what happened to Tryphena? Unfortunately, the Bible doesn’t say. We can imagine when Paul wrote it, she was still alive. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have asked to pass along his thanks to her.
To find out what happened to Tryphena, we’d have to consult church tradition. Like so many people in the first century who followed Christ, it looks like Tryphena didn’t die of natural causes.
How Was Tryphena Martyred?
Tryphena’s name sometimes goes by the spelling of Tryphaena, sometimes Tryphaina, and although many women would have gone by that name during Roman times, we can imagine that the martyr documented by the Orthodox church is likely the same one we see listed in Romans 16.
Now, we should mention that we should always approach any extra-biblical story with a grain of salt.
With that said, the Orthodox church has had an excellent history of documenting what happened in the early saints’ lives.
If tradition holds true, Tryphena would’ve come from a place known as Cyzicus, a Greek town now in Turkey. At the time, it would’ve been ruled by the Roman Empire under the reign of Tiberius (the same Emperor who ruled during the time of Jesus’ death and resurrection). It was a very influential city at the time.
According to tradition, she attempted to convert people in her hometown to Christ. At first, they tried to persuade her not to do so. When persuasion didn’t work, they turned to torture.
For the sake of our queasier readers, I won’t detail just how brutal these torture methods were. Safe to say, I’m not exactly sure how she came out of some of these alive.
After quite literally throwing everything they had at her—and she wouldn’t die (saints had a habit of evading really awful deaths), she ended up being gored by a mad bull.
What Is Tryphena a Saint Of?
Tryphena became a canonized saint in the Orthodox church. What this basically means is they honor her and remember her on a particular day—January 31—for the life she lived and the brave death she endured.
Certain high church traditions make people “saints of” certain things. Whether or not we agree with this practice, we should be aware that the Orthodox Church has commemorated Tryphena as a “saint of” something.
What would that something be? Women who have difficulty nursing babies.
It’s a little difficult to tell as to why she’s been marked as a saint in this particular area. Many women have trouble latching when it comes to breastfeeding. This can cause distress and, in remote areas of the world, can potentially be fatal for certain infants.
The tradition on her already is so sparse. Perhaps she had also had this difficulty in her lifetime. Or perhaps she’d helped the mothers whose infants wouldn’t latch. It’s tough to say, but for our purposes, it’s helpful to know that she’s been venerated in certain church circles in this way.
Some people in these church circles may ask her if she’s willing to pray with them to have God help them during latching.
What Can We Learn from Tryphena in the Bible?
Unfortunately, one verse isn’t much to go on, especially if it doesn’t provide us with many details about a person and the kind of life they lived. That said, based on what we know in Romans 16 and what tradition tells us, Tryphena was a woman who was on fire for God. She was willing to not only work hard during her ministry but also take it to the grave.
Here are three life lessons we can extract from her.
1. God wants us to work hard for him
No matter what this looks like, whether we’re breastfeeding our babies or going to our 9-to-5, we are to work for the Lord, not for men. Paul knew so many Christians in the New Testament church, so for him to call her out specifically for her diligence says something.
2. God wants us to work where we’re at
Given that she lived in Greece and the Roman world, Tryphena may not have had a lot of leeway regarding what she could do and who she could minister to. People didn’t listen to women often back then, especially in higher-up circles. Nevertheless, Tryphena took it upon herself to preach to all, even when it meant certain death.
3. God wants us to understand the cost
Reading just how she was tortured made it very hard for me to stomach the idea of that being done to me. If we’re being honest, many of us haven’t taken a hard look at the cost of being a Christian. Christians in certain areas of the world now endure the same persecution the early church had. Jesus was very real about the cost of following him. Every culture recoils at his message, seeing that it goes contrary to every culture. We can hope that, like Tryphena, we will stand strong for him if that day ever comes for us.
In the meantime, let’s be diligent workers like her, sharing the love of Christ with those in our communities.
Photo Credit:©GettyImages/Tunatura
Hope Bolinger is an acquisitions editor at End Game Press, book editor for hire, and the author of almost 30 books. More than 1500 of her works have been featured in various publications. Check out her books at hopebolinger.com for clean books in most genres, great for adults and kids. Check out her editing profile at Reedsy.com to find out about hiring her for your next book project.
This article is part of our People of Christianity catalog that features the stories, meaning, and significance of well-known people from the Bible and history. Here are some of the most popular articles for knowing important figures in Christianity:
How Did the Apostle Paul Die?
Who are the Nicolaitans in Revelation?
Who Was Deborah in the Bible?
Who Was Moses in the Bible?
King Solomon's Story in the Bible
Who Was Lot's Wife in the Bible?
Who Was Jezebel in the Bible?
Who Was the Prodigal Son?
