Andronicus and Junias are not mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament; they could easily have been husband and wife, or brother and sister.

The word translated fellow Jews (An American Translation* and New English Bible “fellow-countrymen”) is rendered by some to mean “kinsmen” (Revised Standard Version). However, it is more likely that the broader sense is to be maintained in this passage. Fellow Jews may be translated as “who are also Jews even as I am” or “who, together with me, are Jews.”

They are well known among the apostles has been understood by some to mean “the apostles know them well,” but a far more acceptable interpretation would imply that these men were counted as apostles and were well known, for example, “as apostles they are well known.”

They became Christians before I did is literally “who before me came in Christ.” The obvious meaning of this phrase is as the Good News Translation states it.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1973. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .