In Greek, the name Junia can refer either to a man named Junias or to a woman named Junia. Most interpreters understand it as a woman’s name. In this section, Paul often lists men and women together as husband-and-wife teams. For this reason, Junia was most likely a woman.
fellow prisoners: We do not know when this happened. The book of Acts reports that Paul was imprisoned overnight in Philippi (Acts 16:19–28). After Paul wrote Romans, he was imprisoned for two years in Caesarea and for two years in Rome (Acts 24:27; 28:30–31). Paul also mentions other imprisonments that Acts does not record (see 2 Corinthians 11:23).
They are outstanding among the apostles: This phrase most likely means that Andronicus and Junia were apostles. Here, apostles refers to recognized missionaries sent by the church (see Acts 14:4, 14; 1 Corinthians 9:5–6; Galatians 2:9).