What Does Romans 16:12 Mean in the King James?

Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labour in the Lord. Salute the beloved Persis, which laboured much in the Lord.

Romans 16:12 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

THE KEY

The verse does not let labor in the Lord erase the people who bear it: it names each woman, calls Persis beloved, and marks her toil as much.

THE MEANING

This verse holds the worker and the work together: Tryphena and Tryphosa are named, and Persis is called beloved as her much labor is acknowledged. Their labor in the Lord carries real exertion and remains visible without reducing them to it.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The lie that labor in the Lord is invisible dissolves here: the verse names each woman and explicitly acknowledges her work.

THE ROOT

κοπιάω

kopiaō

GROWS FROM

κοπ-

kop-

The Greek word family centers on strenuous toil and the weariness it costs.

“labour” in this verse is kopiaō. The word for labor carries the strain of working to the point of weariness. Its repetition, with Persis’s labor marked as much, makes the cost visible while keeping the laborers named as people.

ALSO GROWS

kopiaō: To toil or labor until weary.

κοπιάω

This is the verb used for the women’s labor here; the same verb describes Paul’s labor in 1 Corinthians 15:10, where it appears alongside God’s favor.

kopos: Toil, labor, or the weariness and trouble it brings.

κόπος

This related noun is translated “labour” in 1 Corinthians 15:58, where labor in the Lord is described as not being in vain.

THE PATTERN

Labor in the Lord is seen in the people who bear it and is given meaning through its relation to the Lord.

A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

Psalm 127:1 · KJVThe verse sets human effort beside its dependence on the LORD, showing that labor alone does not secure what it seeks.

And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you;

1 Thessalonians 5:12 · KJVThose who labor among the readers are to be recognized as people, just as Romans names the women whose labor is in the Lord.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

1 Corinthians 15:58 · KJVIt states directly that labor in the Lord is not futile.

THE THREAD

But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

1 Corinthians 15:10 · KJV

Paul uses the same verb family for his own labor, pairing it with God’s favor. The connection holds strenuous human effort and received strength together: the labor is real, and it is not carried alone.

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