Tryphena

Tryphaena (UPDV's spelling; the name also appears in the older form Tryphena) is one of two women named together in the closing greetings of Paul's letter to the Romans. She appears once, in a single clause that places her in the labor of the Roman congregation.

A Worker in the Lord at Rome

Paul greets her by name: "Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who labor in the Lord. Greet Persis the beloved, who labored much in the Lord" (Rom 16:12). She is paired in the greeting with Tryphosa — the two are named in the same breath, joined by the same participle. The verb is present tense ("who labor"), describing them as currently active in the work; Persis, named immediately after, is described in the past tense ("labored much"). Tryphaena and Tryphosa are still at it.

The phrase "in the Lord" frames their work as service inside the Christian community rather than ordinary household labor. They are remembered alongside more than a dozen others Paul names personally in this chapter — Phoebe, Prisca and Aquila, Mary, Andronicus and Junia, Urbanus, Apelles, Aristobulus, Herodion, Narcissus, Rufus, and others — making Tryphaena one of the women whose service to the Roman congregation Paul singles out for greeting at the close of the letter.