Claudia
Summary
A Christian woman in Rome mentioned in Paul's second letter to Timothy, who sent greetings to Timothy.
☩Scriptural Reference
Claudia is mentioned in 2 Timothy 4:21 as one of the Roman Christians who sent greetings to Timothy through Paul. She is named alongside Eubulus, Pudens, and Linus. Beyond this brief mention, nothing certain is known about her, though her name suggests she may have belonged to the Imperial household or the gens Claudia. The Apostolic Constitutions name her as the mother of Linus, who was later mentioned by Irenaeus and Eusebius as a bishop of Rome.
☩Conjectured Identity
An ingenious but uncertain theory has been proposed identifying this Claudia with a British woman mentioned in the epigrams of Martial, the wife of a man named Pudens. This theory connects her to Claudia Rufina, supposedly a daughter of the British king Cogidubnus, who was an ally of Rome during the reign of Emperor Claudius. However, most scholars consider this identification extremely precarious, as the names Pudens and Claudia were very common, and the position of the names in Paul's text (with Linus between them) argues against their being husband and wife.
Related Verses1 mention
2 Timothy· 1 verse
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Claudia," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. II (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Hastings (ed.), "Claudia," in Dictionary of the Apostolic Church, vol. I (T. & T. Clark, 1915–1918).
- 3.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Claudia," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).