Claudia

Biblical Record

Claudia appears once, in the closing greetings of 2 Timothy 4. After urging Timothy, "Do thy diligence to come before winter," Paul writes, "Eubulus greeteth thee, and Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia, and all the brethren" (2 Timothy 4:21). Because 2 Timothy is understood to have been written while Paul was imprisoned in Rome, Claudia is likewise understood to have been a believer in Rome at that time. Her name is the feminine form of the Latin Claudius. Scripture says nothing further about her station or activities.

Significance Within Scripture

In 2 Timothy 4, Paul states that Demas has forsaken him and that only Luke remains with him (2 Timothy 4:10–11). Even so, believers of the Roman church send their greetings to Timothy. Claudia is one of the few people named in this final greeting, and because her name appears alongside those of men, she is cited as an example of women participating as members of the community of believers in the early Roman church.

Interpretations and Debates

• The Apostolic Constitutions, a church document dating from around the fourth century, records that Linus, the first bishop of Rome, was "the son of Claudia." This gave rise to a tradition identifying Claudia as the mother of Linus. This, however, comes from a later document and is not stated in the biblical text.
• Because the poems of the first-century Roman poet Martial mention a married couple named Pudens and Claudia, some have speculated that they are the same people as the Pudens and Claudia of the Bible. This speculation has even led to accounts identifying Claudia as a woman from Britannia (modern Britain), but many regard it as poorly supported, noting among other things that the names were common.
• Scholars are divided over whether Paul himself wrote 2 Timothy, and how this question is answered affects how the historical background of the people named in the greetings is viewed.

In the Korean Church

Sermons or Sunday school lessons devoted solely to Claudia are rare. Her name is sometimes mentioned in expository preaching through 2 Timothy 4, when Paul's final co-workers are introduced.