In the early third century CE, Clement of Alexandria (Miscellanies 3.6.53)
and at about the same time Origen, his famous student (Commentary on the
Epistle to the Romans 1.1), argued that Paul’s reference to his
“yoke-fellow” (actually a female) of Phil 4:3 revealed that Paul was married.97
The word can mean not only comrade but also “wife” (cf. Euripides, Alcibiades
314). The author of the Testament of Reuben chose syzygon to
denote “the mate” or “wife” chosen by the Lord (4:1). Since the noun in Phil
4:3 is in the feminine form, the reference is probably to a female
“yoke-person” or “wife.” Perhaps Paul knew the joys of marriage, and this is
reflected in his words, “Yes, I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these
women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel” (Phil 4:3;
NRSV). (James H. Charlesworth, “Is It Conceivable that Jesus Married Magdalene?:
Searching for Evidence in Johannine Traditions,” in Jesus as Mirrored: The
Genius in the New Testament [London: T&T Clark, 2019], 471)
