Priscilla and Aquila

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Priscilla (pron.: /prɨˈsɪlə/) and Aquila (pron.: /ˈækwɨlə/) were a first century Christian missionary married couple described in the New Testament and traditionally listed among the Seventy Disciples. They lived, worked, and traveled with the Apostle Paul, becoming his honored, much-loved friends and coworkers in Christ Jesus. Priscilla and Aquila are described in the New Testament as providing a presence that strengthened the early Jesus groups. Paul was generous in his recognition and acknowledgment of his indebtedness to them.^{[Rom. 16:3-4]} This husband-wife team were missionaries who accompanied Paul on one of his journeys. Together, they are credited with instructing Apollos, a major evangelist of the first century, and "[explaining] to him the way of God more accurately".^{[Acts 18:26]} Their mutuality in ministry and their leadership can inspire Christian couples today to work together as teachers and preachers of the gospel. Priscilla is the classical example of a woman teacher in early church history. She was a celebrated missionary, pastor, and co-worker of Paul. She is thought by some to be the anonymous author of the Epistle to the Hebrews.

New Testament references

They are mentioned seven times in four different books of the New Testament. They are always named as a couple and never individually. Of those seven references, five times Priscilla's name is mentioned first, implying that she was the leading member of the pair—extraordinary in such a male-dominant society. Throughout Scripture, the man is usually mentioned first; e.g., Adam and Eve, Sampson and Delilah, Ananias and Sapphira, making the five appearances of Priscilla's name first a quite notable exception.

1. Acts 18:2-3: There he (Paul) met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.
2. Acts 18:18: Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila.
3. Acts 18:19: They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila.
4. Acts 18:26: He (Apollos) began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately (ἀκριβέστερον).
5. Romans 16:3-4: Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them.
6. 1 Corinthians 16:19: The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house.
7. 2 Timothy 4:19: Greet Priscilla and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus.

The couple

The Christian Church, beginning with Jesus, had a radical view of the status of women. Jesus demonstrated that he values women equally with men. Luke clearly indicates Priscilla’s "agency and her interdependent relationship with her husband. She is certainly not Aquila’s property—as was customary in Greco-Roman society, but rather his partner in ministry and marriage".

Priscilla

Priscilla was a woman of Jewish heritage and one of the earliest known Christian converts who lived in Rome. Her name is a Roman diminutive for Prisca which was her formal name. She is the classical example of a woman teacher in early church history. She was a celebrated missionary, pastor, and a friend and co-worker of Paul.

Some scholars have advanced a strong case for Priscilla being the author of the Book of Hebrews. Although acclaimed for its artistry, originality, and literary excellence, it is the only book in the New Testament with author anonymity. Hoppin and others suggest that Priscilla was the author, but that her name was omitted either to suppress its female authorship, or to protect the letter itself from suppression.

She is the only Priscilla named in the New Testament. The fact that she is always mentioned with her husband, Aquila, disambiguates her from different women revered as saints in Catholicism, such as (1) Priscilla of the Roman Glabrio family, the wife of Quintus Cornelius Pudens, who according to some traditions hosted St. Peter circa AD 42, and (2) a third century virgin martyr named Priscilla and also called Prisca.

Aquila

Aquila, husband of Priscilla, was originally from Pontus and also was a Jewish Christian. According to church tradition, Aquila did not long dwell in Rome since the Apostle Paul is said to have made him a bishop in Asia Minor. The Apostolic Constitutions identify Aquila, along with Nicetas, as the first bishops of Asia Minor (7.46). Tradition also reports that Aquila's life was ended as a martyr, along with Priscilla's.

Priscilla and Aquila

Priscilla and Aquila were tentmakers as was Paul. Priscilla and Aquila had been among the Jews expelled from Rome by the Roman Emperor Claudius in the year 49 as written by Suetonius. They ended up in Corinth. Paul lived with Priscilla and Aquila for approximately 18 months. Then the couple started out to accompany Paul when he proceeded to Syria, but stopped at Ephesus in the Roman province of Asia, now part of modern Turkey.

Priscilla and Aquila were among the earliest known teachers of Christian theology. In writing the Book of Acts, Luke tells about a woman instructing a man in theology. In Acts 18:24-28, Apollos, an important Jewish-Christian evangelist in Ephesus, is described as an "eloquent speaker" who had a "thorough knowledge of the Scriptures". He had been "instructed in the way of the Lord" which he taught with great "enthusiasm". He began to preach boldly in the synagogue. However, he knew only the baptism of John the Baptist—not the baptism taught by Jesus. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained the Way of God to him "more accurately".^[18:24-28] Classicist Evelyn and theologian Frank Stagg write that "There is no hint here or elsewhere in Acts that a woman should be subordinate, be silent, and not teach a man".

In 1 Corinthians 16:19, Paul passes on the greetings of Priscilla and Aquila to their friends in Corinth, indicating that the couple were in his company. Paul founded the church in Corinth.^{[1 Cor. 4:15]} His including them in his greetings implies that Priscilla and Aquila were also involved in the founding of that church. Since 1 Corinthians discusses a crisis deriving from a conflict between the followers of Apollos and the followers of Cephas (possibly the apostle Peter), it can be inferred that Apollos accompanied Priscilla and Aquila when they returned to Corinth. This happened before 54, when Claudius died and the expulsion of the Jews from Rome was lifted.

In Romans 16:3-4, thought to have been written in 56 or 57, Paul sends his greetings to Priscilla and Aquila and proclaims that both of them "risked their necks" to save Paul's life.

Chronology

One item of importance about the appearance is that they provide a chronological synchronism for the chronology of Paul's life. According to Acts 18:2f, before Paul meets them in Corinth, they were part of a group of Jews whom the Emperor Claudius ordered expelled from Rome; if this edict of the Emperor can be dated, then we would be able to infer when Paul arrived in Corinth.

The evidence of other ancient sources points to two possible periods during the reign of Claudius: either during his first regnal year (AD 41; so Dio Cassius, Roman History 60.6.6), or during his ninth regnal year (49; so Orosius, Historia 7.6.15f). As a result the experts are divided over when this expulsion took place: some, like Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, argue for the earlier year, while others, like Joseph Fitzmyer, argue for the later year.

Canonization

Priscilla and Aquila are regarded as saints in most Christian churches that canonize saints. The Orthodox Church commemorates them both together on February 13. The Lutheran Church commemorates them the same day along with Apollos. Other Orthodox Churches commemorate Aquila only as an apostle on July 14. In the Catholic Church the Roman Martyrology lists their feast as July 8.

See also

• Early centers of Christianity#Greece

External links

• Saints Aquila and Priscilla