Prisca and Aquila (Rom. 16:3-5)

It is good to see couples serving the Lord together. In the New Testament, several couples are mentioned, although sometimes the names of the wives are not recorded, with the wife of Peter being an example of this. Usually, when both names are mentioned, the husband’s name comes first, with Philemon and Apphia being an example of this. One couple have their names mentioned on six occasions in the New Testament, and they are Priscilla and Aquila (Paul always refers to her as Prisca). Usually when they are mentioned, her name comes first.

I would like us to look at the various descriptions that are made of them, and to do so in chronological order, using generally accepted dates for the different places and events that Paul mentions about them. We will see that the period in which they were involved in the ministry of Paul is quite long.

Corinth – AD 52 (Acts 18)

We first come across Priscilla and Aquila in Acts 18, during Paul’s second missionary journey. Paul, we may recall, was travelling through modern-day Greece, having been to Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea and Athens. Now he had reached Corinth alone, and was waiting there for Silas and Timothy to come and join him in that important city. Luke informs us, however, that Paul was not the only Christian who had arrived recently in Corinth. In addition, Priscilla and Aquila were there because they, with other Jews, had been commanded by the emperor to leave Rome. Paul somehow found them, and then stayed with them. Their home became one of his bases while he was in Corinth, a period of eighteen months.

Why were Priscilla and Aquila commanded to leave Rome? Luke does not say why, but scholars have put together some pieces of information from ancient history that can help us. During the reign of Claudius, about 20,000 Jews lived in Rome. At some stage they became involved in violent behaviour, and the Roman historian Tacitus connected it to conflicts between Jews who opposed Jesus and Jews who accepted Jesus. So it is possible that Priscilla and Aquila were caught up in the consequences of a dispute about the Christian faith. Whatever the reason for the exile, Jews were allowed back into Rome after the death of Claudius, which explains why Priscilla and Aquila were in Rome when Paul writes this letter.

Why is Priscilla’s name usually mentioned first? Some people think it was because she had more gifts or that she was converted first. A better answer is that probably she was of nobler birth than her husband. There was a noble family in Rome of the name Prisca and she could have belonged to them. If that was the case, she would have been a Gentile whereas her husband was a Jew. Since his name is mentioned second, it means that he was of a lower class than her. So in this couple, we see that the gospel brings about two unusual features – they were of different races and they were of different social levels, but here they were serving Jesus together.

Why are they in Corinth at that time? While every event is part of God’s providence, we don’t always see what the reasons for them are. But we can see why Priscilla and Aquila reached Corinth. It is possible that they had a branch of their firm there, but even if that was their reason for going to Corinth, God working behind the scenes had another reason, which was that they would help Paul establish a church in Corinth. Maybe they had gone to establish a new place of labour, and God used their intentions to fulfil his will that they become involved in the progress of the gospel.

What can we learn from Priscilla and Aquila in Corinth? First, they did not regard adverse providences as a reason for giving up the Christian faith. Who knows what they lost when forced to leave Rome? Yet when they came to Corinth they found themselves involved in the setting-up of a new Christian church. Second, they were prepared to use their home to further the gospel. Not only did they do so in Corinth, but we can see that they do the same thing in Rome.

Ephesus – AD 52-55 (Acts 18:18-28)

When Paul decided to leave Corinth, he went to Ephesus in the company of Priscilla and Aquila. Paul only stayed there a short time before moving on. During that brief visit, he made some impression with the gospel on those who attended the Jewish synagogue. And when he left, Priscilla and Aquila stayed behind. I suspect that one thing they wanted to do was help those who had expressed an interest in the message of Paul.

One day, some time later, into the synagogue comes a man called Apollos. As the custom was, he was asked to speak and it was soon obvious that he was a competent speaker who knew some details about Jesus. Priscilla and Aquila realised however that Apollos needed some further instruction. There was no Bible College to send him to, and they had no idea when Paul would return. So they decided to instruct him themselves. Of course, they did not arrange this in a way that would embarrass Apollos. Instead they did it privately and soon Apollos was preaching the truth fervently.

What can we learn from Priscilla and Aquila in Ephesus? First, we have a duty to tell someone about Jesus when we find that he or she is deficient in their knowledge of Jesus. It would have been easy for Priscilla and Aquila merely to pray about it and hope that someone else would appear to do it. But they did not. They remind us that we have a responsibility to say what we know of Jesus when we encounter someone whose knowledge of Jesus is inadequate.

Second, we can see that Priscilla and Aquila did not draw attention to themselves as they engaged in this task. We cannot deduce from their example that we should normally do things quietly, and we can see from their general behaviour that they were open about their faith. Sometimes, however, we have to do things for an individual without letting other people know.

Here, in his brief description in Romans of this couple, Paul mentions that all the churches of the Gentiles gave thanks for them. We can see how Apollos would do so, and how the churches in Ephesus and Corinth would so as well. Perhaps as Apollos taught in the churches in those cities, some would say to him, ‘Did you ever hear Saul of Tarsus? You sound like him.’ And he would reply, ‘I have not met him yet, but I did receive help from two people who knew him well.’ And those churches would thank God for Priscilla and Aquila.

There is another reference to the time Priscilla and Aquila spent in Ephesus and that is found in 1 Corinthians 16:19. By this time, Paul has returned to Ephesus, and during his time there he wrote 1 Corinthians and as he closes the letter he mentions where the church in Ephesus now meets – in the home of Priscilla and Aquila. We can almost imagine that they are in the room as Paul dictates the letter because he says, ‘Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord.’ We know from 1 Corinthians that there were many problems in the church in Corinth, a church in which Priscilla and Aquila had done so much. Yet they don’t send notes of disappointment or complaining to their friends there; instead they send ‘hearty’ greetings, or greetings that are very strong. It is obvious that they were full of love.

Rome – AD 57 (Romans 16:3-4)

Prisca and Aquila had returned to Rome by the time Paul wrote this letter. We can look at what he said about them. First, he described them as his ‘fellow workers in Christ Jesus’, a description which Calvin calls ‘a singular honour’ for them to have. Paul did not mean that they had the same role as him as a public teacher of God’s truth or as an apostle with divinely-given authority, but he acknowledged that they were engaged in furthering the same project that he was involved in, which was the progress of the kingdom of Jesus.

By attaching the phrase ‘in Christ Jesus’, Paul stresses the unity he enjoyed with them because as Christians they were united to Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, they also had their common source of power in their tasks for the Lord – from Jesus in heaven the Holy Spirit enabled them to do things for Jesus. Together, they served the living Saviour.

At some stage, it seems either in Ephesus or in Corinth, Prisca and Aquila had risked their lives to help Paul escape from a dangerous situation. Perhaps it was during the riot in Ephesus described in Acts 19, because Luke tells us that some disciples were with Paul during it and prevented him from getting hurt. Or maybe it was an incident not mentioned by Luke. What is obvious is that Prisca and Aquila put themselves into great danger in order to help Paul! This couple did everything together, even when there was possible mortal danger for themselves. It is not surprising that Paul wanted to greet them given that they had been ready to die for him.

Paul probably has that rescue in mind when he says that he and all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks for Prisca and Aquila. It would be easy to say that Paul is using hyperbole here, but I don’t think he is. Instead he seems to say that if Prisca and Aquila had not done what they did, there would be worldwide sorrow in the churches because Paul as an apostle would not be there anymore. Imagine if they had not rescued Paul and he had been killed. What would we have missed? The only letters that he had written by that stage were Galatians and 1 and Thessalonians, and perhaps 1 and 2 Corinthians. Luke would have had to rewrite the second half of the Book of Acts. We would not have Romans, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, 1 Timothy, Titus and 2 Timothy. So we can join the first-century churches and give thanks to God for Prisca and Aquila and their action of daring love.

Then Paul says, ‘Greet also the church in their house.’ Here we see the consistency that marked Prisca and Aquila in that, wherever they were, their home was used as a place for God’s people to meet for worship and fellowship. But there is more than consistency here, there is also courage. Remember that they may have had to leave Rome before because of their Christian testimony. Here they are back in Rome and once again they make it obvious that they serve the Lord.

Ephesus again – AD 66 or 67 (2 Timothy 4:19)

The last time we hear of Priscilla and Aquila is in Paul’s last letter, 2 Timothy. Several years have passed since he wrote Romans, perhaps almost a decade. His friends are now back in Ephesus, helping Timothy deal with problems there. In 2 Timothy 4:19, Paul writes, ‘Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus.’ This is the last recorded greeting of Paul the apostle and there is something very moving about it. Paul is in isolation virtually because he lists several colleagues who have gone to visit churches. He says in the previous verses, ‘Luke alone is with me,’ and ‘At my first defence no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me.’ We can see him sitting against a wall looking back over life and his mind goes to his friends who had been so loyal to him.

It is very striking that Paul always refers to her as Prisca rather than Priscilla. Prisca is the more formal version and its use by Paul indicates that he had great respect for her and he revealed that was the case each time he referred to this couple. Here were a couple who used their assets for Jesus.

So as we conclude, we can summarise Prisca and Aquila by using the word ‘one’. They were one in consecration to the Lord, one in sacrificial service, one in spiritual discernment and one in hospitality. Truly, they speak to us powerfully about our service of Jesus.