PAUL'S “HELPERS IN CHRIST JESUS” (ROMANS 16:3) · CALLED IN ACTS 18: PAUL FINDS THEM AT CORINTH

Priscilla and Aquila. A tentmaking couple who sheltered Paul, taught Apollos and kept a church in their house.

ALSO CALLED

Prisca

FROM

Aquila was “a certain Jew … born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:)”.

TRADE

Tentmakers: Paul “was of the same craft”, so “he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers”.

FAMILY

Husband and wife: “Aquila … with his wife Priscilla”.

WRITINGS

None

BACKGROUND

Home, trade and family

FROM

TRADE

FAMILY

  • Husband and wife: “Aquila … with his wife Priscilla”. Acts 18:2
  • From the textScripture never names one without the other. In the KJV Priscilla is named first three times out of six (Acts 18:18; Romans 16:3; 2 Timothy 4:19); in the site's Tischendorf Greek text and the Revised Version, four times, because they also put her first at Acts 18:26. Acts 18:2 Acts 18:18 Acts 18:26 Romans 16:3 1 Corinthians 16:19 2 Timothy 4:19

THE CALLING

The calling

“And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.”

Acts 18:3 (KJV) →

WHERE THEY WENT

Acts and after

  • Pontus · Aquila's birthplace. Acts 18:2
  • Rome · Left under Claudius's order; greeted here later. Acts 18:2 Romans 16:3–5
  • Italy · “lately come from Italy”. Acts 18:2
  • Corinth · Worked with Paul as tentmakers. Acts 18:1–3
  • Cenchreae · Port of Corinth; the vow. Acts 18:18
  • Ephesus · Taught Apollos; a church in their house. Acts 18:19 Acts 18:26 +2 more
  • Asia · The Apostolic Constitutions (4th century or earlier) name Aquila a bishop of “the parishes of Asia” (tradition). 1 Corinthians 16:19

IN ACTS AND THE LETTERS

  • At Corinth Paul lived and worked with them. Acts 18:2–3
  • When Paul left Corinth they sailed with him; he “left them” at Ephesus. Acts 18:18–19
  • At Ephesus they heard Apollos in the synagogue, “took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly”. Acts 18:26
  • From Ephesus they sent greetings to Corinth “with the church that is in their house”. 1 Corinthians 16:8 1 Corinthians 16:19
  • In Romans Paul greets them: “my helpers in Christ Jesus: Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles”, and the church in their house. Romans 16:3–5
  • In 2 Timothy Paul asks Timothy to “Salute Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus”. 2 Timothy 4:19
  • From the textActs 18:18 says “having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow”; the KJV's “his” is a supplied word, and the verse does not say plainly whether Paul or Aquila made the vow. Acts 18:18

COMPANIONS

Who was with them

Each line joins them to someone Scripture places beside them.

  • Paul Lodged and worked with them; they risked their necks for his life. Acts 18:3 Romans 16:3–4
  • Apollos They took him aside and taught him “the way of God more perfectly”. Acts 18:26
  • Timothy Paul asks him to greet them. 2 Timothy 4:19
  • Onesiphorus His household is greeted beside them. 2 Timothy 4:19

HOW THE STORY ENDS

Scripture says, tradition says

SCRIPTURE SAYS

  • The last we read of them: Paul asks Timothy to greet them (2 Timothy 4:19). Scripture does not record their deaths. 2 Timothy 4:19

TRADITION SAYS

  • The Apostolic Constitutions list “Of the parishes of Asia, Aquila and Nicetas” among bishops ordained in the apostles' lifetime.[7] Who says so: Constitutions of the Holy Apostles 7.46, a compilation its ANF editor places “not later than the fourth century”

OPEN QUESTIONS

Where readers have differed

She was the more energetic, or stronger, of the two

Conybeare and Howson (1891); Kapp, ISBE (1915)

Conybeare and Howson: the order “conveys the impression that she was the more energetic character of the two”; Kapp: “The best explanation seems to be that she was the stronger character.” Romans 16:3 2 Timothy 4:19 [17][27]

She was of higher rank, and it was the custom among their friends

Ramsay (1895)

Ramsay: “Probably Prisca was of higher rank than her husband, for her name is that of a good old Roman family”; the order was “a conversational custom”. Acts 18:18 Romans 16:3 [16]

IN SCRIPTURE

Every passage

CHAPTERS · 4

Acts 18 Romans 16 1 Corinthians 16 2 Timothy 4

PASSAGES · 6

Acts 18:1–3 Acts 18:18–19 Acts 18:24–28 Romans 16:3–5 1 Corinthians 16:19 2 Timothy 4:19

WHAT SCRIPTURE DOES NOT SAY

  • Scripture does not say when or where Priscilla and Aquila came to believe.
  • Scripture does not say how they risked their necks for Paul (Romans 16:4).
  • Scripture does not say which of them made the vow at Cenchrea, or that either of them wrote anything.
  • Scripture does not record their later life or deaths.

IDENTIFICATIONS THIS PAGE RELIES ON

  • From the textActs always says Priscilla; 2 Timothy 4:19 says Prisca. In Romans 16:3 and 1 Corinthians 16:19 the KJV and the Textus Receptus read Priscilla, where Tischendorf's text and the Revised Version read Prisca. Acts 18:2 Romans 16:3 1 Corinthians 16:19 2 Timothy 4:19
  • Outside the BibleThe Roman biographer Suetonius records of Claudius: “Since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, he expelled them from Rome.”[10]
  • Scholars' viewRamsay (1895) and Kapp (ISBE, 1915) take this to be the order of Acts 18:2, and “Chrestus” as a garbled reference to Christ or his followers. Ramsay adds, from Dio Cassius, that the order was hard to enforce. Acts 18:2 [16][27]
  • Scholars' viewHarnack proposed Priscilla, with Aquila, as the writer of Hebrews; Dods (1897, 1910 printing) reports the case and answers that the writer speaks as one man. Hebrews 11:32 Hebrews 13:19 Hebrews 13:22–23 [14]

SOURCES

Where this page comes from

  • Eusebius (trans. A. C. McGiffert, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 1), Church History (1890), 3.4.6-7; 6.25.6.
  • A. C. McGiffert, Notes to Eusebius, Church History (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 1) (1890), book 3, chapter 4, notes 607-611 and 614-615; book 6, chapter 25, note 1981.
  • Irenaeus (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1), Against Heresies (1885), 3.1.1; 3.13.3 with note 3538; 3.14.1.
  • Tertullian (trans. Peter Holmes, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 3), Against Marcion (1885), book 4, chapter 2; book 5, chapter 3.
  • Unknown (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 5), The Muratorian Fragment (Canon Muratorianus) (1886), sections 1-2.
  • Ascribed to Hippolytus (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 5), On the Seventy Apostles (1886), list nos. 15-17 and 50, with note 2027 ("Probably spurious, but yet antique").
  • Unknown (ed. James Donaldson; notes by M. B. Riddle; Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 7), Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (1886), book 7, chapter 46; Riddle's introductory notice ("not later than the fourth century").
  • Jerome (trans. E. C. Richardson, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 3), Lives of Illustrious Men (1892), chapter 7 (Luke); chapter 135 (written "the fourteenth of the Emperor Theodosius").
  • Clement of Rome (trans. J. B. Lightfoot), 1 Clement (1891), chapter 47 (checked against the 1891 printing, archive.org apostolicfathers00ligh).
  • Suetonius (trans. J. C. Rolfe, Loeb Classical Library), The Lives of the Caesars: The Deified Claudius (1914), 25.4.
  • J. B. Lightfoot, Saint Paul's Epistle to the Galatians (10th ed.; scan of a later reprint) (1890), pp. 96-98 ("The name and office of an Apostle", with notes); pp. 104-105 (on 2:3-5); pp. 121-123.
  • F. W. Farrar, The Life and Work of St. Paul (1898 printing) (1879), pp. 234-236 ("Was he circumcised?").
  • Brooke Foss Westcott, The Epistle to the Hebrews: The Greek Text with Notes and Essays (2nd ed.) (1892), Introduction, "History and Authorship", pp. lxxiv-lxxix.
  • Marcus Dods, "The Epistle to the Hebrews", in The Expositor's Greek Testament, vol. IV (1897 (1910 printing)), Introduction: authorship, pp. 228-229.
  • Charles Bigg, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistles of St. Peter and St. Jude (2nd ed. 1902) (1901), Introduction to 1 Peter, p. 5.
  • W. M. Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen (1895), ch. III (Titus and the famine visit); ch. IX section 3 ("The coming of Luke"); ch. X; ch. XI (Aquila and the edict); ch. XII sections 1-2 (Cenchreae; Apollos, Priscilla and Aquila); ch. XIII (Titus); ch. XVII (Luke and Antioch).
  • W. J. Conybeare and J. S. Howson, The Life and Epistles of St. Paul, new edition (first published 1852) (1891), ch. XI, pp. 300-301 (Aquila and Priscilla); ch. XII, pp. 330-331 and note (the vow at Cenchreae).
  • Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, vol. 1: Apostolic Christianity (revised ed.) (1890), section 82 (Luke), with notes 991-994; section 85 (Acts), with note 1098.
  • M. G. Easton, Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897), entries Silas; Timothy; Titus; Luke; Apollos; Aquila; Priscilla.
  • William Smith, Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884), entries Silas; Timothy; Titus; Titus Justus; Luke; Apollos; Aquila.
  • C. M. Kerr, Silas (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) (1915), read online at internationalstandardbible.com; to be checked against a scan of the printed 1915 edition.
  • C. M. Kerr, Apollos (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) (1915), read online at internationalstandardbible.com; to be checked against a scan of the printed 1915 edition.
  • John Rutherfurd, Timothy (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) (1915), read online at internationalstandardbible.com; to be checked against a scan of the printed 1915 edition.
  • John Rutherfurd, Titus (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) (1915), read online at internationalstandardbible.com; to be checked against a scan of the printed 1915 edition.
  • A. T. Robertson, Luke, the Evangelist (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) (1915), read online at internationalstandardbible.com; to be checked against a scan of the printed 1915 edition.
  • International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (article unsigned in the online text), Acts of the Apostles, part 1 (III. Unity of the Book; IV. The Author) (1915), read online at internationalstandardbible.com; to be checked against a scan of the printed 1915 edition.
  • Jacob W. Kapp, Aquila (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) (1915), read online at internationalstandardbible.com; to be checked against a scan of the printed 1915 edition.
  • William G. Moorehead, Peter, the First Epistle of (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) (1915), section on Silvanus; read online at internationalstandardbible.com; to be checked against a scan of the printed 1915 edition.

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