Priscilla

priss-SIL-uh

A tentmaker and teacher who, together with her husband Aquila, hosted a house church, partnered closely with Paul, and personally corrected the theology of the eloquent preacher Apollos — and who is unusually often named before her husband in the text, a detail scholars read as a sign of her prominence.

Life and work

Priscilla and her husband Aquila had left Rome after the emperor Claudius ordered all Jews out of the city, and had settled in Corinth as tentmakers when Paul arrived and, sharing their trade, stayed and worked alongside them (Acts 18:1-3). They later traveled with Paul to Ephesus, where he left them behind to continue the work while he moved on (Acts 18:18-19).

In Ephesus, the couple encountered Apollos, a gifted and eloquent Jewish preacher who taught accurately about Jesus but knew only the baptism of John. 'They invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately' (Acts 18:26) — a striking scene of lay believers, one of them a woman, privately correcting and deepening the theology of a public teacher.

One detail scholars regularly point to: in four of the six New Testament mentions of the couple, Priscilla is named before Aquila (Acts 18:18, 18:26, Romans 16:3, 2 Timothy 4:19) — reversing the expected convention of naming the husband first, which many read as a sign that she was the more prominent or more active teacher of the two. Paul calls them both 'my co-workers in Christ Jesus,' noting that 'they risked their lives for me' (Romans 16:3-4), and a church met in their home (1 Corinthians 16:19, Romans 16:5).

Occupation: Tentmaker and teacher
Places: Rome, until expelled under Claudius; then Corinth, Ephesus, and likely back to Rome later.

Extra-biblical evidence

No extra-biblical source names Priscilla directly; the Roman expulsion of Jews that brought her and Aquila to Corinth is independently attested by Suetonius (see Aquila's entry), but Priscilla herself does not appear in any non-biblical record.

Scripture references

Acts 18:1-3 — Meets Paul in Corinth as a fellow tentmaker
Acts 18:26 — Corrects Apollos's theology alongside Aquila
Romans 16:3-4 — Paul calls the couple co-workers who risked their lives for him
1 Corinthians 16:19 — A church meets in their house

Reflect

Priscilla corrected a gifted speaker privately and kindly — how do you handle correcting, and being corrected?

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