Aquila and Priscilla of Rome | |
|---|---|
_-_MPM_V_IV_118_(cropped).jpg) Detail fromPaul staying in the house of Saints Aquila and Priscilla byJan van de Venne, 17th cent. | |
| Holy Couple andMartyrs | |
| Born | Unknown |
| Died | Rome |
| Venerated in | |
| Canonized | Pre-Congregation |
| Feast |
|
| Attributes | Crown of Martyrdom Martyr's palm Cross |
| Patronage | |
Priscilla[a] andAquila[b] were afirst-centuryChristian missionary married couple described in theNew Testament. Aquila is traditionally listed among theSeventy Disciples. They lived, worked, and traveled with theApostle Paul, who described them as his "fellow workers in Christ Jesus" (Romans 16:3).[1]
Priscilla and Aquila are described in the New Testament as providing a presence that strengthened theearly Christian churches. Paul was generous in his recognition and acknowledgment of his indebtedness to them (Romans 16:3–4). Together, they are credited with instructingApollos, a major evangelist of the first century, and "[explaining] to him the way of God more accurately" (Acts 18:26).
It is thought by some to be possible, in light of her apparent prominence, that Priscilla held the office ofpresbyter.[2] She also is thought by some to be the anonymous author of theEpistle to the Hebrews.[3]
They are mentioned six times in four different books of theNew Testament, always named as a couple and never individually. Of those six references, Aquila's name is mentioned first only twice: and one of the times on account of it being Paul's first encounter with them, probably through Aquila first.
Note: This is not KJV; in the KJV, Acts 18:26 lists their names as "Aquila and Priscilla" making the count three and three.
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Priscilla and Aquila weretentmakers as was Paul.[5] Priscilla and Aquila had been among theJews expelled from Rome by theRoman EmperorClaudius in the year 49 as written bySuetonius. They ended up inCorinth. Paul lived with Priscilla and Aquila for approximately 18 months. Then the couple started out to accompany Paul when he proceeded toSyria, but stopped atEphesus in theRoman province of Asia, now part of modernTurkey.
In1 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.[6] 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 thefollowers of Cephas (possibly the apostlePeter), 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.
InRomans 16:3–4, thought to have been written in 56 or 57,[7] Paul sends his greetings to Priscilla and Aquila and proclaims that both of them "risked their necks" to save Paul's life.
Tradition reports that Aquila and Priscilla weremartyred together.[8][9]
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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 forPrisca which was her formal name. She is often thought to have been the first example of a female preacher or teacher in early church history. Coupled with her husband, she was a celebrated missionary, and a friend and co-worker of Paul.[10]
While the view is not widely held among scholars, some scholars have suggested that Priscilla was the author of theBook of Hebrews. Although acclaimed for its artistry, originality, and literary excellence, it is one of the few books in theNew Testament with author anonymity.[3] 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.[3][11]
She is the only Priscilla named in theNew Testament. The fact that she is always mentioned with her husband, Aquila, disambiguates her from different women revered as saints in Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Lutheranism, such as (1) Priscilla of the Roman Glabrio family, the wife ofQuintus Cornelius Pudens, who according to some traditions hostedSt. Peter circa AD 42, and (2) a third-century virgin martyr namedPriscilla and also called Prisca.
Aquila, husband of Priscilla, was originally fromPontus[12]Acts 18:2 and also was aJewish Christian. According to church tradition, Aquila did not dwell long in Rome: the Apostle Paul is said to have made him a bishop inAsia Minor. TheApostolic Constitutions identify Aquila, along with Nicetas, as the first bishops of Asia Minor (7.46).
This couple were among the earliest known Christian missionaries in the first century. InActs 18:24–28, Luke reports the couple explaining Jesus' baptism toApollos, an important Jewish-Christian evangelist in Ephesus. Paul indicates Apollos is an apostle,[13]: pp.230–231 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".[14]
Amongst churches today, this passage is often held in perceived tension with1 Timothy 2:12–14, which the reads, "I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor." Opponents of female pastorship cite his reference to Adam and Eve to be indicating that the issue is a matter of universal gender propriety.
Advocates of female pastorship perceive this as an imperative that was a reflection of cultural and legal restrictions of the day. They cite1 Corinthians 11:11–12, where Paul writes "Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God" and his affirmation of Priscilla's instruction of the prominent evangelist Apollos as evidence that Paul was acceding to the law and customs of his day.
The appearance of the two in the Acts of the Apostles helps to provide achronological synchronism for the chronology of Paul's life. According toActs 18:2f, before Paul meets them in Corinth, they were part of a group of Jews whom the EmperorClaudius 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; soDio Cassius,Roman History 60.6.6), or during his nexpulsion took place: some, like Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, argue for the earlier year,[15] while others, like Joseph Fitzmyer, argue for the later year.[16]
Priscilla and Aquila are regarded as saints in most Christian churches thatcanonize saints. In theCatholic Church, theRoman Martyrology lists their feast as July 8.[12] Most churches in The Anglican Communion follow suit.[17] TheGreek Orthodox Church and theAntiochian Orthodox Church commemorate them together on February 13.[18][19] The Greek Orthodox Church recognizes Aquila separately as an apostle on July 14.[9]
