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Priscilla (meaning worthy or venerable) was a married woman who served Christ with her husband, Aquila (Ro. 16:3-5). Priscilla is an affectionate diminutive of Prisca (2 Ti. 4:19).

Aquila was a Jew, but we aren’t told whether or not Priscilla was a Jew (Ac. 18:2). Her name was used by other Roman women.

Priscilla and Aquila were believers (“in Christ Jesus,” Ro. 16:3). Probably they were led to Christ by Paul.

Priscilla and Aquila were forced to leave Rome by Claudius Caesar (Ac. 18:1-3).

 - This is a hint of the persecution that the Jews have experienced over the past 2,000 years of their diaspora or scattering.

 - Here we are reminded of God’s sovereignty over human events. Claudius was acting out his own will, thinking that he was in control of people’s lives as the master of a great empire, but he was a mere (unwitting) servant of Almighty God. From their side, Aquila and Priscila were simply fleeing persecution, but God was drawing them to a “chance” encounter with His faithful preacher Paul so they could hear the gospel and be saved and know and love Him forever.

Priscilla and Aquila settled in Corinth (Ac. 18:1-2).

 - Corinth was a prosperous commercial city. It was located at the crossroads between Greece to the north and the Peloponnesus to the south, and between the Aegean Sea to the east and the Adriatic Sea to the west. It was located on the isthmus between the two seas and was at the center of a great travel route. It was served by two sea ports, Cenchrea to the east and Lechaeum to the west. “Smaller ships were actually dragged over wooden rollers across the isthmus for the three and one-half miles between Cenchrea and Lechaeum in order to avoid the long and dangerous trip around Cape Malea at the southern tip of the Peloponnesus, while cargoes of larger ships were carried overland from port to port” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary). The city was destroyed in 146 BC by the Roman general Lucius Mummius for revolting against Rome, but it was rebuilt by command of Julius Caesar in 46 BC. In 44 BC it became a Roman colony, and in 27 BC it became the capital of the Roman province of Achaia. This was its position when Priscilla and Aquila moved there. Its location created great wealth, but it was also a city infamous for immorality. The worship of Aphrodite (Diana, Venus) was attended by temple prostitution and lascivious feasts. The verb “to Corinthianize” (korinthiazesthai) became slang for fornication. The presence of large numbers of sailors contributed to the bad reputation.

Priscilla and Aquila were tentmakers (Ac. 18:3).

 - Paul lived with Priscilla and Aquila and worked with them in the tent-making business. They cut and sewed tents from various fabrics. There would have been a great market for tents of all sizes and price ranges. There were many places where lodging was not available for travelers and they would need tents. Armies on the move lived in tents (2 Sa. 11:11; 1 Ki. 20:12). When on campaigns, the Roman legions lived in tents. Traveling rulers maintained portable courts composed of tents.

Paul stayed with Priscilla and Aquila for the first year and a half of the church’s life.

 - Priscilla and Aquila probably set up shop in Corinth because of the commercial opportunities, but Paul set up shop there for the gospel opportunities. As a major Roman city and a major crossroads, it was an ideal place to establish a church that could be a missionary base for reaching that area. The fact that the city was renowned for lascivious living did not stop Paul. He knew that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God to save sinners and change the unholy into the holy. The darker the place the brighter the gospel light shines.

When Paul left Corinth, Priscilla and Aquila traveled with him to Ephesus (Ac. 18:18-19).

Priscilla and Aquila were Paul’s helpers (“my helpers in Christ Jesus,” Ro. 16:3).

 - Again, we see the great value of servitude in God’s eyes. They had a desire to help Paul in the work that God had called him to, and they were content to help him. They were happy to be Paul’s helpers. Like, Phebe, they were servants, which is the highest calling of God. They lived to please God and to be of service to the Christ who saved them in whatever way they could.

 - They were the firstfruits of multitudes of husband and wife teams down through the centuries who have devoted themselves to the service of Jesus Christ in this dark world.

Priscilla and Aquila were unashamed of their faith in Christ and risked arrest and death in supporting Paul and standing for the gospel (Ro. 16:4).

 - The term “laid down their necks” refers to one of the methods of capital punishment in Rome. The condemned would be forced to lay his neck on a block of wood or bow his neck before the executioner, and the executioner would slice through the neck with a sword or broad axe.

 - We are reminded that faith in Christ casts out fear. The shield of faith quenches all of the devil’s fiery darts of unbelief and fear. “Faith in Christ and love to Him ought to turn cowards into heroes, to destroy thoughts of self, and to make the utmost self-sacrifice natural, blessed, and easy” (Alexander MacLaren).

 - Paul was persecuted frequently and was often in danger of death, and Priscilla and Aquila were not ashamed to be associated with him. They were willing to share in whatever pain he endured. They didn’t ask him to move somewhere else so they could live without danger. They didn’t distance themselves from him.

 - Unlike so many professing Christians, Priscilla and Aquila did not put comfort and self-preservation before God’s will.

Priscilla and Aquila were honored by the churches (Ro. 16:4).

 - Zealous servants of Christ should be loved and honored by the churches. We are reminded of the house of Stephanas, who addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints. Paul instructed the church to “submit yourselves unto such” (1 Co. 16:15-16).

Priscilla worked with her husband in starting churches or at least hosting churches in their home.

 - Two churches are specifically said to have met in their home: one at Rome (Ro. 16:5) and one at Ephesus (1 Co. 16:19). In addition, the church at Corinth probably met in their house, at least in its early days.

 - Priscilla and Aquila had one mind to serve Christ together, to preach the gospel, to teach the saints. This reminds us of the importance of marrying a believer of like mind and marrying in God’s will.

 - Their business and their home belonged to Christ and was devoted to His service. They lived like pilgrims in this present world. It is evident that Priscilla’s heart was not devoted to the vain things of this world; her passion was Christ and the church and the gospel and Bible truth. She loved Paul the apostle, not Paul the Beatle!

 - We don’t know if Aquila was an elder or a leader in the churches that met in their homes. He is not mentioned as such, but at the least he was willing to open his home to the assemblies. He was willing to give of his time and money to support the cause of Christ.

 - Priscilla and Aquila probably made a good income, since they had homes large enough to host the assemblies.

Priscilla assisted her husband in instructing Apollos (Acts 18:24-26).

 - Aquila and Priscilla were always involved in the Lord’s service. They took every opportunity to share the gospel and help others come to the truth of God’s Word.

 - After Paul left Ephesus, Apollos came to the city, and Aquila and Priscilla brought him into their home and helped him come to a sound doctrinal stance. The Bible says “they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God.” The pronoun “they” refers both to Aquila and Priscilla.

 - This is an example of a wife involved in informal teaching of the Bible in the home under her husband’s headship. As a newly saved 23-year-old Christian, I was helped like this by a godly woman in the first church I joined. Jerry and Joanne Hoovener had been members of the largest Southern Baptist Church in town, but they had gotten fed up with the lukewarmness and worldliness and started a fundamentalist Bible-believing church. Jerry operated a gas station, and Joanne did various things to help with the income but her greatest desire was to lead people to Christ and help them grow. She was a cheerful, passionate disciple of Jesus Christ who spread the love of Christ and raised the “spiritual temperature” wherever she went. She had no authority in the church and no official teaching ministry as such, but she and her husband opened their large home to young people and created a godly atmosphere for spiritual healing and discipleship. In that context, in casual conversation, she was able to help me and other single young men by sharing favorite verses, describing her own experiences with the Lord, and recommending good reading material.

On three occasions, Paul mentions Priscilla first, before her husband (Ac. 18:18; Ro. 16:3; 2 Ti. 4:19).

 - This might mean that she was the more zealous and prominent of the two. It could mean that her husband spent more of his time with the tent business while she spent more of her time in the spiritual ministry, or it could mean that Paul was closer to her. I know many couples of which the wife is the more zealous disciple of Christ, stronger in knowledge of God’s Word, and wiser spiritually.

 - Whatever the reason, it is a fact that Paul valued Priscilla as a servant of the Lord and honored her, and this is recorded in Scripture for our learning.

The last time we see Priscilla and Aquila is in 2 Timothy 4:19.

 - This was Paul‘s final epistle, written soon before his death at the hands of the Emperor Nero. He took the occasion to wave to these old friends one final time before launching out into eternal glory.

 - We learn a lot in this brief mention. Priscilla and Aquila are still married; they are still faithful servants of Christ; they are still Paul’s loving friends; they are still commended by Paul. They never got offended and angry at Paul, never turned against Paul, never turned away from Paul’s teaching and practice. They never forsook Paul for the world, as Demas did. They never left a sound New Testament Pauline church for a weaker one. What a wonderful Christian testimony!

 - Priscilla and Aquila portray the true disciple of Christ. The true disciple of Christ begins his Christian life by repenting toward God and putting his faith 100% in Jesus Christ for salvation (Ac. 20:21), thus being born again and being placed in a new spiritual position before God with his feet turned to a new path of life. From that time forth, he continues steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers, as did the first Christians at Jerusalem (Ac 2:42). Saving faith keeps on keeping on. “For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul” (Heb. 10:36-39).