Who was Priscilla?
When they lived The first century, between Rome, Corinth and Ephesus
In short
Priscilla was a first-century Christian missionary, always named alongside her husband Aquila. Tentmakers who had come from Rome, they took Paul in at Corinth, travelled with him to Ephesus and completed the instruction of Apollos. The couple’s homes served as churches in at least two cities.
- Written by
- Raphael Navarro Schmitt
- Reviewed by
- Maria Luisa Navarro Schmitt
- Published on
- Reading time
- 7 min read
Priscilla appears six times in the New Testament, and on all six occasions beside Aquila. There is not a single line in which one of them appears without the other, which is already unusual: Paul’s companions are normally named individually.
The material is small but dense. In a handful of verses the text supplies the couple’s trade, the city they came from, three cities they lived in, the name of the man they instructed, and the information that they risked their lives for Paul. For a person who never speaks in the text, that is a great deal.
From Rome to Corinth, with a trade
The couple enters the narrative of Acts as refugees. Aquila is introduced as a Jew born in Pontus, and the two arrive at Corinth from Italy because an imperial decree of Claudius ordered the Jews out of Rome. Roman historians record an episode of that kind, though the precise date is disputed.
Paul seeks them out for a professional reason: he had the same trade. He lodges in their house and works alongside them. It is the most concrete picture the New Testament gives of how Paul supported himself — at Corinth he did not live on donations, he lived on manual work, inside another family’s workshop.
2And upon finding a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently arrived from Italy with Priscilla his wife, (because Claudius had ordered all Jews to depart from Rome,) he met with them.
3And because he was of the same trade, he lodged with them and was working. (Now they were tentmakers by trade.)
Two verses carrying a lot of background: the origin, the imperial decree, the arrival and the shared trade. Note that here, in the introduction, Aquila’s name comes first — the order will change in the mentions that follow.
The order of the names
It is a small detail with a large consequence, and it is worth checking in your own Bible. When naming a couple, the convention of the period was to begin with the husband. Across the six mentions of this couple, in this edition, Priscilla’s name opens the sentence in four: when they leave Corinth with Paul, when they take Apollos aside, in the greeting of Romans 16 and in the greeting of 2 Timothy 4.
Ancient and modern commentators have read that as a sign that she held a prominent place in the community, or came from a higher social background. It is a reasonable inference and remains an inference: the text records the order and does not explain it.
Another point about names: the letters use the form Prisca and Acts uses Priscilla. It is the same person. One is the shorter form, the other the longer, and editions vary in which they use where.
18Yet truly, Paul, after he had remained for many more days, having said goodbye to the brothers, sailed into Syria, and with him were Priscilla and Aquila. Now he had shaved his head in Cenchreae, for he had made a vow.
19And he arrived at Ephesus, and he left them behind there. Yet truly, he himself, entering into the synagogue, was disputing with the Jews.
Here she comes first. Note the rest of the verse: the couple sails with Paul towards Syria and is then left at Ephesus while he travels on. They are not occasional companions — they are left behind with a city in their care.
The case of Apollos
Luke describes Apollos with rare praise: an Alexandrian, eloquent, powerful in the Scriptures, fervent, teaching accurately. And in the middle of that praise, one qualification: he knew only the baptism of John.
The couple hear him in the synagogue at Ephesus and do something remarkable in social terms. They do not correct him publicly and do not denounce him: they draw him aside and set out the Way for him in fuller detail. A preacher of acknowledged brilliance is instructed in private by a pair of artisans.
The verbs of the verse are plural, and the text divides no roles between the two of them. Much of the discussion about women teaching in the early church rests on this verse — and what the passage states without dispute is that the instruction was given by both, in private, and that Apollos went on from there to keep preaching.
24Now a certain Jew named Apollo, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man who was powerful with the Scriptures, arrived at Ephesus.
25He was learned in the Way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching the things that are of Jesus, but knowing only the baptism of John.
26And so, he began to act faithfully in the synagogue. And when Priscilla and Aquila had heard him, they took him aside and expounded the Way of the Lord to him more thoroughly.
Three verses with the portrait of Apollos and the scene of the instruction. In this edition Priscilla is named before Aquila here. Note that the text records no resistance from him, and that the narrative keeps treating him as a figure of weight afterwards.
The house as a church
Two letters report a church meeting in the couple’s house: one at Ephesus, when Paul writes to the Corinthians, and another at Rome, when he writes to the Romans. In other words, they returned to Rome after Claudius died and resumed there what they had been doing at Ephesus.
There were no Christian buildings in the first centuries. A church was somebody’s house, and whoever supplied the house held a structural place in the community — providing the room, the table and, in practice, lodging for whoever arrived. To record two houses in two cities is to record two communities they carried.
And there is the line Paul writes in Romans 16 that he writes about nobody else: that the two of them put their own necks at risk for his life, and that the gratitude is not his alone — every Gentile congregation shares it. The episode this refers to is never narrated anywhere.
3Greet Prisca and Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus,
4who have risked their own necks on behalf of my life, for whom I give thanks, not I alone, but also all the churches of the Gentiles;
5and greet the church at their house. Greet Epaenetus, my beloved, who is among the first-fruits of Asia in Christ.
The warmest greeting in the list of Romans 16, and the only one that mentions risk of life. Her name opens the sentence, and the church meeting in their house is mentioned immediately afterwards.
19The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla greet you greatly in the Lord, with the church of their household, where I also am a guest.
The other house church, this one at Ephesus, from where Paul is writing. The mention is made in passing, among the closing greetings — which is exactly what shows how ordinary the arrangement was.
19Greet Prisca, and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus.
The last mention of the couple in the New Testament, in a letter written near the end of Paul’s life. After years, three cities and a risk of death, they are still on the list of people he wants to greet.
What the text does not say
Biblical figures gather layers of tradition that Scripture does not support. Telling the two apart does not diminish the story — it gives back what is actually written.
What is commonly said
Priscilla was the wife who accompanied her husband in his ministry.
What Scripture says
The two never appear apart, and the text subordinates neither to the other in any of the six mentions. In this edition her name opens the sentence in four of them — Acts 18:18, Acts 18:26, Romans 16:3 and 2 Timothy 4:19 — which runs against the usual order for naming a couple in that setting.
What is commonly said
Priscilla wrote the Letter to the Hebrews.
What Scripture says
Hebrews names no author, and doubt about who wrote it is ancient — it was already circulating among Christian writers in the early centuries. The attribution to Priscilla is a modern hypothesis. Nothing in the letter confirms it, and nothing rules it out.
Where it comes from: The proposal comes from Adolf von Harnack, in a study published in 1900 on the addressee and the author of the letter. It is often cited as though it were ancient tradition; it is not.
What is commonly said
Aquila instructed Apollos, with Priscilla helping.
What Scripture says
The verbs of the verse are plural, and the text divides no roles between the two. It says the couple drew him aside and set out the Way for him in fuller detail — nothing beyond that, in either direction.
What is commonly said
They were a simple artisan couple with no means.
What Scripture says
Two letters record a church meeting in their house, in two different cities and at different times. Hosting gatherings at home required space and resources. The text calls nobody rich, but it describes a situation incompatible with poverty.
Where this person appears
2And upon finding a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently arrived from Italy with Priscilla his wife, (because Claudius had ordered all Jews to depart from Rome,) he met with them.
3And because he was of the same trade, he lodged with them and was working. (Now they were tentmakers by trade.)
The couple introduced: their origin, the forced departure from Rome, the meeting with Paul and the shared trade.
18Yet truly, Paul, after he had remained for many more days, having said goodbye to the brothers, sailed into Syria, and with him were Priscilla and Aquila. Now he had shaved his head in Cenchreae, for he had made a vow.
19And he arrived at Ephesus, and he left them behind there. Yet truly, he himself, entering into the synagogue, was disputing with the Jews.
The journey with Paul and the stay at Ephesus. The first mention in which her name opens the sentence.
24Now a certain Jew named Apollo, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man who was powerful with the Scriptures, arrived at Ephesus.
25He was learned in the Way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching the things that are of Jesus, but knowing only the baptism of John.
26And so, he began to act faithfully in the synagogue. And when Priscilla and Aquila had heard him, they took him aside and expounded the Way of the Lord to him more thoroughly.
The meeting with Apollos and the instruction given in private, by both of them.
3Greet Prisca and Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus,
4who have risked their own necks on behalf of my life, for whom I give thanks, not I alone, but also all the churches of the Gentiles;
5and greet the church at their house. Greet Epaenetus, my beloved, who is among the first-fruits of Asia in Christ.
The greeting with the risk of life, and the church meeting in their house at Rome.
19The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla greet you greatly in the Lord, with the church of their household, where I also am a guest.
The house church at Ephesus, mentioned in passing.
19Greet Prisca, and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus.
The last greeting to the couple in the New Testament.