Priscilla: co-worker with Paul

Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Act 18:1-3:  And after these things Paul departed from Athens and came to Corinth. And finding a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy with his wife Priscilla (because Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome) Paul came to them. And because he was of the same trade, he stayed and worked with them; for they were tentmakers by occupation. 

Paul, Priscilla and Aquila were tentmakers. Priscilla and Aquila had been among the Jews expelled from Rome by the Roman Emperor Claudius in the year 49.. They ended up in Corinth. Paul lived with Priscilla and Aquila for approximately 18 months. Then the couple started out to accompany Paul when he to Syria. However, they but stopped at Ephesus , now part of modern Turkey.

1Corinthias 16:19  The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.

 Paul passed on the greetings of Priscilla and Aquila to their friends in Corinth, indicating that the couple were with him. Paul founded the church in Corinth. Priscilla and Aquila must have been involved in the founding of that church. This happened before 54 AD, when Claudius died and the expulsion of the Jews from Rome was lifted.

Rom 16:3-4:  Greet Priscilla and Aquila 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. 

 The book of Romans is thought to have been written in 56 or 57.   Paul sends his greetings to Priscilla and Aquila who risked their lives to save his.

Priscilla was a woman of Jewish heritage and one of the earliest known Christian converts who lived in Rome. She is often thought to have been the first example of a female preacher or teacher in early church history. With her husband, she was missionary, a friend and minister of the word, and a friend of and a co-worker with Paul.

This couple were among the earliest known Christian missionaries in the first century. In Acts 18:24–28, Luke reports the couple explaining Jesus' baptism to Apollos, an important Jewish-Christian evangelist in Ephesus. Paul indicates Apollos is an apostle,^{[15]: 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".^[16]

Tradition claims that Aquila and Priscilla were martyred together.