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Prisca and Aquila were a Jewish couple who made their living making
tents. They met Paul, who shared this
occupation, around 52 CE in Corinth (Acts 18:2-3). Paul converted them and stayed with them
while preaching to households nearby.
“Crispus, the official of the synagogue, became a believer in the Lord,
together with all his household; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul
became believers and were baptized” (Acts 18:8).
Eventually
Paul's preaching got him into trouble with the leaders of the synagogue who brought him up on charges and had him beaten before the tribunal. After he was released, Paul went to
Ephesus. Prisca and Aquila went with him
and helped him to establish a church there (Acts 18:18).
After
Paul traveled on to Antioch, Prisca and Aquila stayed behind to instruct new
converts in the faith in Ephesus. One of Prisca's
converts was Apollos, an Alexandrian who became a major evangelist with a
following of his own. Apollos was
well-read and an eloquent speaker, but he stirred up controversy because he had
a few of his facts wrong. Prisca took him aside to explain the Way of God to
him more accurately.
In
his letter to the Romans, Paul thanks Prisca and Aquila and acknowledges the
risks the couple took in supporting him and the church in Ephesus (Romans
16:3-4).
