Unsung Heroes-Aquila And Priscilla

Introduction: This couple is only mentioned a few times in the New Testament, but with each mention it’s clear they were serving the Lord. They are truly unsung heroes of the Bible!

1 Ministering with Paul in Corinth

Text: Acts 18:1-3. KJV 1 After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth; 2 And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them. 3 And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.

We don’t know much about Aquila and Priscilla except that he was a Jew from Pontus, originally, but had apparently moved to Rome and somehow met and married Priscilla. Then, when Claudius (Roman emperor at the time) commanded all Jews to leave Rome, he and his wife came to Corinth. I’ve sometimes wondered why they would choose Corinth, but one reason may be location. Corinth was one of the five largest cities in the Roman Empire in those days and they may have thought they could make a better living there than other places (pure conjecture, of course).

But while they were in Corinth, they met Paul, and the three of them worked together as tentmakers. That had to be a difficult or at least tiring job, as some describe tents as made of goats’ hair spun into thread, or, as others have explained, stitching pieces of leather together. However they did it, they kept at this trade for some time in order to support themselves while they tried to reach people for Jesus! This went on until it was time for Paul to leave.

2 Ministering in Ephesus

Text, Acts 18:18-19, KJV: 18 And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow. 19 And he came to Ephesus, and left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews.

We don’t know much about how long Paul ministered in Ephesus this time but he did come back according to Acts chapter 19. After he left, Acts 18:24-28 tells how Apollos, a Messianic Alexandrian Jew, came to Ephesus. He then preached the “things of the Lord” even though he only knew, it seems, about the ministry of John the Baptist. Aquila and Priscilla explained “the way of God more perfectly (18:26). They didn’t take any credit for any of this; rather, they just wanted to help a preacher understand the Word of God better.

Don’t you wish we had more couples with that kind of Bible knowledge and desire to help?!

Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)