Bio

 

 Priscilla and her husband Aquila happened to meet St. Paul while in Corinth - they had fled there when Emperor Claudius ordered Jewish families to leave the city of Rome. While there, St. Paul lived and worked with the two of them, since their trade, like his, was tent-making. As he did so, he either taught them about Christianity then, or they had already become Christians, and soon became his most well-versed companions.

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Priscilla and Aquila later followed Paul on his journey to Ephesus, where he was to train Apollos, who would soon become one of the most widespread early Christian speakers. While there, however, the two of them heard Apollos preaching and were obliged to correct him on a few things! The pair stayed in Ephesus for about 3 years, eventually returning to Rome, we know, because Paul later greets them in a letter directed there, even praising them highly for some sort of act in which they risked their lives for him. It is clear that their home in Rome was the meeting place for the early Roman Christians, which of course also introduced much danger into their lives. Whether the two were martyred or died naturally is unknown, as well as where this may have taken place, but it was most likely they were killed in Rome around the same time as Paul.

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Priscilla and Aquila were dedicated friends of Paul, helping him found Churches and preach. It is also questioned as to whether Priscilla was the author of the anonymous Letter to the Hebrews.This is debated because of it’s uncommon anonymous nature, which may have been necessary if the audience would have disbelieved a female author.

In addition, Priscilla’s name being mentioned with her husband’s each time, and usually before it, gives an indication that she was a more important early Church leader or held the role of a presbyter. Regardless, it means that she had her own agency and was not the property of her husband, as was common, but rather his partner in marriage, work, and ministry.