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Priscilla: A Woman Teacher in the Bible

Priscilla: A Woman Teacher in the Bible

Last updated on: April 24, 2023 at 10:38 am by B. J. Oropeza

Priscilla: A Woman Teacher in the Bible 2023-04-24T10:38:37-07:00 B. J. Oropeza

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In Romans, Paul ends his letter by recommending Phoebe, a benefactor, to his recipients, and then he greets a number of friends and colleagues. Among these are a number of women, the first of which is Prisca, better known as Priscilla. We discover some important details about her in Romans as well as elsewhere in the Bible. One of her roles is teacher.

Priscilla and art sculpture of an ancient woman

Yamen, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons (Attribution link below)

Priscilla in Romans

Paul writes about Priscilla in Romans 16:3-5:

“Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who for my life laid down their own neck, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the gentiles–and the church in their home.” (16:3-5a).

Certain versions of the Bible, such as the King James Version and Vulgate, use the name Priscilla, but the best and majority of Greek manuscripts use Prisca. Paul prefers to name Prisca (1 Corinthians 16:19; 2 Timothy 4:19), which is a more formal and respectful than Priscilla. As a diminutive, Priscilla is less formal and could mean “little Prisca.” Luke uses the name Priscilla in Acts 18. Since few know her name as Prisca, we will use “Priscilla” while at the same time recognizing that the translation in Romans is more accurately rendered “Prisca.”

Why is Priscilla mentioned first among the Romans 16 greetings?

Paul does not seem to have a particular order in mind regarding all those he sends greetings to in Romans. However, he does seem to begin first with the persons he knows best, which is Priscilla and Aquila, a married couple. He gives more descriptions about them than others he greets towards the end of the list. The latter he sometimes simply names without description (16:10–11, 14–15). (The more personal connections he could make by naming individuals in Rome, the more likely it will be for the congregation as a whole to receive him with gladness once he comes to their city.)

We notice that Priscilla, not Aquila, is named first. This is no accident. Paul is not in the habit of naming the wife first. Another married couple on this list in Romans 16, Andronicus and Junia, has the husband named first. Paul names Priscilla first probably because she was more active in ministry than her husband, Aquila. Likewise, it is possible that she possessed a higher social standing than her husband. Some suggest she came from the prominent Roman family of Acilius. The catacomb traditionally marked for her comes from the country estate of the Acilian family.[1]

Priscilla, a fellow colleague of Paul’s in the mission of the gospel

Prisca and Aquila are fellow workers. As a co-worker “in Christ,” Paul’s association with Priscilla extends beyond manual labor or common trade.[2] She shares the same faith as Paul and is involved in his missionary activity of proclaiming the gospel. This title of co-worker (συνεργός/synergos) he gives to others involved in his ministry, such as Luke, Mark, Apollos, Ephaphroditus, and others (Philemon 24; 1 Corinthians 3:9 [cf. v. 6]; Philippians 2:25).

The Acts 18:1–20 Connection

We read from Acts 18:1–20 of this husband and wife team who lived in Corinth at that time. Priscilla and her husband had been banished from Rome by the edict of Claudius Caesar. The emperor kicked out a number Jews on account of an insurrection having to do with the followers of “Chrestus” (probably Christ whom they preached).

This means that the couple, or at least Aquila, was Jewish. Since they were both in the same trade, the couple probably owned or rented a shop in Corinth with a loft to live in, and they let Paul lodge with them there and work in their shop.[3]

The couple seems to have some financial means despite their modest trade; later they apparently return to another house of theirs in Rome (Rom 16:3–5), and they also have another one where congregation members meet in Ephesus (1 Corinthians 16:19; cf. Acts 18:18–19, 24–26; 2 Timothy 4:19).

In Acts 18:2–3 Aquila’s name appears first and here his trade is mentioned. Later on, however, in relation to Paul’s missions, Luke names Pricilla first (Acts 18:18). Luke, similar to Paul, may have recognized her as more prominent worker for Christ than her husband.

Priscilla, a Teacher of Scripture

Perhaps most prominently, Priscilla is also named before her husband when teaching a recent convert, Apollos, a more accurate interpretation of Scripture, the Old Testament (Acts 18:26).

We can adduce from this that she was a well-educated woman who read and knew the Scriptures well, probably better than Aquila. What is significant about this is that here we have an example of a woman teaching a man (not a child) the Scriptures.

This narrative works against the idea that Paul’s ministry prohibited women teaching men the word of God. Acts 18 lends credibility to scholars who argue that women keeping silent in Paul’s churches (1 Corinthians 14; 2 Timothy 2) has to do with unique situations in those particular churches. It follows that an absolute and perpetual ban on all women teachers of all churches, particularly those who teach men, was never the intention of these texts.

Priscilla and Aquila’s Sacrifice

In Romans, our apostle adds that Priscilla and Aquila laid down their own necks for the sake of this own life. In numerous Greco-Roman texts, the sense of the verb hypotithemi (to “lay down”) has to do with mortgaging or offering something as pledge or security.[4] This is commercial language in which translation of “laid down” can have the sense of “mortgaged their own necks.”[5] That is, Priscilla and Aquila perhaps placed themselves under some sort of financial burden involving their own property as a pledge or security, for Paul’s release from prison (notice a similar event involving Jason in Acts 17:5–9).

Paul says he owes them much thanks, that is, gratitude for his life, as do “all” the Gentile churches. Although the couple might be well-known among Paul’s churches, all churches seems an exaggeration. Or is it that Paul is thinking about how they saved his life, and thus he could continue his ministry to all gentile churches because of them?

The Church Met in Priscilla and Aquila’s Home

In any case, the couple at very least allowed their homes to be used as churches. Similar to their homes in Corinth and Ephesus, Priscilla and Aquila opened up their house for a congregation in Rome to meet in it (Romans 16:5). As seasoned missionaries they probably lead this congregation, and Pricilla would teach them the Scriptures.

Congregations in their homes enabled many gentiles to come to faith and grow in their faith. As well, by Priscilla training Apollos with the word of God, all the gentiles Apollos reached she indirectly helped.

Notes

[1] E.g., William Sanday and Arthur C. Headlam, Romans, International Critical Commentary (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1902), 419–20.

[2] Cf. Frank Thielman, Romans, 713, who references the church father Theodoret of Cyrus coming up with this insight.

[3] Σκηνοποιός/Skenopoios can be either a stage-set designer for theatre productions (despite potential Jewish religious objections: Bauer, Danker, Arndt, and Gingrich (BDAG) Lexicon, 928–29), or the trade of producing linen awnings (Peter Lampe, From Paul to Valentinus, 187–89), or tent-maker (Moulton and Milligan Lexicon, 577), or by extension, leather worker (Wilhelm Michaelis, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament 7.393–94).

[4] E.g., Herodotus Hist. 2.136.1; Isocrates Or. 21.2; Demosthenes Or. 28.17–18; and further, e.g., Liddell/Scott/Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon, 1998–99.

[5] BDAG, 1042 (italics original).

Image: Yamen, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Category: Ancient Roman statues in the Mahdia Museum https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ancient_Roman_statues_in_the_Mahdia_Museum_12082020_003.jpg

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About B. J. Oropeza

B. J. Oropeza is Professor of Biblical and Religious Studies at Azusa Pacific University and Seminary. Among his many works are publications on Paul the Apostle, such as Perspectives on Paul: Five Views (Baker Academic), and a commentary on 1 Corinthians (New Covenant Commentary series, Cascade Books). You can read more about the author here.

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