Priscilla and Aquila
Pastor Zubeda Sing · 2 min read
“There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife, Priscilla, because [the Roman Emperor] Claudius had issued an edict that all the Jews were to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them; and they worked together for they were tent-makers”
Tent-makers. All young rabbinical students had to learn a trade. The province of Cilicia, from which Paul came, was noted for its cloth made from goats’ hair. It is likely that Paul’s skill involved making such cloth.
Priscilla and Aquila faithfully nurtured and developed others wherever they went. They were perhaps the early church’s best-known “lay leaders.” Tentmakers by trade, they had moved to Corinth, “because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome” (Acts 18:2). Paul met them in Corinth and stayed and worked with them while he ministered there. They were generous and very willing to share their house. Their passion was the growth of the church as was Paul’s.
As Priscilla and Aquila had befriended Paul in Corinth, so they now befriended Apollos in Ephesus. But they did more than merely befriend Apollos; “they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately” so he could be more effective in ministry. Several times during his ministry, Paul publicly acknowledged the work of this husband and wife team.
God will always send help from men and women who will come alongside us to help us fulfill the mandate on our lives.
From the October 2026 issue, themed THE MANDATE & MISSION OF A THRIVER.
