Aquila and Priscilla

Aquila and Priscilla appear in the Pauline letters as a married pair named together in three greetings — Rom 16:3, 1Co 16:19, and 2Ti 4:19. In the Pauline correspondence Priscilla is consistently called by the fuller name "Prisca." The same letters tie the couple to Paul's working circle, to a personal risk borne for him, and to a church that meets in their house.

Named Together as Paul's Coworkers

The couple's first appearance in the Pauline letters is the opening line of the long greeting-list of Romans. Rom 16:3 reads, "Greet Prisca and Aquila my coworkers in Christ Jesus." The wife is named first; the joint title given to them is "coworkers"; the sphere of the work is "in Christ Jesus." Husband and wife are named under one greeting and under a single shared title.

The same pairing closes 2 Timothy. 2Ti 4:19 reads, "Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the house of Onesiphorus." Once again the wife's name comes first and the husband's second, and the couple is set alongside a named household as co-recipients of the apostolic greeting at the letter's end.

Risk Borne for Paul

Romans does not stop with the greeting. The second verse of the pair's notice tells what they have done. Rom 16:4 says of Prisca and Aquila, "who laid down their own necks for my soul; to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles." Two thanks are named in the verse: Paul's own, and that of "all the churches of the Gentiles." The risk is described in concrete bodily terms — they "laid down their own necks" — and the gratitude for the risk is placed beyond Paul as personal beneficiary.

A Church in Their House

Two of the three Pauline greetings tie the couple to a house-church. Rom 16:5 continues the Romans notice with, "and [greet] the church that is in their house." 1Co 16:19, sent from Asia, repeats the same arrangement: "The churches of Asia greet you⁺. Aquila and Prisca greet you⁺ much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house." A congregation meeting in the couple's house is named twice — once where they are residing in Asia and once after they have moved to Rome.

Name and Order Across the Three Greetings

In all three Pauline greetings the wife is called "Prisca" rather than the diminutive form "Priscilla." Her name precedes her husband's in Rom 16:3 and 2Ti 4:19; her husband's name precedes hers in 1Co 16:19. The joint pairing is constant in all three texts; the order of the two names is not.

What the Pauline Letters Together Show

Read together, the three Pauline notices give a small but consistent portrait. The couple is named jointly each time. They are given a working title — "coworkers in Christ Jesus" — under Paul's own hand. They are credited with a personal risk for Paul that other Gentile churches also acknowledged. And in two of the three greetings a church that meets in their house is named in the same breath as the couple themselves.