Useful Bible Studies > Romans Commentary > chapter 16
Aquila and Prisca (also called Priscilla) were a husband and wife who helped Paul in several places. In the Bible, Prisca's name always appears with her husband's name. That is unusual, and probably shows the great importance of her part in their work, to establish new churches.
The most important churches that Paul established were the churches in Corinth and Ephesus. In those cities, large numbers of people who had formerly lived very wicked lives became Christians (1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Acts 19:18-19). For that reason, Paul continued to work in those places for longer than anywhere else. He stayed for 18 months in Corinth (Acts 18:11), and 2 years in Ephesus (Acts 19:10).
Aquila and Prisca helped Paul to start both those great churches. When Paul arrived at Corinth, he stayed in their home. He also worked with them; he, like them, made tents (Acts 18:1-4). When Paul left Corinth, they travelled with him to Ephesus (Acts 18:18-19). At that time, Paul was just passing through Ephesus, but Aquila and Prisca remained there. There was no church there yet, but they continued to speak to people about Christ (Acts 18:26). After some time, they established their own small church there, which met in their home (compare 1 Corinthians 16:8 and 16:19).
Later, they returned to Rome, where they also established a small church in their own home (16:5). Their church was separate from Rome's first church. However, Paul still encouraged the Christians in the first church to be friendly towards Aquila, Prisca and their church. Paul asked those Christians to greet Aquila and Prisca on his behalf.
Next part: Aquila and Prisca: Jews who helped the Gentile churches (Romans 16:4)
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