📖 Biblical Definition
Drusilla was the Jewish daughter of Herod Agrippa I (the king who killed James the brother of John, Acts 12:1-2), and the third wife of the Roman procurator Felix — whom she had married after he lured her from her first husband. She sat beside Felix at Caesarea as Paul, in chains, reasoned "of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come" (Acts 24:24-25). Felix trembled and dismissed the apostle, saying, "Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee." The convenient season never came. Drusilla and her son by Felix died in the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. The lesson is sober: gospel proximity does not save; only repentant faith does.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
DRUSILLA — a Latin diminutive proper name; preserved as the type of the woman whose marriage and conscience were both compromised.
expand to see more
Webster 1828 has no entry. Josephus and Luke together fill in the picture: a Herodian princess who left a lawful husband to enter an unlawful match with the procurator, and who sat unmoved while the apostle preached self-control to the man who had stolen her. She perished with her son in the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79.
📖 Key Scripture
Acts 24:24 — "And after some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ."
Acts 24:25 — "Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid."
Acts 12:1 — "Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church."
Acts 26:30 — "When he had said these things, the king stood up, as well as the governor and Bernice and those who sat with them."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Drusilla heard Paul preach against her own marriage and was unmoved. A hardened conscience is the deadliest sleep.
expand to see more
Paul did not soften his theme to spare the procurator's wife. He reasoned about self-control — the very virtue she had abandoned to marry Felix — and about judgment to come. Felix trembled; Drusilla's reaction is not recorded, but her presence the next time Felix sent for Paul suggests the trembling did not last.
The corruption is the assumption that hearing the word is enough. Drusilla heard the most penetrating preaching of her age and walked away to Pompeii. She is the warning that proximity to apostles does not equal salvation.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Latin Drusilla; paired with egkrateia (G1466, self-control) which Paul addressed in her hearing.
expand to see more
G1409 — Drousilla — Drusilla; Jewish wife of Felix
G1466 — egkrateia — self-control, mastery of the passions
G2453 — Ioudaios — Jewish; Luke marks her ethnicity
Usage
"Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish (Acts 24:24)."
"Paul reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come."
"Some hearers harden under the very preaching that should melt them."