📖 Biblical Definition
Priscilla (also called Prisca) was the wife of Aquila, a Jewish tentmaker. Together they were expelled from Rome under Claudius' edict, settled in Corinth where they met Paul, and became his close companions and fellow workers (Acts 18:2). When Apollos came to Ephesus preaching with great eloquence but incomplete understanding, Priscilla and Aquila "took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately" (Acts 18:26). Paul calls them both "my fellow workers in Christ Jesus" who "risked their necks" for his life (Romans 16:3-4). Priscilla is named first in four of six references, which may indicate her social prominence or particular giftedness. Yet she always ministered with her husband, never independently, and their correction of Apollos was a private conversation, not a public teaching office. Priscilla is a model of a godly woman using her gifts within the framework of biblical order — knowledgeable in doctrine, courageous in service, and partnered with her husband in gospel work.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
The wife of Aquila; a co-worker of Paul; a woman of notable service in the early church.
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PRISCIL'LA, n. [L. Prisca, ancient.] The wife of Aquila, a woman of notable prominence in the early church, who together with her husband assisted Paul, instructed Apollos, and hosted churches in their home.
📖 Key Scripture
• Acts 18:26 — "Priscilla and Aquila... took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately."
• Romans 16:3-4 — "Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their necks for my life."
• 1 Corinthians 16:19 — "Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Priscilla is claimed as proof of female pastors and used to override Paul's teaching on gender roles.
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Egalitarian and feminist theologians elevate Priscilla as their primary example of a female teacher-pastor in the New Testament. But the text is precise: she and Aquila together took Apollos aside privately — this was not a woman exercising public teaching authority over men in the gathered assembly. Paul's commendation of Priscilla as a "fellow worker" does not require her to have held an office that Paul elsewhere restricts to qualified men (1 Timothy 2:12; 3:1-7). Priscilla's prominence demonstrates that women played vital, honored roles in the apostolic church — but those roles operated within the created order, not against it.
Usage
• "Priscilla was doctrinally sharp enough to correct Apollos — a learned Alexandrian — but she did so alongside her husband, in private, not from a pulpit."
• "Priscilla risked her life for Paul and hosted the church in her home — her service was not token involvement but sacrificial, dangerous ministry."