Apostle 1st century

Apostle Aquila of the Seventy

1st century

Also known as Aquila · husband of Priscilla

A Jewish Christian of Pontus, a tentmaker who with his wife Priscilla labored beside the Apostle Paul, opened his house as a church, and helped instruct the eloquent Apollos more perfectly in the way of the Lord.

Feast Day

July 14

Also Feb 13

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Commemorated as

The Holy, Glorious and All-Praised Apostle Aquila of the Seventy

Come to them for

Missionary Work

Life

Aquila was a Jewish Christian of the apostolic age, by origin a native of Pontus in Asia Minor, who with his wife Priscilla became one of the closest co-workers of the Apostle Paul. A tentmaker by trade, he is numbered among the Seventy Apostles and is venerated as a missionary and, by tradition, a bishop in Asia Minor who died a martyr.

Aquila and Priscilla appear repeatedly in the New Testament — at Acts 18:2-3, 18, 26; Romans 16:3; 1 Corinthians 16:19; and 2 Timothy 4:19 — almost always named together, hosting a house church and laboring beside Paul. Their joint witness made them, in the words of Paul, fellow workers who risked their own lives for his sake.

Timeline 4 moments Read Hide

AD 49 Expelled from Rome Aquila and Priscilla leave Italy with the Jews banished from Rome under Claudius and settle in Corinth.
c. AD 50-52 Joins the Apostle Paul In Corinth they meet Paul, share his tentmaking trade, are baptized by him, and host him for about eighteen months.
c. AD 52 Ministry at Ephesus They travel with Paul to Ephesus, host a house church, and instruct Apollos more accurately in the way of God.
1st century Bishop and martyr By tradition appointed a bishop in Asia by Paul; preaches in Asia, Achaia, and Heraklia and dies a martyr with Priscilla.

Contributions & Legacy

3 contributions Read Hide

From Rome to Corinth

Aquila was a Jew who, with his wife Priscilla, was living in the city of Rome. During the reign of the Emperor Claudius (41-54), the Jews were banished from the city, and the couple was compelled to leave Italy and settle in Corinth.

There the Apostle Paul, arriving in Corinth to preach the Gospel, made their acquaintance. Because he shared their trade as a tentmaker, Paul lodged in their house and worked alongside Aquila, and Paul lived with them for roughly eighteen months. Aquila and Priscilla received Baptism from Paul and became his devoted disciples.

Ministry in Ephesus and the instruction of Apollos

Aquila and Priscilla accompanied Paul as far as Ephesus, where they remained to continue the work of the Gospel and where they hosted a church in their home, as Paul notes in 1 Corinthians 16:19.

At Ephesus they heard the eloquent Alexandrian Apollos preaching in the synagogue and, recognizing gaps in his understanding, took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. This instruction of Apollos is among the details for which the couple is best remembered.

Episcopate and martyrdom

After the death of Claudius, when Jews were again permitted to return, Aquila and Priscilla went back to Rome, where Paul greets them in his Epistle to the Romans. By tradition the Apostle Paul afterward appointed Aquila a bishop in Asia, and the Apostolic Constitutions number him among the first bishops of Asia Minor.

As a bishop Aquila is said to have labored zealously at preaching the Gospel through Asia, Achaia, and Heraklia, building churches, overturning idols, and ordaining clergy. According to the tradition of the Church he ended his life as a martyr, killed by pagans, and Priscilla is held to have been put to death together with him.

Commemorated with Read Hide

The Seventy Apostles

Commemorated together · Jan 4

Notes

Of the Seventy.

Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints