Acts 18:2

"And he found. certain Jew named Aquila,. man of Pontus by race, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome: and he came unto them"Found. certain Jew named Aquila" Although Aquila was Jewish by birth, it seems Aquila and his wife were both Christians when Paul found them. "There is no mention of Priscilla's and Aquila's listening to Paul, of believing, or being obedient to Christ through baptism" (Reese p. 638). "Jew" Luke probably informs us concerning the ethnic race of this man, for it prepares us for the statement that "Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome". That is, this is why this couple had recently come from Italy to Corinth. "Aquila" (A kwil uah). "A man of Pontus" Born in the Roman province known as Pontus. "Pontus was one place where the Jews became very numerous" (Reese p. 639) (Acts 2:9). This province was located in northern Asia Minor (modern Turkey), on the southern shore of the Black Sea. "A mountainous area broken by fertile plains, Pontus produced olives, grain, and timber" (Nelsons p. 860). Priscilla" (prih SIL uh). Her name is also given as Prisca (2 Timothy 4:19). "When Paul mentions her in his letters, he refers to her by her formal name Prisca; Luke calls her by her more familiar name Priscilla" (Bruce p. 369). The fact that her name comes before Aquila's in verses 18,26; Romans 16:3; 2 Timothy 4:9. has caused some to think, "it has been inferred that she belonged to. higher social class than her husband" (Bruce p. 369). This couple poses an interesting study in itself, for we find them being. very mobile couple. Aquila had migrated from Pontus to Italy, they move to Corinth, then to Ephesus (Acts 18:18-19); and then we find them back at Rome (Romans 16:3), and then back at Ephesus (2 Timothy 4:19).

Acts 18:2 "Because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome"Suetonius claims that this happened about A.D. 49, 'because the Jews were in. constant tumult at the instigation of one Chrestus'. At any rate Jews were unpopular in Rome, for Tiberius had deported 4,000 to Sardinia" (Robertson p. 295). Some think that "Chrestus" was. Jewish leader of insurrection at Rome, but others believe that "Chrestus" is. corruption of the name "Christ" (the pronunciation of "Christus" and "Chrestus" will have been very similar, see Stott p. 296) and that these riots were attacks of unbelieving Jews upon Jewish Christians in Rome. Claudius was emperor from A.D. 41-54.