Today’s Scripture Reading (January
13, 2015): Romans 16
There is a
Jewish tradition that anomalies matter. When things are said differently, or
when the order changes, there is a reason for that that we need to seek to
understand. So, the Hebrew Bible invariably lists the Patriarchs as Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob – except once. In Leviticus 26:42, the order is reversed. The
Jewish understanding is that this is not an accident. The same situation exists
for Moses and Aaron. Usually Moses name precedes Aaron’s, but once Aaron’s name
is placed first. Joshua and Caleb provide still another example of the
phenomenon. Usually Joshua’s name comes first, but once it is Caleb’s.
According to Jewish tradition, the meaning of these anomalies is to show that
all of these men were loved equally by God – all of them were important in the
sight of their creator (Genesis Rabba 1.)
In the
Christian Testament, Priscilla and Aquila give us another example. Except that
there seems to be a second message that is screamed from the order of the
names. In their cultural context, the order of the names is important. And the
order should have been the male first – Aquila and Priscilla. And that is
precisely the order that we find the names listed in 1 Corinthians 16:19 and
again in Acts 18:2 (which incidentally describes Paul’s visit to Corinth and
his first meeting of the couple.) But every other listing of the couple lists
Priscilla first. It seems that early in the relationships, the biblical writers
(Luke for Acts and Paul for 1 Corinthians) are willing to follow culture norm and
list the names with the man’s being first. But, once they get to know the
couple, it is Priscilla’s name that takes precedence. And the question that we
should ask is why.
The most
obvious answer is simply that Pricilla was the teacher of the two. It is not
hard to imagine a situation where Priscilla and Aquila, who were successful
tent makers, had the opportunity to set up shop in various cities (there is
evidence that Priscilla and Aquila lived and possibly had business connections
in at least three cities – Rome, Corinth and Ephesus – and there may have been
a couple of more.) Aquila was the master tent maker, and Priscilla was the
Public Relations person for the company – she was the personality that people
came to see and visit with while Aquila made the tents. As a pair they would
have complimented each other and their businesses would have flourished. But
when you spoke with Priscilla, you didn’t just get a comment on the current
weather or news from various places where she had been. Speaking with Priscilla
invariably meant that she would tell you of this Jesus of Nazareth that had
changed her life, along with the life of her husband. Priscilla’s enthusiasm
for Christianity could not be contained, and as a result, when Priscilla’s
passion for Jesus was combined with Aquila’s passion and expertise in making
tents, Christianity spread throughout the places where Priscilla and Aquila did
their business.
If this is
true, then Priscilla was one of the earliest female teachers of Christianity,
she was possibly even a sought after speaker. Even in a male dominated society,
the passion of Priscilla could not be contained. Some have even argued,
although this is definitely not a main stream position, that Priscilla is the
anonymous author behind the Book of Hebrews. The Book of Hebrews author has
long been a mystery, and although the book has been at times connected with the
writing of Paul, there are too many differences between Hebrews and the Pauline
letters to easily accept Paul as the author. But Priscilla in some ways makes
sense. This artistic Jewish woman pouring out her excitement for Christ into
the pages of a book that has been loved through the centuries – and the only
anonymous work to be included in the Christian Holy books – a work where, if
Priscilla really wrote it, the author had to be hidden because a woman author would
not have been readily accepted in her deeply patriarchal society.
Whether or
not Priscilla is the author of Hebrews, the early church is deeply indebted to both
her and her husband. And because of their mobility and willingness to talk
about Jesus, Priscilla and Aquila were truly important co-workers with Paul, and
together they changed the landscape of the early church.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Acts 21
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