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Home , Apollos, Priscilla and Aquila

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George A. Gates Jr.

Priscilla and Aquila Teaching

"And he (Apollos) began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when heard him, they took him aside and explained, ektithaymi, έκτίθημι, to him the way of God more accurately," (:26).

This article is part of a series of articles on whether women can teach, preach, lead or function in speaking or leadership roles. :12 deals with whether women can be in authority or not. However, 1 Timothy 2:12 has nothing to do with women in general being able to teach, preach, lead or function in speaking or leadership roles. Paul in the passage in 1 Timothy is instructing on how to handle a specific, temporary condition about a married woman who is out of lone. On the topic of teaching, Priscilla and Fig Priscilla, Aquila & Apollos Aquila took aside Apollos and explained the in a more accurate manner to Apollos, There has been the argument by some complementarians that they did not teach, didaskein, therefore, they were following 1 Timothy 2:12 by not teaching. While it is true that exact word teach, didaskein, is not used here to explain that Priscilla and Aquila taught Apollos, they still taught him. 2

Speaking of myself as teacher of the Gospel, I at times have to explain things in a more accurate way for people to better understand and in turn, better communicate the Gospel message. For me to be more accurate, as a teacher I have to explain things more accurate; therefore I am explaining. When I teach in my dream workshops and explaining how God uses symbols and picture in dreams, I am teaching by using ektithaymi to obtain accuracy. As another example, Paul was called to also be a teacher. Paul was said to be both an Apostle and Teacher, yet in :8- 9, Paul reasoned, persuaded, and spoke about the Kingdom of God, " 8 And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading about the kingdom of God. 9 But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the people, he withdrew from them."

You don't see anywhere in scripture where he (Paul) was specifically called as a reasoner, persuader, or a speaker, but he still did those activities to better explain the Gospel. The book of Acts does not mention the exact gifting Priscilla and Paul had, but whatever they did as far as explaining the Gospel in a more accurate way, falls under the issues that the five-fold ministry gifts are to perform as listed in Ephesians 4:11-16. Bauer, Danker, Arndt, Gingrich Lexicon (BDAG), gives the definition of ektithaymi as " to convey information by careful elaboration." BSAG (p. 241), gives the definition of teaching as "to tell someone what to, tell, instruct and to provide instruction in a formal or informal setting." Ektithaymi therefore is the definition and function of didaskein. Ektithēmi also means “to put forth, declare, explain”. (Perschbacher 1990:131)[11] Strong's concordance defines didasko as to "impart instruction to instill doctrine into one, the thing taught or enjoined, to explain or expound a thing, and to teach one something." Therefore, ektithaymi and didasko can be considered as synonymous. Luke uses the word with this sense three times in :4 when Peter used the word, Acts 18:26 with Priscilla and Aquila, and :23 of Paul using the word. Below I will explain the use of ektithaymi in all three cases.

The first gentiles had become Christians and were mentioned in and they were baptized in Peter’s ministry. The apostles and brethren in Judea were disturbed by this turn of events of Gentiles coming into the church. Consequently in Acts 11:3 Peter went to Jerusalem they “took issue with him” In Acts 11:5-17 Peter responds to their criticism. Peter uses the word ektithēmi to explain to the brethren what had happened. The Holy Spirit led Peter’s speech using ektithēmi to explain, teach, instruct about the gentiles coming into the church.

In Acts 28:23-24 Paul uses ektithēmi to explain the Kingdom of God. However, in :11 Paul states, "for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher." A true teacher of God's word uses various methods to ektithēmi and didasko God's Word.

To consider the opinion of detractors of ektithēmi and didasko not being synonymous we have the opinion of Wallace. However, if we examine what he says closely his opinion is not very accurate for he states in his article Did Priscilla “Teach” Apollos? An Examination of the Meaning of έκτίθημι in Acts 18:26 he writes; “The word ektithēmi is actually somewhat of a vanilla term, basically meaning “lay out,” or “expose.” 1 3

It can be used in various contexts, but in collocation with information being passed on it tends to be restricted to simple explanation without concomitant urging or rhetorical persuasiveness." If we look at the definitions brought forth in my article from the Lexicons I mentioned, in addition to how Peter used ektithēmi we can easily understand that ektithēmi is not a vanilla term. What Wallace means by a vanilla term I am not sure. However, if a person is going to expound on important matter such as whether not women can teach, preach, pastor, etc., we should all be able to explain ourselves in no uncertain terms; e.g., vanilla. While I can respect Mr. Wallace's educational and academic background his definition of ektithēmi is lacking precision. If we examine church history we can determine that Priscilla played a prominent role in teaching and ministering. 2 This includes church such as 3 and . 4

In the there is a series of words used to present the Gospel in various manners which I will list below.

Dialegomai: To discuss or reason

Disdaskō: Yo teach

Ektithēmi: To put forth or explain

Elegcho: To rebuke

Euaggelizomai: To proclaim the good news or gospel. This is the word evangelism comes from

Keryssō: To proclaim or preach

Legō or laleō: To speak or talk

Martureō: To testify, bear witness. Our modern word comes from this word

Parakaleō: To exhort or encourage

Parrēsiazomai: To speak openly, boldly or freely

Peithō: To persuade

Prophesy: To prophesy

4

What the Lord has revealed to me is as Paul states, " I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some," (:22.) Whatever means the Lord used to reach someone he will use it. Every situation is different and subjective and we must be sensitive to the Holy Spirit as to the mode of communication we need to use to convince, correct, teach and even rebuke people to cause them to see the truth and the ways of the Lord.

Relation to 1 Timothy 2:12

The relationship of Priscilla and 1 Timothy 2:12 as to whether a woman can teach or not is not a good comparison. 1 Timothy 2:12 deals with a specific married woman who was self-aggrandizing herself against her husband. The passage in the book of Acts about Priscilla states that she and Aquila expounded on the Word of God more accurately. It is obvious Priscilla was well versed in the Gospel of .

References and End Notes

1 http://bible.org/article/did-priscilla-teach-apollos

2 "John Chrysostom" singles-out Priscilla but doesn’t mention Aquila at all, as the person who received Apollos and instructed him in the way of the Lord. And he credits Priscilla, more so than Aquila, in making their home a church through evangelism and through hospitality. Furthermore, Chrysostom waxes lyrical about Priscilla’s fame, (Homily 30 on Romans.) "Jerome" mentioned the couple when he defended his right to teach women: “Aquila and Priscilla educate Apollo, an apostolic man learned in the law, in the way of the lord. If to be taught by a woman was not shameful to an apostle, why should it be to me afterwards to teach men and women?” (Letter to Principia, 379.)

3 John Chrysostom from: https://orthodoxwiki.org/John_Chrysostom. Our father among the John Chrysostom (347-407), Archbishop of Constantinople, was a notable Christian bishop and preacher from the fourth and fifth centuries in Syria and Constantinople. He is famous for eloquence in public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority in the Church and in the Roman Empire of the time, and for a Divine Liturgy attributed to him. He had notable ascetic sensibilities. After his death he was named Chrysostom, which comes from the Greek Χρυσόστομος, "golden-mouthed." The Orthodox Church honors him as a (feast day, November 13) and counts him among the (feast day, January 30), together with Saints Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian. Another feast day associated with him is January 27, which commemorates the event in 437, thirty years after the saint's repose, when his relics were brought back to Constantinople from the place of his death. 5

John Chrysostom is also recognized by the Roman , which considers him a saint and , and by the Church of England, both of whom commemorate him on September 13. His relics were stolen from Constantinople by crusaders in 1204 and brought to Rome, but were returned on November 27, 2004, by John Paul II.

4 Saint Jerome from: https://oca.org/saints/lives/2017/06/15/101732-st-jerome-hieronymus- of-stridon: Saint Jerome of Stridon was born into a Christian family in the city of Stridon located on the border between Dalmatia and Pannonia. His full name is Eusebius Hieronymos Sophronius. His parents sent him to Rome, where he studied the secular sciences. At the beginning of his life in the capital, the youth was captivated by worldly vanities and fell into temptation. At the end of his time in Rome, Jerome resolved to change his life and to live in goodness and purity. When the youth was about 20 years old, he accepted holy Baptism. After this he visited in Gaul (France). Then Saint Jerome decided to dedicate himself totally to God, and to become a monk.