Bible Study - Acts 18
S - He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.
Acts 18:26 ESV
O - Commentary:
Normally husbands were named first, unless the wife was of higher status, but Priscilla (the formal form of which is "Prisca," as in Paul's letters) is named first twice as often in the New Testament as Aquila. Her role here is fairly unusual by ancient standards (enough that it drew notice from some ancient commentators and apparent discomfort in the later Western text). Although most men in Mediterranean antiquity resented women speaking in public and generally did not respect women teaching, Priscilla teaches privately, and many men did recognize exceptions for exceptional women.
Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, Second Edition (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2014), 382.
A - Two things stand out here.
First, Priscilla is named first. That's not an accident — Luke wants you to notice it. God has always used women to teach, to lead, to correct. Some people still make that a spiritual battle. It isn't. If God gifted her, who are we to silence her?
Second, look at how they handled Apollos. He was wrong. Bold, gifted, wrong. They didn't call him out in public. They didn't tear him down. They pulled him aside and taught him better.
That's the model. You don't grow people by exposing them. You grow them by investing in them. Correction without relationship is just criticism. Correction with relationship is discipleship.
R - Father, thank You for Priscilla and Aquila — for showing us what it looks like to correct someone in love instead of humiliating them in public. Forgive us when we've torn people down instead of building them up. Give us their courage and their gentleness. When we see someone who's off track, don't let us walk away — and don't let us shame them either. Let us pull them aside, like they did for Apollos, and help them get it right. In Jesus' name, amen.
