Women of Romans 16

Photo courtesy of Kevin Carden at Lighstock

I have spent a lot of time on the women in the Gospels and a little on some in the Old Testament. I thought I would move forward a little and start talking about the women in Acts and the Epistles. I already have a teeny bit of research about the women listed in Romans 16. I am going to share some of that with you. The first two mentioned are the ones we know the most about.

The epistle to the Romans was written to all Believers in Rome, though it appears according to the list in Romans 16 that there were many house churches that existed there. There are ten women listed in the passage of Scripture in Romans 16. They are:

1. Phoebe

2. Prisca

3. Mary

4. Junia

5. Tryphena

6. Tryphosa

7. Persis

8.. Rufus’ mother

9. Julia

10. Nereus’ sister

The first woman mentioned was Phoebe. It is believed that she was the one who actually carried the letter of Romans to the Church at Rome. I have written about her in more detail in a post in relation to 1 Timothy 3. Click here to read that post.

The second woman mentioned was Prisca or Priscilla. She was the wife of Aquila, and they are mentioned throughout the New Testament. Luke mentions them in Acts, and Paul mentions them in Romans, 1 Corinthians, and 2 Timothy. Click here to read a little more about Priscilla.

There are 8 more I have yet to explore. When Paul mentions some of them, he says they "laboured much for us" or "laboured much in the Lord." What does in mean to "labour in the Lord?" Where else is that phrase found in the New Testament? They must have held some significance to be among those mentioned in this passage of Scripture.
More to come...

A Week in the Life of a Greco-Roman Woman by Holly Beers

I recently read the book, A Week in the Life of Greco-Roman Woman by Holly Beers,  It is about the life of a woman in Ephesus when the church was just starting there.

Women's lives were so hard!! They were considered property and treated anyway their spouses wished.

The parts of the book I loved was when the woman started learning about Jesus. That was really cool. The author also included several incidents of healing, which was amazing!

I think we forget about what it is like for people who don't know anything nor have ever heard about Jesus, and then all of a sudden start learning. It was very refreshing to see what that would be like through the eyes of that woman.

I think it would be refreshing to all of us to go back to the early days and remember the love of God we felt and how clean and pure everything seemed when we first came to the Lord.

There were also a few Bible figures in the book including Paul, Priscilla, and Aquila. It was interesting to see how the author interpreted their personalities.

Another interesting aspect of the book is that pictures and factual information from that time period in Ephesus were included as part of the book. That was a little awkward reading it at first, because it is Biblical fiction, a story that is fiction, but based on events in the Bible. But it helped to understand the time period more, and the book of Ephesians more as well.

I think when you understand what was going on, it helps you to read the Bible with fresh eyes. This is only one of the books in "A Week in the Life of" series, and I can't wait to read more!

Five Minute Friday: Risk

Today I am participating in Five Minute Friday, where a group of writers get together and free write about a one word prompt for 5 minutes. Today's word is "risk."

Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who have risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them.-Romans 16:3-4

I love Romans 16. I have this thing about learning about people. 

In the 16th chapter of the letter to Romans, Paul lists many people’s names which were part of the early church in Rome. In verses 3 & 4 of that chapter, a couple named Priscilla and Aquila are mentioned.

The first time the couple is mentioned in the Scriptures is in Acts 18. Luke, the writer of the Book of Acts, tells that they were expelled from Rome because of an edict set forth by Claudius, the emperor during that time, forcing all Jews to leave.
We don’t know why this event happened exactly. I imagine if we explored history, we might get a clearer picture.

Priscilla and Aquila were a married couple. Aquila was a Jew, we are told, but we aren’t given a clear explanation about Priscilla’s nationality.

My own personal opinion is that she was most likely a Roman. Her name is a Latin name, meaning “ancient.” I researched a little and Latin and Greek were the official languages of the Roman empire, but Latin was the original language. So, it stands to reason, having a Latin name, she was most likely a Roman.

They are mentioned throughout the epistles by Paul, in Romans 16 and then again in 1 Corinthians and 2 Timothy in Paul’s salutations at the end of the letters.

We aren’t exactly told what the risk involved, but we know that living in any of the above cities at the time wasn’t easy and it wasn’t safe.

It has been a while since I charted their route, but it appears, based on the dates of which the epistles were written, and the mention of their names in scripture, that Priscilla and Aquila's journey originated in Rome, then on to Corinth.  Then they went to Ephesus, back to Rome, and then back to Ephesus.