Aquila was a Jewish tentmaker born in Pontus who, along with his wife Priscilla, had recently come from Italy to Corinth under the emperor Claudius's order for Jews to leave Rome, and who became a fellow laborer with Paul in Christ Jesus.
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Aquila is a Jewish believer in the early church who is frequently named alongside his wife Priscilla. Acts describes him as a native of Pontus who had been living in Rome, and who, because of the emperor Claudius's order for all Jews to depart from Rome, had recently come from Italy to Corinth. There Paul encountered him; sharing the same trade of tentmaking, Paul joined them and worked together with them, and from this beginning Aquila and Priscilla became fellow laborers with Paul in the work of the gospel. From Corinth onward, Aquila and his wife accompanied Paul in ministry among the Gentiles, and wherever they went they reasoned in the synagogues, explaining the way of God more accurately. In Paul's letters, Aquila is honored as a "fellow-worker in Christ Jesus," and the couple are remembered for having risked their own necks for Paul's life; their house also served as a gathering place for the church and a center for teaching. Aquila's ministry pattern exemplifies a long-term, faithful partner in the gospel: he held no prominent office, but supported the work by his trade, opened his home for fellowship and instruction, and quietly served the early church, leaving a model of humble and steadfast partnership in the faith.