Acts 18:2

And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla (because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome); and he came to them. Acts 18:2

In the previous verse, Paul departed Athens and went to Corinth. Now it says, “And he found a certain Jew.”

Rather, being an aorist participle, it reads, “And having found a certain Jew.” Luke is preparing the next thought through the use of the participle. With the knowledge that he has come across this individual, Luke next records, “named Aquila.”

Rather than a verb, the word is a noun and would more rightly read, “by name Aquila.” On the name, Ellicott says, “The name presents some interesting associations. Strictly speaking, the Greek form is Ahylas, but this is undoubtedly the transliterated form of the Latin Aquila (= Eagle). The name appears in a yet more altered form in Onkelos, the traditional writer of one of the Targums, or Paraphrases of the Law, then current among the Jews. In Aquila, one of the later translators of the Old Testament into Greek, himself also born in Pontus, and possibly ... identical with Onkelos, we get the Greek form again.”

This individual, Aquila, is seen at other points in Paul’s writings as being his friend, such as in Romans 16:3; 2 Timothy 4:19; and 1 Corinthians 16:19. Aquila means Eagle. Despite being a Jew by birth, he became a convert to Christianity. It next says that he was “born in Pontus.”

Being an adjective and a noun, it would most closely be translated as a Pontian native. 

Pontus was mentioned in Acts 2:9 as one of the locations where the Jews had gathered from while in Jerusalem at Pentecost. Thus, it could be that he was a convert at that time. It was a province of Asia Minor, situated north of Cappadocia. It was bound on the west by Paphlagonia. Together, Pontus and Cappadocia constituted one Roman province. Peter directed one of his epistles to this area in 1 Peter 1:1.

Of Aquila, it next says, “who had recently come from Italy.” Here is an adverb found only this once in Scripture, prosphatós. That comes from the adjective, prosphatos, also found only once in Scripture. That word literally means “freshly killed.” Therefore, in Hebrews 10:20, it describes “‘the new road’ Christ has successfully inaugurated (the NT era) by the sacrifice of Himself.” (HELPS Word Studies). Therefore, this adverb signifies lately or recently.

The reason for his having left Italy will be explained in the next few words. For now, it continues by saying, “with his wife Priscilla.” The name Priscilla is a diminutive form of Prisca. She will be called Prisca in Romans, 1 Corinthians, and 2 Timothy. Prisca is a Latin name meaning Ancient or Longevity.

With these two noted, it next says, “because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome.” Literally, it says, “because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to be separated from Rome.” Of this, the Pulpit Commentary says, “Suetonius mentions the fact, but unfortunately does not say in what year of Claudius's reign it took place. His account is that, in consequence of frequent disturbances and riots among the Jews at the instigation of Chrestus, Claudius drove them from Rome.”

With that note, scholars then assume that it was because of the spread of Christianity, taking Chrestus as a variant spelling of Christ. In other words, it was because of the new faith in Christ that was being proclaimed. The assumption then is that conflicts arose between the Jews and the Romans as well as between believers and nonbelievers. In order to regain control of the situation, the Jews were expelled from Rome.

This is defended by variant spellings of the name of Christ that has been found elsewhere. Because of this, lengthy commentaries are then written to defend this scenario. This is possible as Aquila and Priscilla were believing Jews. However, these commentaries ignore the words spoken to Paul in Acts 28 which tend to reveal a curiosity by the Jews about Christianity because they had heard about it but were not well-schooled in what it proclaimed.

It seems unlikely that those Jews, having returned to Rome at a later date, would be willing to entertain Paul’s words if they had been kicked out of Rome because of Christianity some years earlier.

What seems likely is that Chrestus was a Jew who stirred up the other Jews for some unknown reason, causing them to be separated from Rome. Regardless of the actual reason for the expulsion, it occurred. Having been expelled from Rome, Aquila and Priscilla left Italy together and Paul found them in Corinth where Luke next records, “and he came to them.”

Having found them, he joined with them. The reason for this will be explained in the next verse. It is the start of a new friendship for Paul as he continues his missionary work, establishing the gospel and continuing to develop churches into places of sound doctrine and a right understanding of the work of Jesus Christ.

As for the verse itself, based upon the evaluation of it, a more literal rendering of it would be, “And having found a certain Jew, by name Aquila, a Pontian native, recently having come from Italy, also Priscilla his wife – because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to be separated from Rome – he came to them.”

Life application: Like with the life of Joseph, for whatever reason the Jews were separated from Rome, good came out of what would have otherwise been considered evil to Aquila and Priscilla. Together with Paul, they were able to live and work as they developed their lives in Christ. They will travel to Ephesus with Paul and, as noted above, Paul will refer to them in his epistles, even as late as his second epistle to Timothy.

We may find events that arise in our lives troubling, but later we find out that what happened was actually for a good reason. As believers, this will always be the case, even if we never discover the reason for it in this life. We are sons of God through adoption. As this is so, we must believe that He always has the best in mind for us.

Therefore, when things seem completely upturned and contrary to what we think is best, let us place the matter in the Lord’s hands and faithfully acknowledge that we trust Him to do what is right. In this, we will be demonstrating faith in Him and His intentions for us. It may be difficult to do but let us strive to have this attitude at all times.

Lord God, we know that because of Jesus, You have the very best intention for us. Help us in times of weakness, trouble, and trial, to stand fast on this thought and to remain confident of Your presence in our lives. Thank You that we have a sure and eternal hope because of Jesus. Yes, thank You for Your loving hand upon us. Amen.