But a certain Jew, Apollos by name, an Alexandrian by race, an eloquent man, who was mighty in the scriptures, arrived at Ephesus.
A stranger arrives at Ephesus: a Jew from Alexandria with a gift for speech and a deep grasp of the Scriptures. That raises the question the rest of the passage answers — can a man be this able and still miss something essential?
Where the ESV says "competent in the Scriptures," other translations read "mighty in the Scriptures" — the wording the writers below use. The first word, "eloquent," points to fluency:
In Exodus 4:10 and Acts 18:24, "man of words," "ready of speech."
The word carries two senses at once. His home city later became known for a very different use of learning:
There simply comes before us a Jewish workman. He was unformed at first, but he soon had no need to be ashamed. He came from the city that later played a notorious part in corrupting heavenly truth by worldly wisdom. He himself was a man of learning, or of eloquence (the Greek word means both), and he was able in the Scriptures.
Knowing the Scriptures was work, not talent. Older translations say in the next verse that he "taught diligently," and one writer draws the lesson:
If we are to be fruitful in service, we must be instructed in the word of the Lord. Apollos was a Bible student. He searched the Scriptures to find out the truth… That word "diligently" can also be translated "accurately." How vital it is to quote the Scriptures accurately! The Spirit uses the word of God.
The verse praises a natural talent. One writer sets Paul beside Apollos to show what talent can and cannot do:
Fluency of speech, as a natural gift, may be present or absent without harming the effectiveness of an evangelist considered as a minister of God. Apollos was "eloquent," while Paul was "unskilled in speaking." Human persuasion, natural or carefully crafted, cannot carry out the purposes of God. His appeal is not to the imagination or to the understanding alone, but to the hearts and consciences of sinful men.
The next verse limits what he knew to the baptism of John. Writers are careful to say this was ignorance, not unbelief:
After this we find the Lord bringing others into the work, especially Apollos. He was "an eloquent man, and mighty in the Scriptures," yet so ignorant at first that he knew nothing beyond the baptism of John… But if he was in the dark about the Church and the full truth of Christianity, he was a converted man… Apollos had received by the Spirit the early testimony to the Lord, but he did not know the work of Christ.
No one appointed him to the work. Notice what he did when a couple offered to fill in what he lacked:
It does not appear that he had received any appointment, ordination, or approval of any kind, from either the twelve apostles or Paul. But the Lord who is above all had called him, and was working in him and by him. In the case of Apollos we see the power and liberty of the Holy Spirit, without human involvement… Though he burned with zeal and was a powerful speaker, Apollos knew only what John had taught his disciples. The Lord knew this, and provided teachers for him. And though he was both learned and eloquent, he was humble enough to let Aquila and Priscilla teach him.
All that Scripture knowledge had one target:
But what was uppermost in the mind of an Alexandrian Jew, "mighty in the Scriptures," after he became a Christian? To show from "the Scriptures" that Jesus was Christ (Acts 18). There was something running through the inspired writings which others left aside: they testified in one way or another of Jesus.
- Words. "Eloquent" means ready of speech, and the same word can mean learned. Apollos had both.
- Might. His strength in the Scriptures came from searching them and teaching them accurately.
- Limit. Skill in speech is not the same as knowing the truth. He was a converted man, yet knew nothing beyond the baptism of John.
- Humility. Learned and eloquent, he still let Aquila and Priscilla teach him — and the Lord, not any human appointment, had called him.
- Aim. All of it served one use: showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.
He was instructed in the way of the Lord, and being fervent in his spirit, he spoke and taught exactly the things concerning Jesus, knowing only the baptism of John.
Apollos speaks about Jesus in the synagogue at Ephesus with heat and accuracy. Yet what he knows stops at John the Baptist. So how much did he really know, and what does God do with a man whose zeal runs ahead of his light?
One writer walks through the verse: real gifts, real faith, and one thing missing.
Here comes before us a Jewish workman who soon had no need to be ashamed, however unformed he was at first... He was not merely a scholar and otherwise competent, but already instructed in the way of the Lord. Born of God, he was in understanding ahead of a God-fearing Jew, but short of the fuller truth that the gospel gives... He was ignorant of all truth beyond "the baptism of John". Nor was he lacking in moral courage or zeal.
The verse says he was "instructed in the way of the Lord." Was he already a saved man? One writer has no doubt.
There can be no doubt that he was born of God and had made progress in the understanding of the word. He was a believer, though limited in his knowledge... Apollos had been born of God through the testimony of John the Baptist. He must have been a keen student of the word — so much so that he spoke boldly in the synagogue at Ephesus about what he had learned.
Fervent means burning. The man who led him to Christ left his mark on him.
This man Apollos, a man who has been taught the way of the Lord, is also a man fervent in spirit. John's testimony converted him, and he was marked by the features of the man who led him to Christ. Fervent in spirit, burning in spirit, like a lamp shining brightly, he stands in that gathering at Ephesus. He speaks "boldly in the synagogue," though as yet he "knew only the baptism of John."
Some older Bibles say "diligently" here. One writer draws out what the word means.
That word "diligently" may also be rendered "accurately." How important it is that we quote the Scriptures accurately! The word of God is what the Spirit uses.
The limit was not sincerity or skill. It was subject matter — and it was a limit John himself shared.
This rises far beyond the promised Messiah, which was the substance of John's teaching, with repentance urged on the souls who received it. Apollos knew no more. He might proclaim its value with great eloquence. He might back its truth with fitting proofs from the Old Testament scriptures. Still he knew no more. Someone may argue that John went further in his preaching. After all, he testified of Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. But the conclusion is invalid that John knew or taught redemption by His blood... What His death achieved, the power of His resurrection, the glory of His place on high — John did not enter into these. They were not yet revealed to him as things his faith could hold and enjoy.
The teaching Apollos still needed did not come from a school.
We may observe how distant and different were the means God used from the formal methods of a divinity school... But God's truth is known by faith, and only faith can be trusted with it for good. Faith like that is so rare in the schools that no one can count on finding it there.
The people God used had no public gift of their own.
So God used these believers, who had no public gift, to properly launch a very gifted vessel on his career of service. From Ephesus he went to Corinth, and not only did he convince many Jews about Christ, he also greatly helped the believers. How much of the reward of his effective service will go to the credit of Aquila and Priscilla, who can say?
No apostle sent Apollos out. One writer says who was at work in him.
Apollos knew only the teaching of John; but, upright in heart, he publicly confessed and preached what he knew. It was the faith of a soul born again. Aquila and Priscilla then teach him the full facts of the gospel, and the truth of a Christ who died and is now glorified... The energy of the Holy Spirit shows itself in him without any involvement of the apostle or of the twelve apostles. He acts independently — that is, the Spirit acts independently in him.
- Instructed — Apollos was already born of God and taught in the way of the Lord. He starts as a believer, not a seeker.
- Fervent — his spirit burned. He carried the stamp of John, the man who led him to Christ, and he spoke boldly in the synagogue.
- Accurately — what he taught was true as far as it went, because he handled Scripture with care.
- Limited — "only the baptism of John" meant a promised Messiah and a call to repent. It left out redemption by blood, resurrection power, and Christ's glory on high.
- Enlarged — no school supplied what was missing. Two believers with no public gift launched a man who went on to help many at Corinth.
And *he* began to speak boldly in the synagogue. And Aquila and Priscilla, having heard him, took him to [them] and unfolded to him the way of God more exactly.
A gifted preacher is teaching in the synagogue at Ephesus. Two working believers in the audience hear what he still does not know, and what they do next shows how God teaches a man willing to learn.
Apollos was not corrected for error. The key word settles that — the ESV has "more accurately" where older translations read "more perfectly."
When Apollos met Aquila and Priscilla, they "took him to themselves, and expounded to him the way of God more perfectly" — or, as it might read, "accurately." It is the same word again. What he had already learned was accurate, accurate as far as it went. But Aquila and Priscilla "unfolded to him the way of God more exactly."
He lacked neither learning nor courage. What he lacked was the fuller truth.
He was a man of learning, or eloquence, and able in the Scriptures. He was not merely a scholar and otherwise competent, but already instructed in the way of the Lord. Born of God, he was ahead of a God-fearing Jew in understanding, but short of the fuller truth which the gospel gives. He did not lack moral courage or zeal, and "he began to speak boldly in the synagogue."
Apollos preached honestly up to the limit of what he had been taught. The couple carried him past that limit — to a Christ who died and is now in glory.
Apollos knew only the teaching of John. But he was upright in heart, and he publicly confessed and preached what he knew. It was the faith of a soul born again. Aquila and Priscilla teach him fully about the facts of the gospel, and about the doctrine of a dead and glorified Christ.
It is easy to look down on a believer who knows less than we do.
This raised a question of great practical importance. How should we deal with souls who are gifted like this, yet know little of the truth? Grace answers and settles it all by its own power. We should welcome and treasure the newest step beyond the dead level of received tradition. How sad to despise those today who are where we were yesterday!
Apollos, for his part, could have refused help from two tentmakers.
Though he was both learned and eloquent, he was humble enough to let Aquila and Priscilla teach him. They invited him to their house. There, no doubt in a lowly spirit, they "explained to him the way of God more accurately." How simple! how natural! and how beautiful! All is of the Lord.
Two people with no public platform gave a great preacher his start.
When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they saw at once what he lacked. They gladly gave him hospitality, so that they could teach him more fully about what had happened through Christ. So God used these believers, who had no special public gift, to give a very gifted vessel a proper launch into his career of service... How much of the reward of his effective service will go to the credit of Aquila and Priscilla, who shall say?
The setting itself is part of the lesson.
We may notice how far God's means were from the formal methods of a divinity school... But only faith can know the truth of God, and only faith can hold it with profit.
Commentators differ on Priscilla's part. One sees her as the better taught of the two, yet helping only alongside her husband.
I doubt it would have been God's will for a woman to do this alone. But she taught him along with her husband, as they could. I have no doubt that Priscilla knew more than her husband, so it was good that she gave her help.
Another writer follows a text that names Aquila first here, and points to the private setting.
Note that when it comes to teaching, Aquila's name is put before his wife's... In this case the instruction given to Apollos was in the privacy of their own home, and Aquila took the lead here. Happy it is that Priscilla was his helpmate in this blessed work.
The man they taught went on to work with more public power than his teachers had.
His progress was plain to all. He put arrogant opponents to shame, and the faithful were built up through him. For Apollos could work with a force beyond those who had privately led him on.
- Accurate, not wrong. What Apollos already taught was true as far as it went; grace supplied the rest instead of dismissing him.
- The missing piece. John's baptism had not carried him to the death and present glory of Christ. The couple supplied it.
- The private room. They used hospitality, not a platform or a school. They invited him home and explained the truth there.
- The humble hearer. Learned and eloquent, he still let two ordinary workers teach him — the reason the help worked.
- The wider reach. Two unknown believers launched a preacher who then helped many. Some of the credit for his work goes to them.
And when he purposed to go into Achaia, the brethren wrote to the disciples engaging them to receive him, who, being come, contributed much to those who believed through grace.
Apollos had just learned more from Aquila and Priscilla at Ephesus. Now he wants to sail to Achaia, and this short verse shows what happens next: believers write for him, disciples welcome him, and he does a whole company of Christians great good.
Nothing in the account gives Apollos an official appointment. He simply moves on with the backing of those who had heard him, and commentators point to this as the pattern of how a teacher was set going.
Take another instructive case in Acts 18:24-28. Apollos, though he knew only the baptism of John, diligently gave out what he knew, and learned the way of God more perfectly through a plain Christian man and his wife, Aquila and Priscilla. Instead of getting him ordained, the believers wrote commending him from Ephesus to Achaia as a great preacher and teacher, without any formal act whatsoever.
The writing itself is not incidental. It is the first plain instance in Scripture of one company of believers vouching in writing for a traveller to another.
There is a reference to a letter of commendation in the Scriptures in Acts 18:27. We find that the believers in Ephesus wrote a letter of commendation to those in Achaia, commending their brother Apollos to them.
Writers draw a working practice out of it — a letter spares a congregation from having to weigh up a stranger at the door in a few rushed minutes.
Letters of commendation should be carried by those who move from one place to another (Rom. 16:1-2; 2 Cor. 3:1). They help strengthen practical fellowship between assemblies. They also give the "doorkeepers" confidence in the principles of reception, when they would otherwise face someone who seems to be a stranger. Fellowship can be enjoyed at once when the bearer of a letter of commendation has ready evidence that they are a true believer.
His help worked in two directions at once. It also showed a strength his own teachers did not have.
He refuted the Jews with force in public, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. His progress was clear to all. Arrogant opposers were put to shame, and he built up the faithful. Apollos could work with a force beyond those who had led him on in private. This is the scriptural way to gain a good standing, and much boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.
One writer sums up his method in a single line.
It is said of Apollos that he "helped them much which had believed through grace." How? He showed from the Scriptures the glory of Christ! (Acts 18:27-28).
(ESV: "he greatly helped those who through grace had believed.")
Two people stand behind this fruitful visit. What Apollos gave in Achaia, he had first received at their table.
Apollos had a natural gift of eloquence — he was a master of words. By diligent study he had become "mighty in the Scriptures." Yet when he came to Ephesus he was not well informed about God's intervention in Christ... Aquila and Priscilla heard him and at once saw what he lacked. They did the delightful service of showing him hospitality, so that they could teach him more fully what had come about through Christ. So God used these saints, who had no public gift of their own, to launch a very gifted vessel properly on his career of service. From Ephesus he went to Corinth. There he convinced many Jews about Christ, and he also gave the believers great help. How much of the reward of his effective service will go to the credit of Aquila and Priscilla, who can say?
The people he helped were already believers, and another servant had reached them first. How Apollos treated that man's work says as much as his preaching.
But there was another circle of interest, and he did not neglect it in his zeal to refute his countrymen. There were believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. These he helped much (Acts 18:27). And Paul, writing afterwards to the Corinthians, reminded them of that eloquent and earnest man's ministry, saying, "I planted, Apollos watered" (1 Cor. 3:6)... Apollos was very eloquent, and no doubt a most attractive speaker. Even so, he had never tried, and still did not try, to gather people round himself. Nor did he try to lessen the love and respect the believers at Corinth had for Paul.
- Grace first. The people he served had believed through grace. Grace was at work before he ever arrived.
- Gift next. A couple with no public gift taught him at home and launched a very gifted man into service.
- Letter after. Believers put their commendation in writing. No ordination appears anywhere in the account.
- Help then. He built up the faithful and answered arrogant opposers in public from the Scriptures.
- Christ last. His help had one content: he showed from the Scriptures the glory of Christ. He never gathered a following to himself.
For he with great force convinced the Jews publicly, shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.
This verse closes the account of Apollos with one line about his public work, and it all turns on one method: he argued from the Scriptures. It raises two questions — where did his power come from, and what was he proving?
Apollos did not invent a new approach. He used the same tool the earlier preachers had used with people who already accepted God's written revelation.
The apostles and early workers in the Word dealt in this same way with people who had a written revelation from God and accepted it. Peter's sermons at Jerusalem, Stephen's defence, and Paul's ministry to his own people show it clearly. Apollos too (Acts 18:28) used the weapon of Old Testament Scripture. He powerfully convinced, or refuted, the Jews, showing in public by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus. Every one of them turned to the Scriptures, and used the sword of the Spirit with clear and blessed effect.
His argument had one target. The verse puts it as "the Christ was Jesus" — the Messiah is the Lord Jesus — and he proved it from the Old Testament Scriptures.
Here he was a very real help to the disciples. He also spoke with such power that he convinced the Jews of the truth that the Lord Jesus is the Messiah. He used the Old Testament Scriptures to this good end. Paul had planted the church at Corinth in this same chapter; now Apollos waters it (1 Cor. 3:6).
The older translation's "mightily convinced" (ESV: "powerfully refuted") describes an argument that left opponents with nothing to say. Two things happened at once — and the same public work that silenced the critics fed the believers.
Everyone could see his progress. Arrogant opponents were put to shame, and the faithful were built up through him. For Apollos could work with greater force than those who had taught him in private. This is the way Scripture shows for gaining a good standing, and great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.
This public strength grew out of private teaching. The two people who taught him held no office and no title.
A believer and his wife taught him more fully. They had no more authority to teach than he did. Soon he is found more active and honoured than ever: "he greatly helped those who through grace had believed; for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public" (Acts 18).
Because everything rested on the Scriptures, how they were quoted mattered. One writer draws a line back to John the Baptist, whose preaching was all Apollos originally knew, and asks what our own teaching might produce.
By the Scriptures. May that word go home to each of us. Suppose John the Baptist had been in that meeting at Ephesus, listening to Apollos. He might have asked where Apollos first met these things. Think of the joy of this servant. He was once puzzled and a little disappointed, and now he learns that Apollos began his service "knowing only the baptism of John." If an "Apollos" was the result of our service, would it not be worthwhile?
The result also says something about the documents Apollos was quoting. If they were unreliable, the outcome makes no sense.
Can one refute so powerfully by means of a pack of myths and writings of impostors?
No apostle sent him out, and no official appointment lies behind his work.
At Corinth he becomes a powerful teacher of the gospel of the Lord among the Jews. In this way he strengthens the faith of the disciples. The energy of the Holy Spirit shows itself in him without any intervention of the apostle or of the twelve. He acts independently; that is, the Spirit acts independently in him.
- Taught — a believer and his wife, holding no office, taught him more fully; afterwards he was "more active and honoured than ever."
- Armed — he used "the weapon of Old Testament Scripture," the same sword the earlier preachers used.
- Aimed — at one target only: showing from those Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.
- Effective — "arrogant opponents were put to shame, and the faithful were built up through him." One public work did both.
- Free — no apostle appointed him; "the Spirit acts independently in him." That is "the way Scripture shows for gaining a good standing."