Apollos was a Jewish Christian from Alexandria, a city renowned for its learning and its large Jewish community. He was “an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures” (Acts 18:24), and he arrived in Ephesus sometime around AD 52–54.
According to Acts, Apollos knew only the baptism of John — that is, he had received John's baptism of repentance but had not yet heard of Jesus' death, resurrection, and the coming of the Spirit. Priscilla and Aquila took him aside and “explained the way of God more accurately” (Acts 18:26).
Corinth and the Apollos Faction
Apollos then went to Corinth, where he “greatly helped those who through grace had believed” (Acts 18:27). His ministry there was so effective that a faction in the Corinthian church claimed him as their leader, alongside factions loyal to Paul and to Cephas (1 Cor. 1:12). Paul does not criticize Apollos; he criticizes the factionalism that used Apollos's name as a banner.
1 Corinthians suggests that Apollos was an independent missionary, not part of Paul's inner circle. Paul's letters treat him with respect and affection, and 1 Corinthians 16:12 indicates that Paul and Apollos remained in contact and we're committed to working together.
Later Life
The New Testament says nothing more about Apollos after Acts and 1 Corinthians. Later tradition places his death in Crete, and some sources connect him to the church in Corinth after Paul's death. The Letter to Titus mentions Apollos in passing (Titus 3:13), which suggests he was still active in the apostolic mission in the late first century.
“ He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.”
Acts 18:25“ I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.”
1 Corinthians 3:6Sources
- Acts 18:24–28; 19:1; 1 Corinthians 1:12; 3:4–6, 22; 4:6; 16:12; Titus 3:13.
- M. David Litwa, “Apollos,” in Early Christianity in Alexandria (Cambridge University Press, 2023), 40–54.
- Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience, 31 January 2007.
- Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, Paul: A Critical Life (Oxford, 1996), 259–260.