Acts 18:24-28 (Some Key Terms and Apollos)

This is my last entry for Acts 18: vss. 24-28 cover Paul's third missionary journey and his encounter with Apollos, a Jew who arrives at Ephesus (Asia Minor then, but now Turkey). Paul worked hard in Ephesus as he spent two years in the city. Furthermore, we read about Timothy being in Ephesus to shepherd the flock there (1 Timothy 1:3). Nevertheless, I now turn my attention to Apollos.

Greek (SBLGNT):  Ἰουδαῖος δέ τις Ἀπολλῶς ὀνόματι, Ἀλεξανδρεὺς τῷ γένει, ἀνὴρ λόγιος, κατήντησεν εἰς Ἔφεσον, δυνατὸς ὢν ἐν ταῖς γραφαῖς. οὗτος ἦν κατηχημένος τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ κυρίου, καὶ ζέων τῷ πνεύματι ἐλάλει καὶ ἐδίδασκεν ἀκριβῶς τὰ περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ἐπιστάμενος μόνον τὸ βάπτισμα Ἰωάννου. οὗτός τε ἤρξατο παρρησιάζεσθαι ἐν τῇ συναγωγῇ· ἀκούσαντες δὲ αὐτοῦ Πρίσκιλλα καὶ Ἀκύλας προσελάβοντο αὐτὸν καὶ ἀκριβέστερον αὐτῷ ἐξέθεντο τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ θεοῦ. βουλομένου δὲ αὐτοῦ διελθεῖν εἰς τὴν Ἀχαΐαν προτρεψάμενοι οἱ ἀδελφοὶ ἔγραψαν τοῖς μαθηταῖς ἀποδέξασθαι αὐτόν· ὃς παραγενόμενος συνεβάλετο πολὺ τοῖς πεπιστευκόσιν διὰ τῆς χάριτος· εὐτόνως γὰρ τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις διακατηλέγχετο δημοσίᾳ ἐπιδεικνὺς διὰ τῶν γραφῶν εἶναι τὸν χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν.

Translation (HCSB): A Jew named Apollos, a native Alexandrian, an eloquent man who was powerful in the use of the Scriptures, arrived in Ephesus. This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught the things about Jesus accurately, although he knew only John’s baptism. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. After Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him home and explained the way of God to him more accurately. When he wanted to cross over to Achaia, the brothers wrote to the disciples urging them to welcome him. After he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace. For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating through the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah.

David Bentley Hart:  And a certain Judaean by the name of Apollos, Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man with a great command of the scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man had been instructed in the Way of the Lord and, fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately about things regarding Jesus, while knowing of only the baptism of John; And this man began boldly speaking out in the synagogue. And, on hearing him, Priscilla and Aquila took him to their place and explained the Way of God to him more accurately. And, when he wished to proceed onward into Achaia, the brethren, feeling encouraged, wrote to the disciples to welcome him—who, when he got there, made a great contribution to those who by grace had come to have faith; For he confounded the Judaeans in public debate with great rhetorical power, demonstrating through the scriptures that Jesus is the Anointed.

I cannot make comments on each part of these verses; instead, I'm going to highlight some key terms or ideas:

1) ἀνὴρ λόγιος-Louw-Nida Greek and English Lexicon supplies this definition for λόγιος (semantic domain 27.20): "pertaining to one who has learned a great deal of the intellectual heritage of a culture - ‘learned, cultured.’" However, the lexicon observes the word could be taken to mean "eloquent" in Acts 18:24 (Compare semantic domain 33.32 in Louw-Nida). Ralph Earle quips that Apollos possibly was learned and eloquent. I've also seen significance in Luke's mention of Apollos being a native Alexandrian. See https://fosterheologicalreflections.blogspot.com/2018/03/apollos-of-alexandria.html

2) δυνατὸς ὢν ἐν ταῖς γραφαῖς-"powerful in the scriptures"; Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon:

δυνατός, -ή, -όν (< δύναμαι), [in LXX for גִּבּוֹר, חַיִל, etc. ;]

1. strong, mighty, powerful: absol., Lk 1:49, 1 Col 1:26; οἱ δ., the chief men, Ac 25:5 ; of spiritual strength, Ro 15:1, II Co 12:10 13:9; seq. ἐν, Lk 24:19, Ac 7:22 18:24; πρός, II Co 10:4.

2. C. inf., able to do; Lk 14:31, Ac 11:17, Ro 4:21 11:23, II Ti 1:12, Tit 1:9, He 11:19, Ja 3:2.

3. Neut., δυνατόν, possible: Mt 19:26, Mk 9:23 10:27 14:36, Lk 18:27, Ac 2:24 20:16; εἰ δ. (ἐστι), Mt 24:24 26:39, Mk 13:22 14:35, Ro 12:18, Ga 4:15; τὸ δ. (= ἡ δύναμις) αὐτοῦ, Ro 9:22.†

With the help of BDAG, we find that δυνατὸς can mean "well-versed" in Acts 18:24.

3) ζέων τῷ πνεύματι ἐλάλει καὶ ἐδίδασκεν ἀκριβῶς τὰ περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ- According to Darrell Bock, "Τῷ πνεύματι is syntactically a dative of reference or respect: Apollos is fervent with respect to the Spirit/spirit (Moulton and Turner 1963: 220). The description of someone as fervent means that the person is enthusiastic, excited, or 'on fire' (BAGD 337; BDAG 426; 'talked … with great enthusiasm,' NLT). The term literally means 'boiling' or 'seething' (Josephus, Ant. 13.12.6 §345). It is often used in a positive context about emotions, as here. The only two NT uses are here and in Rom. 12:11."

There is some question about what exactly ζέων τῷ πνεύματι means in Acts 18:24. Does it signify that Apollos had "great enthusiasm" (NET Bible) or that he was guided by God's holy spirit when preaching to others? After weighing the options, Bock concludes that Apollos was a Christian believer who was "fervent in spirit," that is, guided by the spirit of God.

4) ἀκούσαντες-aorist active participle nominative plural masculine of ἀκούω ("hear, obey, listen, give heed to").

5) ἀκριβέστερον αὐτῷ ἐξέθεντο τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ θεοῦ-"they explained the way of God to him more accurately"; it's interesting that Luke switches from "Lord" (possibly Jesus) earlier or "Jehovah" (NWT) to "God" here.

ἀκριβέστερον is a comparative adverbial form of ἀκριβής; see Plato, Philebus 57e: ταύτας οὖν λέγομεν ἐπιστήμας ἀκριβεῖς μάλιστ᾽ εἶναι. In the words of Bock, "ἀκριβέστερον (akribesteron, v. 26) is a comparative used as an elative with an adverbial force (Moulton and Turner 1963: 30; Culy and Parsons 2003: 357)."

6) προτρεψάμενοι οἱ ἀδελφοὶ ἔγραψαν τοῖς μαθηταῖς ἀποδέξασθαι αὐτόν-The participle in this construction (προτρεψάμενοι) is aorist middle nominative plural masculine of προτρέπω ("to impel, excite, exhort"). Culy and Parsons identify it as a participle of attendant circumstance (page 357). ἔγραψαν is aorist active indicative third person plural of γράφω. ἀποδέξασθαι is an aorist middle-passive infinitive of αποδέχομαι: it possibly communicates the idea of purpose (Culy and Parsons).

7) εὐτόνως γὰρ τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις διακατηλέγχετο δημοσίᾳ ἐπιδεικνὺς διὰ τῶν γραφῶν εἶναι τὸν χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν-Apollos robustly confuted (διακατηλέγχετο) his Jewish opponents in Achaia. See Robertson's Word Pictures: he renders the adverbial εὐτόνως as "powerfully." Other translations include "vigorously" and "vehemently." NWT 2013 chose "with great intensity."

διακατηλέγχετο is an imperfect middle indicative third person singular of διακατελέγχομαι; it occurs once in the GNT. "For he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah" (William Mounce). The Alexandrian "confounded" the Jews openly, and he ἐπιδεικνὺς  διὰ τῶν γραφῶν; however, the main point of his activity was to demonstrate that Jesus is the Messiah.

8) NET Note on Acts 18:27: sn To cross over to Achaia. Achaia was organized by the Romans as a separate province of Greece in 27 b.c. and was located across the Aegean Sea from Ephesus. The city of Corinth was in Achaia.

See the NET Bible note for Acts 18:12.