Dictionaries :: Apostle, Apostleship

Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words

Apostle, Apostleship:

is, lit., "one sent forth" (apo, "from," stello, "to send"). "The word is used of the Lord Jesus to describe His relation to God, Hbr 3:1; see Jhn 17:3. The twelve disciples chosen by the Lord for special training were so called, Luk 6:13; 9:10. Paul, though he had seen the Lord Jesus, 1Cr 9:1; 15:8, had not 'companied with' the Twelve 'all the time' of His earthly ministry, and hence was not eligible for a place among them, according to Peter's description of the necessary qualifications, Act 1:22. Paul was commissioned directly, by the Lord Himself, after HisAscension, to carry the Gospel to the Gentiles.

"The word has also a wider reference. In Act 14:4, 14, it is used of Barnabas as well as of Paul; in Rom 16:7 of Andronicus and Junias. In 2Cr 8:23 (RV, margin) two unnamed brethren are called 'apostles of the churches;' in Phl 2:25 (RV, margin) Epaphroditus is referred to as 'your apostle.' It is used in 1Th 2:6 of Paul, Silas and Timothy, to define their relation to Christ." *
[* From Notes on Thessalonians, by Hogg and Vine, pp. 59-60.]

Apostle, Apostleship:

"a sending, a mission," signifies an apostleship, Act 1:25; Rom 1:5; 1Cr 9:2; Gal 2:8.

Note: Pseudapostoloi, "false apostles," occurs in 2Cr 11:13.