Apollos

Apollos appears in the New Testament correspondence as a named co-worker whose ministry is bound up with Paul's at Corinth. The verses that name him show him in three settings: as the rallying-point of a Corinthian faction, as a fellow servant whose labor is set beside Paul's in a single agricultural figure, and as a traveler whose own judgment governs his movements and whose onward journeys are commended to the church's care.

Named in the Corinthian Factions

Word reaches Paul that the Corinthian assembly has fractured into parties named for their teachers. The report comes "by those [who are of the household] of Chloe, that there are contentions among you⁺," and the contentions are itemized in the slogans "I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ" (1Co 1:11-12). Apollos's name stands second in that inventory, placed between Paul and Cephas, and is taken up as the cry of one faction. The reference is not to anything Apollos has done; he is drawn into a quarrel he has not authored, present only as the slogan of the party that has chosen him.

The same pairing recurs a chapter later, where the apostle uses it to expose the slogans as merely human: "For when one says, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are you⁺ not men?" (1Co 3:4). His name is again the rallying point of a faction, set against Paul's, and the pairing is the foil for a verdict on the Corinthians' own carnality.

Servant and Fellow Worker

Out of the same passage Paul moves directly into a positive account of what Apollos actually is. The question "What then is Apollos? And what is Paul?" is answered with a single title and a single image: "Servants through whom you⁺ believed; and to each as the Lord gave. I planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase" (1Co 3:5-6). The role is servant-scale, the assignment is given by the Lord, and the labor is divided — Paul plants, Apollos waters — with the productive verb reserved for God. The figure closes with the principle: "So then neither is he who plants anything, neither he who waters; but God who gives the increase" (1Co 3:7). Apollos's ministry is real and named, and its limits are explicit: he waters; he is not the increase.

A Co-Worker Whose Movements Are His Own

When Apollos surfaces again at the close of the same letter, his standing has shifted from slogan back to person. Paul writes, "But as concerning Apollos the brother, I implored him much to come to you⁺ with the brothers: and it was not at all [his] will to come now; but he will come when he will have opportunity" (1Co 16:12). The relational title is fraternal — "the brother." The verb is one of urging, not commanding; the present refusal is volitional; the future coming is keyed to opportunity. The apostle transmits Apollos's judgment rather than overriding it, so the verse exhibits a co-worker whose timing is consulted and whose own sense of when to go governs his deployment.

Provisioned for the Onward Journey

The last named appearance of Apollos in the letters is a charge laid on Titus: "Set forward Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey diligently, that nothing is wanting to them" (Tit 3:13). His name stands beside Zenas the lawyer; the verb is one of sending-forward; the manner is diligence; and the scope-clause presses for a provisioning so complete that nothing is left lacking. Apollos is exhibited here as a traveler whose continuing journey is the church's business to support — fully, attentively, and without shortfall.