What is the exact word and meaning for Apostles in Greek … Apostles are the eyewitnesses of the resurrected Christ, Right? (Acts 1:22) as they were twelve and apostle Paul (Acts 26:13-18) … But some people are arguing that there are 16 Apostles which includes the following. Can you please Explain … Twelve + Paul = 13 … + Matthias = 14 … Acts 14:14 … + Barnabas = 15 … Heb 3:1 … + Jesus = 16 … ~ Joe David
“How many apostles” as it is represented above is a trivia or trick question that one might pose to try to stump someone. Yet, of course, there is a valid aspect to determining what the word apostle means and in what sense it is variously applied in the New Testament.
The word for “apostle” is transliterated (brought over without translation and the Greek letters exchanged for English letters) from the Greek, apostolos. Literally, it means, “one sent forth.” It is applied by Jesus to his twelve disciples (Luke 6:13). When a replacement apostle was selected to replace Judas who by transgression fell, one was to be selected from among those who had been with the Lord in his earthly ministry and had seen the resurrected Lord (Acts 1:22); Matthias was chosen (Acts 1:26). Through this point, there existed 12 apostleships of Christ and there had been 13 persons who had or were serving as apostles of Christ. The apostle Paul was singled out by Jesus to serve as an apostle of Christ, and our Lord appeared unto him for that purpose (Acts 22:14; Galatians 1:1). This brings the number of apostleships to 13 and the number of persons who served as apostles of Christ to 14.
Barnabas, a fellow evangelist with the apostle Paul, along with Paul himself are referred to other than as apostles of Christ to be apostles of the church in Antioch of Syria (Acts 14:4, 14). They had been selected by the Holy Spirit and appointed by the church in Antioch with laying on of hands before being permitted to begin Paul’s first missionary journey (Acts 13:2-4). Barnabas and Paul were ‘ones sent’ or in that sense ‘apostles of the church in Antioch of Syria.’ Barnabas is not usually viewed as an apostle of Christ in the sense in which the twelve, then Matthias and then Paul were viewed specially as the apostles of Christ.
Again, Jesus Christ is referred to as an apostle in the sense of ‘one sent.’ Obviously, Jesus Christ was not an apostle of Jesus Christ. The basic meaning of the word is what is meant regarding Jesus (Hebrews 3:1). John 17:3 phrases it, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” The Greek word for “sent” here is related to the Greek word for apostle. Jesus Christ was sent from heaven by the Father, and in that sense, Jesus was an apostle of heaven.
