Technical vs General "Apostles"

The "technical" vs "generic" usage of the word "Apostle"

WEB Acts 14:14 But when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of it, they tore their clothes, and sprang into the multitude, crying out,

Inspired scripture declares both Barnabas and Paul to be "apostles". Did Paul fit the requirement for "the Twelve"?

 

No. One of those requirements was that he had to "have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, to the day that he was received up from us" (Acts 1:21). Paul did not fit that criteria (and Barnabas almost certainly did not, but we're not sure).

 

Paul did not fit the criteria for being an Apostle in the technical (perhaps "specific" is a more palatable word for many) sense, but he was definitely specifically sent on a mission by Jesus (Acts 13:2), so he did fit the criteria for being an apostle in the generic sense.

Andronicus and Junia may also have been apostles; the Greek is not quite clear what is meant in Rom 16:7.

 

Before Paul arrived in Corinth to collect the savings for the poor saints back in Jerusalem, which the Corinthians had been setting aside for the past year, he decided to send some brothers ahead of him to remind them to get those savings in order, so Paul could pick them up. He writes:

2 Cor 9:3 But I have sent the brothers that our boasting on your behalf may not be in vain in this respect, that, just as I said, you may be prepared, 4 lest by any means, if anyone from Macedonia comes there with me and finds you unprepared, we (to say nothing of you) would be disappointed in this confident boasting. 5 I thought it necessary therefore to entreat the brothers that they would go before to you and arrange ahead of time the generous gift that you promised before, that the same might be ready as a matter of generosity, and not of greediness.

In introducing these brothers, he called them "apostles":

2 Cor 8:23 As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for you. As for our brothers, they are the apostles of the assemblies, the glory of Christ.

These apostles were almost certainly not of "the Twelve". They were "apostles" in the generic sense.

 

James, the brother of Jesus, was not one of the original twelve, nor was he the one who replaced Judas, but Paul calls him an "apostle":

Gal 1:19 But of the other apostles I saw no one except James, the Lord’s brother.

Epaphroditus (a Greek name, indicating that he was probably not Jewish), certainly not one of "the Twelve", is stated point-blank to be an apostle:

Phil 2:25 But I counted it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, fellow soldier, and your apostle and servant of my need,

Hopefully you can now see what is meant when referring to a "technical" usage and a "generic" usage of the word "apostle". In its technical use, it refers to the original Twelve and any replacements of that group; in its generic use, it simply refers to someone sent on a task, a "missionary" or "ambassador".

 

Today, no human qualifies to be an Apostle in the technical sense; all of us, however, could theoretically become an apostle in the generic sense.