Charles Ellicott Commentary Acts 18:24

"Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by race, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the scriptures." — Acts 18:24 (ASV)

And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria. This name was probably a contraction of Apollonius or Apollodorus. The facts in the New Testament connected with him show that he occupied a prominent position in the history of the Apostolic Church. Conjectures, more or less probable, indicate an even more representative character and a wider range of influence.

Luther, considering the obviously Alexandrian character of the Epistle to the Hebrews and the mystery which shrouds its authorship (which led Origen to the conclusion that God alone knew who wrote it), hazarded the thought that Apollos was the writer.

Later critics have adopted this hypothesis and have brought it to a closer approximation of certainty by an induction from numerous parallelisms in thought and language between the Epistle and the writings of Philo, who lived between B.C. 20 and A.D. 40 or 50.

The present writer has carried the inquiry one step further. Among the ethical books of the Septuagint, there is one, the Wisdom of Solomon, whose authorship is also an unsolved problem. It is not named or quoted by any pre-Christian writer; Clement of Rome is the first writer who shows traces of its influence, just as he is the first who reproduces the thoughts of the Epistle to the Hebrews.

The Wisdom of Solomon has been ascribed to Philo, partly on the external evidence of a doubtful passage in the Muratorian Canon and partly on the internal evidence of numerous coincidences with his writings. A careful comparison of the two books shows such a close agreement in style and language between the Wisdom of Solomon and the Epistle to the Hebrews that it is scarcely possible to resist the inference that they must have come from the same pen and, therefore, represent different stages in the spiritual growth of the same man.

Those who wish to carry the inquiry further will find the subject discussed at length in two papers, “On the Writings of Apollos,” in Vol. I. of the Expositor.

Without assuming more than the probability of this inference, it is nevertheless obvious that a Jew coming from Alexandria at this time could hardly fail to have come under Philo’s influence, and that his mode of interpreting the Scriptures would naturally present many analogies to that of the Alexandrian thinker.

Accordingly, to him may be assigned, without much risk of error, the first introduction of the characteristic Philonic idea that the Unseen Godhead manifests itself in the Logos, the Divine Word, or Thought, as seen in the visible creation and in the spirit and heart of man (Hebrews 4:12).

It will be remembered that Jews from Alexandria were among those who disputed with Stephen (Acts 6:9). Some of these may have been more or less persuaded by his preaching and have carried back to their native city some knowledge, more or less complete, of the new faith.

An eloquent man. The Greek adjective implies learning as well as eloquence. It was applied pre-eminently to those who wrote history with fullness and insight (Herodotus 1.1; 2.3, 77). The treatment of the history of Israel in Wisdom chapters 10, 11, and 18, and in Hebrews chapter 11, might well be described by it.