Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Acts 18:25

"This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spake and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, knowing only the baptism of John:" — Acts 18:25 (ASV)

Between the time of Paul’s stopover at Ephesus (18:19–21) and his return to the city on his third missionary journey (19:1ff.), Apollos came to Ephesus. A native of Alexandria, he was a highly educated man and possessed a thorough knowledge of the Jewish Scriptures. Somewhere and somehow he had received instruction about Jesus, and to that extent he knew the Gospel “accurately” and “spoke with great fervor” concerning Jesus. When Priscilla and Aquila heard Apollos in the synagogue, they recognized some deficiencies in his understanding of the Christian message. So they invited him to their home and explained “the way of God” to him “more accurately.” Apollos’s knowledge of Jesus seems to have come through disciples of John the Baptist, perhaps when he was in Alexandria. Presumably he knew that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah and knew something of Jesus’ earthly ministry, but that is all. When instructed further by Priscilla and Aquila, Apollos readily accepted all God had done in the death and resurrection of Jesus and in sending the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.