Passage

Acts 18.24

Book: Acts · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

22. And when he had landed at Cæsarea, he went up and saluted the church, and went down to Antioch. 23. And having spent some time there, he departed, and went through the region of Galatia, and Phrygia, in order, establishing all the disciples.

24. Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by race, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the scriptures.

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: 26. and he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more accurately. (Acts 18:22-26, ASV)

WEB

22. When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the assembly, and went down to Antioch. 23. Having spent some time there, he departed, and went through the region of Galatia, and Phrygia, in order, establishing all the disciples.

24. Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by race, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus. He was mighty in the Scriptures.

This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, although he knew only the baptism of John. 26. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside, and explained to him the way of God more accurately. (Acts 18:22-26, WEB)

KJV

22. And when he had landed at Caesarea, and gone up, and saluted the church, he went down to Antioch. 23. And after he had spent some time there, he departed, and went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples.

24. And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus.

This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. 26. And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. (Acts 18:22-26, KJV)

YLT

22. and having come down to Caesarea, having gone up, and having saluted the assembly, he went down to Antioch. 23. And having made some stay he went forth, going through in order the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

24. And a certain Jew, Apollos by name, an Alexandrian by birth, a man of eloquence, being mighty in the Writings, came to Ephesus,

this one was instructed in the way of the Lord, and being fervent in the Spirit, was speaking and teaching exactly the things about the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John; 26. this one also began to speak boldly in the synagogue, and Aquilas and Priscilla having heard of him, took him to [them], and did more exactly expound to him the way of God, (Acts 18:22-26, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Luke, narrating (1:1)
Audience: The synagogue at Ephesus, where Apollos "began to speak boldly" (18:26)
Location: Ephesus, after Paul had left for Caesarea and Antioch (18:21-22)
Time period: C. AD 52, between Paul's second and third journeys

Theological reading

"And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus" (Acts 18:24, KJV).

From Alexandria. Alexandria in Egypt was home to the largest Jewish community outside Judea and a centre of learning. Tradition placed the translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek, the Septuagint, there, and the Jewish philosopher Philo lived and wrote there in Apollos' own lifetime. The ASV renders the phrase "an Alexandrian by race."

Eloquent and mighty in the Scriptures. "Eloquent" is logios (Strong's G3052), learned or skilled in speech. He was "instructed in the way of the Lord" and "fervent in the spirit," but knew "only the baptism of John" (18:25).

Taught by a tentmaker couple. Priscilla and Aquila heard him, "took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly" (18:26). A learned man from a great city accepted correction from two artisans, and became a powerful debater who "mightily convinced the Jews ... shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ" (18:28).

Later influence. At Corinth some said "I am of Apollos" (1 Corinthians 1:12), but Paul treats him as a fellow worker: "I have planted, Apollos watered" (3:6). Martin Luther suggested Apollos as the author of Hebrews, a guess that remains popular though unprovable. The Kemetic Religion vs the Christian God comparison cites him among Africans prominent in the first-century church. See Africans in Scripture Argument.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

G3686 - onoma, onoma, Strong's G3686

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Notes

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Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.