Apostle
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through the Connect page. Screenshots are helpful.
ἀπόστολος is derived from the verb ἀποστέλλω (to send out), and its core meaning is 'one sent' — a commissioned delegate acting with the authority and on behalf of the one who sent them. In the ancient world this word covered both formal ambassadors and practical messengers, always with the sense that the sender's authority travels with the sent one.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἀπόστολος (G652) · Open the biblical lexicon
ἀπόστολος is derived from the verb ἀποστέλλω (to send out), and its core meaning is 'one sent' — a commissioned delegate acting with the authority and on behalf of the one who sent them. In the ancient world this word covered both formal ambassadors and practical messengers, always with the sense that the sender's authority travels with the sent one.
The BSB source-word alignment has 80 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include apostles (48), an apostle (14), apostles’ (5), apostle (3), . . . (2).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 10:2. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (28), 1 Corinthians (10), 2 Corinthians (6), Luke (6).
ἀπόστολος is derived from the verb ἀποστέλλω (to send out), and its core meaning is 'one sent' — a commissioned delegate acting with the authority and on behalf of the one who sent them. In the ancient world this word covered both formal ambassadors and practical messengers, always with the sense that the sender's authority travels with the sent one. In the NT the word carries a specific technical weight in two directions.
The narrow sense designates the Twelve who were chosen by Jesus, witnesses of his resurrection, and foundational to the church (Eph 2:20). The broader sense in Paul's letters can include others who were sent out by the Spirit and recognized by the churches — Barnabas (Acts 14:14), Andronicus and Junia (Rom 16:7), and Paul himself, whose apostolic authority he defends at length precisely because it did not derive from the Jerusalem circle (Gal 1:1).
The theological weight of ἀπόστολος rests on the logic of sending: the apostle's authority is derivative, not inherent. Jesus was himself first the apostle of the Father (Heb 3:1 calls him 'the Apostle and High Priest of our confession'), sent with full divine authority, and the Twelve participated in that sending as its extension. The commission of Matthew 28:18-20 — all authority in heaven and on earth given to Jesus, therefore the disciples are sent — is the apostolic logic made explicit: mission flows from the authority of the one who sends.
ἀπόστολος appears in the local Greek index about 79 times in the NT, concentrated in Acts, Paul's letters, and Luke's Gospel. The word bears a range of uses: the narrow technical sense for the Twelve plus Paul, the broader sense for Spirit-commissioned missionaries, and the singular application to Jesus himself in Hebrews. The related verb for sending provides the verbal background for understanding what the noun means in practice.
These are the names of the twelve apostles: first Simon, called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John;
The naming of the Twelve as apostles in Matthew 10 establishes the technical sense: they have been called, trained, and sent with specific authority. The context — the sending discourse of Matthew 10, where Jesus charges them about mission, opposition, and provision — gives content to what ἀπόστολος means in practice: authority to act in Jesus' name, dependence on the sender's backing, and the expectation of both reception and rejection.
Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead—
Paul's opening defense of his apostleship establishes the structural definition: an apostle is one commissioned directly by the risen Christ, not by human appointment. The negations ('not from men, neither through man') are not incidental — they are the ground of the letter's entire argument about the gospel's independence from human tradition. Paul's apostolate stands or falls on whether his sending was divine.
Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.
The church's foundation is apostolic — not in the sense that the institution requires perpetual apostolic officers, but in the sense that the deposit given through the apostles is the church's irreplaceable ground. The past tense is significant: the foundation was laid. What was built on it continues; what was laid is not repeated. This verse is the basis for the distinction between the unique foundational role of the Twelve plus Paul and the ongoing mission of the church.
Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, set your focus on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess.
The unique application of ἀπόστολος to Jesus himself: he is the sent one in the ultimate sense — dispatched by the Father with full divine authority to accomplish the work of redemption. Hebrews' pairing of Apostle and High Priest at the opening of its central argument is not incidental: the one sent accomplishes his mission through priestly mediation, and both titles belong to the same person.
When daylight came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also designated as apostles:
Luke's account of the naming is precise: Jesus chose from among the broader circle of disciples and named twelve specifically as apostles. The choice precedes the mission — they are apostles before they are sent, commissioned before they act. The naming is itself a form of authority-conferral: apostles are not people who happen to be sent but people defined by their sending relationship to Jesus.
Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow countrymen and fellow prisoners. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.
The broader use of ἀπόστολος: Andronicus and Junia are 'notable among the apostles,' indicating that the term could extend beyond the Twelve to include other commissioned missionaries recognized by the churches. Whether 'notable among the apostles' means they were counted within the apostolic circle or merely honored by it is debated, but either way the verse shows the word was not hermetically sealed around the Twelve.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. apostle
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 81 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
an apostle, a messenger, an envoy, a delegate
Read versean apostle, a messenger, an envoy, a delegate
Read versean apostle, a messenger, an envoy, a delegate
Read versean apostle, a messenger, an envoy, a delegate
Read versean apostle, a messenger, an envoy, a delegate
Read versean apostle, a messenger, an envoy, a delegate
Read versean apostle, a messenger, an envoy, a delegate
Read versean apostle, a messenger, an envoy, a delegate
Read versean apostle, a messenger, an envoy, a delegate
Read versean apostle, a messenger, an envoy, a delegate
Read versean apostle, a messenger, an envoy, a delegate
Read versean apostle, a messenger, an envoy, a delegate
Read versean apostle, a messenger, an envoy, a delegate
Read versean apostle, a messenger, an envoy, a delegate
Read versean apostle, a messenger, an envoy, a delegate
Read versean apostle, a messenger, an envoy, a delegate
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 7 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 79 lexical occurrence verses.
ἀπόστολος is built from this root:
Defines foundational leadership in the kingdom mission. Matthew 10:1–4
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
The apostolic commission is one of the most frequently cited and least deeply understood concepts in mission theology. Churches speak freely about being 'apostolic' or 'sent' without always registering the structural claim embedded in the word: an apostle's authority is entirely derivative. The sent one carries the authority of the sender and acts under the sender's name, not their own.
This means the content of the mission is not negotiable at the field level — Paul's extended defense in Galatians 1-2 is not about his personal reputation but about whether the gospel he preaches is genuinely from the risen Christ or is a human adaptation. The pastoral implication is that the church's mission is not the church's invention. Matthew 28:18-19 structures this precisely: 'All authority has been given to me — therefore go.'
The commission flows from a prior authorization that the church did not create and cannot revise. Preachers who want to use ἀπόστολος for contemporary mission need to carry this structure: the church is sent by the risen Christ, under his authority, bearing his word. That is not primarily a credential claim but a humility claim — the mission is his, not ours.
Gal.1.1
ἀπόστολος is derived from ἀπό (from) + στέλλω (to send, to equip). Abbott-Smith notes it was not a common Greek word before the NT — most of its weight is distinctively Christian usage. The background concept of the Jewish *shaliach* (agent/representative, from שָׁלַח šālaḥ) is often cited: in Jewish legal tradition the agent was equivalent to the one who sent him — 'a man's agent is like himself.'
This background enriches the NT usage: the apostle acts with the full equivalence-authority of the sender, which is why Paul can say 'we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us' (2 Cor 5:20).
The concept of divine sending appears early and persistently in the OT: Moses is sent to Pharaoh (Exod 3:10), the prophets are sent to Israel ('I did not send these prophets, yet they ran' — Jer 23:21; 'here am I, send me' — Isa 6:8), the Servant is sent with the Spirit upon him (Isa 61:1). Each of these sendings follows the same structure: the sender's authority travels with the sent one; the message is not the sent one's own; and the response to the messenger is a response to the sender.
Jesus explicitly connects himself to this line of sendings ('everyone who receives me receives the one who sent me' — Matt 10:40) and then extends it to the apostles ('everyone who receives you receives me' — Matt 10:40). The apostolic chain is thus not a NT innovation but the culminating extension of the OT sending-pattern, now grounded in the resurrection of the one who himself was the Apostle of the Father.
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain