. 21
ff.), as the primary official witnesses of Messiah and his resurrection.
Many of the 120 then present (Acts i. 15), and not only the two set
forward for final choice, must have been personal disciples, who by the
recent commission had been made "apostles." Among such we may perhaps
name Judas Barsabbas and Silas (Acts xv. 22, cf. i. 23), if not also
Barnabas (1 Cor. ix. 6) and Andronicus and Junia (Rom. xvi. 7).

So far, then, we gather that the original Palestinian type of
apostleship meant simply (a) personal mission from the risen Christ (cf.
I Cor. ix. i), following on (b) some preliminary intercourse with Jesus
in his earthly ministry. It was pre-eminence in the latter qualification
that gave the Twelve their special status among apostles (Acts i. 26,
ii. 14, vi. 2; in Acts generally they are simply "the apostles").
Conversely, it was Paul's lack in this respect which lay at the root of
his difficulties as an apostle.

It is possible, though not certain, that even those Judaizing
missionaries at Corinth whom Paul styles "false-apostles" or,
ironically, "the superlative apostles" (2 Cor. xi. 5, 13; xii. 11),
rested part of their claim to superiority over Paul on (b), possibly
even as having done service to Christ when on earth (2 Cor. xi. 18,
23). There is no sign in 2 Cor. that they laid claim to (a). If this
be so, they were "Christ's apostles" only indirectly, "through men"
(as some had alleged touching Paul, cf. Gal. i. 1), i.e. as sent forth
on mission work by certain Jerusalem leaders with letters of
introduction (2 Cor. iii. 1; E. von Dobschutz, _Problems der apost.
Zeitalters_, p. 106).

2. _The Twelve._--When Jesus selected an inner circle of disciples for
continuous training by personal intercourse, his choice of "twelve" had
direct reference to the tribes of Israel (Matt. xix. 28; Luke xxii. 30).
This gave them a symbolic or representative character as a closed body
(cf. Rev. xxi. 14), marking them off as the primary religious authority
(cf. Acts ii. 42, "the apostles' teaching") among the "disciples" or
"brethren," when these began to assume the form of a community or
church. The relationship which other "apostles" had enjoyed with the
Master had been uncertain; _they_ had been his recognized intimates, and
that as a body. Naturally, then, they took the lead, collectively--in
form at least, though really the initiative lay with one or two of their
own number, Peter in partic