Given that the word apostles
refers to Christ’s specially appointed delegates, there is something unexpected about Paul’s use of the plural here, particularly in the light of 2 Corinthians 1:1 and Colossians 1:1, where Paul deliberately avoids calling Timothy an apostle. This is a question that has always puzzled commentators, and the best solution seems to be to infer that the plural applies to Paul and Silvanus, although not to Timothy.1,2 Silvanus (called Silas in Acts) was a leader in the Jerusalem church (Acts 15:22, Acts 15:27, Acts 15:32, Acts 15:40), and it is therefore quite possible that he had seen and been commissioned by the risen Lord Jesus. Furthermore, we see from the book of Acts that Paul and Silvanus were the leading members of the missionary trio who preached the gospel in Philippi (Acts 16:11–30) and Thessalonica (Acts 17:1–10). Therefore, if Silvanus and Paul were both apostles, it would have been natural for Paul to refer to the whole group as apostles of Christ; the status of the chief missionaries would have determined the attitude with which they could approach their audience.
6 Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ.