As touching our brother Apollos, I greatly desired him to come to you with the brothers: but his will was not at all to come at this time; but he will come when he shall have convenient time.
As touching our brother Apollos, I greatly desired him to come to you with the brothers: but his will was not at all to come at this time; but he will come when he shall have convenient time.
But as touching Apollos the brother, I besought him much to come unto you with the brethren: and it was not all his will to come now; but he will come when he shall have opportunity.
But as for Apollos, the brother, I had a great desire for him to come to you with the brothers, but it was not his pleasure to come now; but he will come when he has a chance.
As concerning our brother Apollos, I greatly desired him to come to you with the brethren: but his will was not at all to come at this time; but he will come when he shall have convenient time.
Now concerning Apollos, the brother, I strongly urged him to come to you with the brothers; and it was not at all his desire to come now; but he will come when he has an opportunity.
But as touching Apollos the brother, I besought him much to come unto you with the brethren: and it was not at all his will to come now; but he will come when he shall have opportunity.
As touching our brother Apollos - It appears from this that the brethren, of whom the apostle speaks in the preceding verse, were then with him at Ephesus; I, with the brethren, greatly desired to come.
But his will was not at all to come - As there had been a faction set up in the name of Apollos at Corinth, he probably thought it not prudent to go thither at this time, lest his presence might be the means of giving it either strength or countenance.
As touching our brother Apollos - Tyndale renders this, "To speak of brother Apollo." In regard to Apollos, see the note at 1 Corinthians 1:12.
His will was not at all to come at this time - It is probable that there were matters which detained him, or which required his presence in Ephesus. It is not known why Apollos had left Corinth, but it has been supposed that it was on account of the dissensions which existed there. For the same reason he might not be induced to return there while those dissensions lasted and there might be employment which he had where he then was which rendered his presence there important. The Latin fathers say that Apollos did after this return to Corinth, when the religious differences had been settled - Bloomfield. It is probable that the Corinthians had requested, by the messengers who carried their letter to Paul, that either he or Apollos would come and visit them. Paul states, in reply, that he had endeavored to prevail on Apollos to go, but had not succeeded.
He will come when he shall have convenient thee - The Greek word means, when he should have leisure, or a good opportunity. He might then be engaged; or he might be unwilling to go while their contentions lasted. They had probably 1 Corinthians 1:12 endeavored to make him the head of a party, and on that account he might have been unwilling to return at present among them. But Paul assures them that he designed to come among them at some future time. This was said probably to show them that he still retained his affection for them, and had a tender solicitude for their peace and prosperity. Had this not been said, they might, perhaps, have inferred that he was offended, and had no desire to come among them.
16:12 I besought him much - To come to you. With the brethren - Who were then going to Corinth. Yet he was by no means willing to come now - Perhaps lest his coming should increase the divisions among them.