Philip

Philip is a Greek personal name meaning “lover of horses,” and in the New Testament it belongs to two distinct figures: one of Jesus’ twelve apostles and an early Christian preacher and evangelist. Scripture lists Philip among the Twelve who gathered in the upper room (Acts 1:13). In John’s Gospel, Philip finds Nathanael and says, “We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets, wrote: Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (John 1:45). At the Last Supper Jesus addresses him directly: “Have I been with you such a long time, and do you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (John 14:9). Jesus goes on to say that “the Father who lives in me does his works” (John 14:10) and that “Whatever you will ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13).

A second Philip appears in Acts as a preacher of the gospel. When his hearers believed him “preaching good news concerning God’s Kingdom and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women” (Acts 8:12). In the narrative that follows, he is beside an official reading Scripture (Acts 8:32); the official asks, “Behold, here is water. What is keeping me from being baptized?” (Acts 8:36), and after they come up out of the water “the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away,” while the official goes on his way rejoicing (Acts 8:39).

Christian traditions differ mainly over how later Philip traditions are attached: some churches remember Philip the apostle as a missionary and martyr in Asia Minor, while others focus on the evangelist of Acts 8 and his preaching and baptism. These are traditional identifications and stories rather than details supplied by the New Testament text itself, and they should not blur the textual distinction between the apostle listed in Acts 1:13 and the preacher active in Acts 8:12.

AI-generated reference entry, grounded in the passages where this term appears — history and Scripture stated as such, interpretation labeled as interpretation. Not a substitute for the text itself.