ἀπόστολος = שָׁלִיחַ, with suffixes and in the plural שָׁלוּחַ, Aram. שְׁלוּחָא.
In rabbinic literature, this was the name of any “emissary,” insofar as he was
the appointee, delegate, representative of someone else; hence the legal
principle: a person’s emissary is as the person himself שְׁלוּחוֹ שֶׁל אָדָם
כְּמוֹתוֹ (e.g., m.
Ber. 5.5; Mek. Exod. 12:4 [5A]; 12:6 [7A]; b. Qidd. 41B; b. Ḥag. 10B; b. Naz.
12B; b. B. Meṣ. 96A; b. Menaḥ. 93B).
Babylonian Talmud Qiddušin 41B: R. Joshua b. Qarha
(ca. 150) said, “From what passage of Scripture can it be shown that someone’s
emissary is as the person himself? From Exod 12:6, because it says, ‘The whole
assembly of the community Israel should slaughter between the two evenings.’
How then does the whole assembly slaughter together? Does not rather only one
slaughter? But one can understand from this that someone’s appointee (emissary)
is as the person himself.” — In y. Qidd. 1.62A.35, R. Eleazar (ca. 270) is the
author. ‖ Babylonian Talmud Nedarim 72B: R. Jonathan (ca. 140, student of
Ishmael) said, “We find in the whole Torah that someone’s emissary is as the
person himself.” — Parallels can be found in b. B. Meṣ. 96A; b. Naz. 12B.
שָׁלִיחַ is used to designate:
a. The delegate at the finalization of a betrothal.
Mishnah Qiddušin 2.1: The husband can finalize the
betrothal himself or do so through his delegate בִּשְׁלוּחוֹ; the wife can put her betrothal into effect herself or do so
through her delegate; the husband can either himself give his daughter in
marriage when she is still under-age (not yet 12.5 years old) or do so through
his delegate. — See also b. Qidd. 41A below at n. b.
b. The delegate appointed to deliver or receive
divorce papers.
Mishnah Giṭṭin 3.6: If someone from abroad delivers
divorce papers and gets sick, he appoints a delegate before the judicial
authority (thus according to the reading of Rashi: עושה בבית דין שליח), dispatches him, and
explains before them, “In my presence they (the divorce papers) were written
and in my presence they were signed.” But the one who will be the emissary does
not have to explain, “In my presence they were written and in my presence they
were signed”; instead he explains, “I am a delegate of the judicial authority שְׁלִיחַ
בֵּית דִּין.” ‖ Mishnah
Giṭṭin 4.1: If someone sends divorce papers to his wife and then overtakes the
delegate שָׁלִיחַ or sends
another delegate to him and says to him: “The divorce papers which I gave you
are void,” behold, they are void. If he (the husband) arrived at his wife
earlier (than the delegate delivering the divorce papers) or sent a (second)
delegate to her with the explanation: “The divorce papers which I sent to you
are void,” behold, they are void. But if the divorce papers have already
reached her hand, then he can no longer declare them to be void. ‖ Babylonian
Talmud Qiddušin 41A: From where can the delegation שְׁלִיחוּת (at an engagement) be
demonstrated? Because the baraita says: ושלח (in ושלחה
in Deut 24:1) teaches that he (the husband) may appoint a delegate שָׁלִיחַ; ושלחח in Deut 24:1 teaches that she
(the wife to be dismissed) may appoint a delegate (שלח and the ושלחה read without the dagesh is
not interpreted as = “to dismiss by divorce papers,” but rather = “to dispatch
a delegate.”) ושלח and ושלחה (“ ‘and’ he sends,”
“ ‘and’ she sends”) teaches that the delegate (in turn) may appoint a
delegate (the ו = “and” has
inclusive meaning). Hence, it (the proof for the commissioning of a delegate)
has been found in the case of divorces; where does (the proof) come from in the
case of engagements?… Scripture says: “And she moves out and is granted to
another man” (Deut 24:2); it (Scripture) compares marriage to moving out
(divorce): as a delegate can be appointed in the case of divorce, so can a
delegate be appointed in the case of marriage.
c. The one entrusted with the office of the prayer leader
שְׁלִיחַ
צִיבּוּר.
Mishnah Berakot 5.5: If someone prays and makes a
mistake in the process, it is a bad omen for him; and if it is the communal
delegate (the prayer leader), it is a bad omen for those who commission him;
for someone’s delegate is as the person himself.
d. The one entrusted with a task before the court שְׁלִיחַ
בֵּית דִּיו.
See m. Giṭ. 3.6 above at n. b. ‖ Mishnah Yoma 1.5: The elders of the court (the great
Sanhedrin) handed him (the high priest prior to the Day of Atonement) over to
the elders of the priesthood. He was led up to the balconies of the family of
Abtina (who were renowned for the way they prepared incense [see m. Yoma
3.11]). They would adjure him, say goodbye, and then go away. They would say to
him, “My lord high priest, we are delegates of the court, and you are our
delegate and a delegate of the court. We adjure you by the one who causes his
name to dwell in this house (temple) that you change nothing of what we have
said to you (concerning the rite of the Day of Atonement).”
e. One appointed or commissioned as a delegate by God.
α. Moses. Babylonian
Talmud Baba Meṣiʿa 86B: Rab Judah († 299) said that Rab († 247) said,
“Everything that Abraham himself did for the angels of service God himself did
for his (Abraham’s) children, and everything that Abraham did through his
appointee שליח God also
did for his children through an appointee. Abraham ‘ran to the cattle’ (Gen
18:7), and in Num 11:31 it says, ‘A wind broke forth from Yahweh and drove
quail over from the sea.’ Abraham ‘took curds and sweet milk’ (Gen 18:8), and
in Exod 16:4 it says, ‘Behold, I will rain bread from heaven on you.’
Furthermore, Abraham ‘stood before them under the tree’ (Gen 18:8), and in Exod
17:6 it says, ‘Behold, I (Yahweh) will stand before you there on the rock at
Horeb.’ Abraham ‘went with them to escort them’ (Gen 18:16), and in Exod 13:21
it says, ‘Yahweh went before them by day in a pillar of cloud.’ ‘(But) let some
water be fetched’ (Gen 18:4) (thus Abraham did not fetch it himself), and in
Exod 17:6 it says, ‘You (Moses as God’s appointee) shall strike the rock and
water will come out of it and the people will drink.’ ” ‖ β. Elijah, Elisha, and Ezekiel. Midrash Psalm 78 § 5 (173B): R. Aha (ca.
320) said in the name of R. Jonathan (read: Yohanan, † 279), “There are three
keys that God does not hand over to any appointee שליח: the key to the womb (see Gen 29:31), the key to the graves in
the case of the resurrection of the dead (see Ezek 37:13), and the key to
rainstorms (see Deut 28:12). And if God wants, he gives them to the righteous.
The key for a barren woman he handed over to Elisha (see 2 Kgs 4:16 and 17).
The key for the resurrection of the dead he gave to Elijah in the case of the
son (of the widow) from Zarephath (see 1 Kgs 17:21 and 23), and (in the case of
the resurrection) of the son of the Shunammite woman by Elisha (see 2 Kgs 4:34
and 36), and to Ezekiel in the valley of Dura (see Ezek 37:1 and 9). And the
key for the rainstorms (he handed over) to Elijah (see 1 Kgs 17:1 and 18:1).” —
Compare the parallel in b. Taʿan. 2A at § Matt 6:26, #3. ‖ Babylonian Talmud
Sanhedrin 113A: Elijah the Tishbite from among the sojourners of Gilead said,
“As Yahweh the God of Israel lives, there will be neither dew nor rain …” (1
Kgs 17:1). He prayed for mercy, and he was given the key for rain, and he
headed off and went from there.… “And after these things it happened that the
woman’s son fell ill …” (1 Kgs 17:17). There he prayed for mercy that he might
be given the key for the resurrection of the dead. It was said to him, “Three
keys are not handed over to any appointee שליח: that for a woman giving birth (conception), that for rain showers,
and that for the resurrection of the dead.” It would (now) be said, “Two are in
the hands of the student and one in the hands of the master (God). Bring
(therefore) that one (for rain showers) and receive this one (for the
resurrection of the dead). This is what is written in 1 Kgs 18:1: ‘Go, show
yourself to Ahab, and I (God, therefore not Elijah) will grant rain.’ ” ‖ γ. During the presentation of sacrifices, the priest is regarded as an
appointee of God, not of the community. Babylonian Talmud Qiddušin 23B: Rab
Huna b. Joshua (ca. 350) said, “Behold, the priests are (during the act of
sacrifice) delegates (representatives) of the All Merciful One שליחו
דרחמנא. For if you
thought that they are our delegates שלוחי דידן, would there not then be something that we are not permitted to
do, but that they are permitted to do?” (The appointee can of course do only
what his commissioner can do. Since the nonpriestly Israelites cannot
sacrifice, the priest would also not be able to sacrifice, if he were an appointee
of the community. It follows that the sacrificing priests can only be an
appointed representative of God.) — The same is found in b. Yoma 19A; see also
b. Ned. 35B.
f. In the legend in Jellinek, Beth ha-Midrash 5.60 (see § Matt 10:2 B, #2), Peter is explicitly
designated as or designates himself as שְׁלוּחוֹ שֶׁל יֵשׁוּ = ἀπόστολος Ἰησοῦ. In the same text, the other disciples are also
called “his (Jesus’) apostles” שְׁלוּחָיו. (Hermann L.
Strack and Paul Billerbeck, A Commentary on the New Testament from the
Talmud & Midrash, ed. Jacob N. Cerone, 3 vols. [trans. Joseph
Longarino; Bellingham, Wash.: Lexham Press, 2021], 3:2-5)
