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In a very general sense, there is little difference between an apostle and a disciple. The two words are sometimes used interchangeably. Both terms refer to passionate adherents of a movement or philosophy who seek to further that philosophy through teaching, and both are often used to refer to the 12 men who were the original followers of Jesus of Nazareth. But, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, "It is at once evident
that in a Christian sense, everyone who had received a mission from God, or Christ, to man could be called 'Apostle.' In fact, however, it was reserved to those of the disciples who received this title from Christ." So it seems that while the 12 Apostles were disciples, not all disciples are apostles. The word "disciple" comes from the Latin discipulus, or pupil. "Apostle" comes from the Greek word apostolos, or delegate. The word "apostle" is the closest approximation to the Aramaic word "seliah," which referred to "those who were despatched from the mother city by the rulers of the race on any foreign mission, especially such as were charged with collecting the tribute paid to the temple service." The historical
Jesus spoke Aramaic, the language of the Semitic peoples of the Middle East. Aramaic was superseded by Arabic around the 13th century. Mel Gibson's upcoming biopic of Jesus, The Passion, was filmed entirely in Aramaic and Latin.
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