Fortunatus

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

Fortunatus was one of three deputies from the Church in Corinth who visited St. Paul in Ephesus, perhaps bearing letters, and to whom he refers in  1 Corinthians 16:17-18. Nothing more is known of him. It seems unlikely that all the deputies would belong to one household, as Weizsäcker ( Apostol. Age , Eng. translation, i. 2 [1897] 305) suggests, or that all were slaves (so T. C Edwards, ad loc. ). Clement refers to a Fortunatus (in Ep. ad Cor . § 65) as accompanying his messengers from Rome to Corinth, but distinguishes him from them; the name, however, is too common for identification (see Achaicus and Stephanas).

J. E. Roberts.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

FORTUNATUS . The name of an apparently young member of the household of Stephanas, and a Corinthian. With Stephanas and Achaicus he visited St. Paul at Ephesus (  1 Corinthians 16:17 ); he had probably been baptized by the Apostle himself (  1 Corinthians 1:16 ). Lightfoot ( Clement , i. 29, ii. 187) thinks that he may well have been alive forty years later, and that he may be the Fortunatus mentioned in Clement of Rome’s Epistle to the Corinthians (§ 65 ). The manner in which the name is there introduced suggests that it belongs to a Corinthian.

A. J. Maclean.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Fortuna'tus. (Fortunate).  1 Corinthians 16:17. One of the three Corinthians, the others being Stephanas and Achaicus, who were at Ephesus when St. Paul wrote his first Epistle. There is a Fortunatus mentioned in the end of Clement's first Epistle to the Corinthians, who was possibly the same person.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

 1 Corinthians 16:17 , came from Corinth to Ephesus, to visit Paul. Paul speaks of Stephanus. Fortunatus, and Achaicus as the first fruits of Achaia, and as set for the service of the church and saints. They carried Paul's first epistle to Corinth.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

( 1 Corinthians 16:17). Of Stephanas' household probably  1 Corinthians 1:16), which Paul himself baptized. At Ephesus with Stephanas and Achaicus when Paul wrote 1 Corinthians.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

A Christian of Corinth mentioned by Paul.  1 Corinthians 16:17 . Apparently the same that is alluded to by Clement the apostolic father in his first Epistle.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 1 Corinthians 16:17

Holman Bible Dictionary

 1 Corinthians 16:7

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Graecized Φορτούνατος ), a disciple of Corinth, of Roman birth or origin, as his name indicates, who visited Paul at Ephesus, and returned, along with Stephanus and Achaicus, in charge of that apostle's first Epistle to the Corinthian Church ( 1 Corinthians 16:17), A.D. 54. Some have supposed that these three Corinthian brethren were "they which are of the house of Chloe" ( Οἱ Χλοῆς ), alluded to in  1 Corinthians 1:11; but the language of irony, in which the apostle must in that case be interpreted in chapter 16 as speaking of their presence, would become sarcasm too cutting for so tender a heart as Paul's to have uttered among his valedictions. "The household of Stephanas" is mentioned in chapter 1:16 as having been baptized by Paul himself: perhaps Fortunatus and Achaicus may have been members of that household. There is a Fortunatus mentioned at the end of Clement's first Epistle to the Corinthians, who was possibly the same person.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

fôr - t̬ū̇ - nā´tus ( Φορτουνάτος , Phortounátos ): A R oman proper name turned into Gr; same as Latin adjective fortunatus , meaning "blest," or "fortunate." Found only once in the Bible ( 1 Corinthians 16:17 ). Fortunatus, with Stephanas and Achaicus, was an amabassador of the Corinthian church, whose presence at Ephesus refreshed the spirit of the apostle Paul.

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

A character in a popular German legend, who possessed a purse out of which he was able to provide himself with money as often as he needed it and cap , by putting on of which, and wishing to be anywhere, he was straightway there; these he got, by his own free election and choice, conceded to him by the Upper Powers, and they proved a curse to him rather than a blessing, he finding out when too late that "the god Wish is not the true God."

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Fortuna´tus, a disciple of Corinth, of Roman birth or origin, as his name indicates, who visited Paul at Ephesus, and returned, along with Stephanus and Achaicus, in charge of that Apostle's first Epistle to the Corinthian church, B.C. 59 .