and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?”
Paul asks whether they received the Holy Spirit when they became believers, and they answer that they have not even heard there is a Holy Spirit.
It reveals the incompleteness of their understanding.
1While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the interior and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” 3“Into what, then, were you baptized?” Paul asked. 4Paul explained: “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the One coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 6And when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. 7There were about twelve men in all.