CALLED AN APOSTLE WITH PAUL (ACTS 14:14) · CALLED IN ACTS 11

Barnabas. The Levite from Cyprus who vouched for Saul, taught with him at Antioch, and went out with him on the first journey.

ALSO CALLED

Joses (KJV, Acts 4:36); Joseph in the Revised Version

FROM

“A Levite, and of the country of Cyprus” (Acts 4:36); Acts first finds him in the Jerusalem church.

TRADE

Scripture gives him no trade.

FAMILY

A Levite by tribe.

WRITINGS

Hebrews: Tertullian named Barnabas as its writer; the letter names none (see the question below and the Hebrews page)

BACKGROUND

Home, trade and family

FROM

TRADE

FAMILY

  • A Levite by tribe. Acts 4:36
  • From the textMark is “sister's son to Barnabas” in the KJV (Colossians 4:10). The Greek word, anepsios, is rendered “cousin” in the Revised Version (1881); Jacobs (ISBE, 1915) notes it is used in Numbers 36:11 for the sons of a father's brothers. Colossians 4:10
  • Scholars' viewOur person data makes Barnabas the brother of Mary, the mother of John Mark. That rests on the KJV's “sister's son”; with “cousin” the link is less close, and Scripture does not say how they were related. Colossians 4:10 Acts 12:12 [22]

THE CALLING

Called, as 2 accounts tell it

“they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch.”

Acts 11:22 (KJV) →

WHERE HE WENT

Acts and after

Dashed pins are places known only from later tradition, not from Scripture.

  • Cyprus · His home country; first stop of the first journey; where he sailed with Mark. Acts 4:36 Acts 13:4 +1 more
  • Jerusalem · Where he sold his land, brought Saul to the apostles, and came for the council. Acts 4:37 Acts 9:26–27 +3 more
  • Antioch (Syria) · Where he and Saul taught for a whole year, and from where they were sent out. Acts 11:22–26 Acts 13:1–3 +2 more
  • Tarsus · Where he went to find Saul. Acts 11:25
  • Seleucia · The port they sailed from. Acts 13:4
  • Salamis · First preaching on Cyprus, in the synagogues. Acts 13:5
  • Paphos · Sergius Paulus believed; Elymas was struck blind. Acts 13:6–12
  • Perga · Where John Mark left them; they preached there on the way back. Acts 13:13 Acts 14:25
  • Antioch in Pisidia · “We turn to the Gentiles”; expelled from the district. Acts 13:14 Acts 13:50 +1 more
  • Iconium · A long stay, then flight from a plot to stone them. Acts 13:51 Acts 14:1–6
  • Lystra · Hailed as Jupiter. Acts 14:6–20
  • Derbe · Taught many before turning back. Acts 14:20–21
  • Attalia · The port of the return voyage. Acts 14:25–26
  • Salamis (his death, in tradition) · tradition · The Acts of Barnabas (written before 478) has him burned to death here.

IN ACTS AND THE LETTERS

  • He sold land he owned and laid the money at the apostles' feet. Acts 4:36–37
  • When the disciples in Jerusalem were afraid of the converted Saul, Barnabas “took him, and brought him to the apostles” and told how he had seen the Lord and preached boldly at Damascus. Acts 9:26–28
  • At Antioch he went to Tarsus to find Saul and brought him back; for a whole year they taught there, “And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.” Acts 11:25–26
  • He and Saul carried the Antioch church's famine relief to the elders in Judaea, and came back with John Mark. Acts 11:29–30 Acts 12:25
  • On the first journey they preached at Salamis and crossed Cyprus to Paphos, where the deputy Sergius Paulus “called for Barnabas and Saul” and believed. Acts 13:4–12
  • At Antioch in Pisidia “Paul and Barnabas waxed bold”: “lo, we turn to the Gentiles”; they were expelled and went on to Iconium. Acts 13:44–51
  • At Lystra the crowd “called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius”; the two tore their clothes and stopped the sacrifice. After Paul was stoned, he left with Barnabas for Derbe. Acts 14:8–20
  • Returning, they ordained elders in every church and told the church at Antioch how God “had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles”. Acts 14:21–28
  • From the textUntil Paphos Acts says “Barnabas and Saul” (11:30; 12:25; 13:2, 7); from there it mostly says “Paul and Barnabas” (13:43, 46, 50; 15:2, 22, 35), though “Barnabas and Paul” comes back at Lystra and in Jerusalem (14:14; 15:12, 25). Acts 11:30 Acts 12:25 Acts 13:2 Acts 13:7 Acts 13:43 Acts 13:46 +7 more
  • Over circumcision, he and Paul had “no small dissension” with men from Judaea and went up to Jerusalem; at the council the multitude “gave audience to Barnabas and Paul”, and the letter called them “our beloved Barnabas and Paul, Men that have hazarded their lives”. Acts 15:1–4 Acts 15:12 Acts 15:25–26
  • Paul writes that he went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and that James, Cephas and John gave “to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship”. Galatians 2:1 Galatians 2:9
  • At Antioch, when Peter withdrew from eating with Gentiles, “Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation”. Galatians 2:13
  • Barnabas wanted to take John Mark on a second journey; Paul refused, because Mark had left them in Pamphylia. “The contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder”; Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus. Acts 15:36–39
  • From the textActs does not mention him again after Acts 15:39. Paul still names him in 1 Corinthians 9:6, and in Colossians 4:10 tells the church to receive Mark, “sister's son to Barnabas”. Acts 15:39 1 Corinthians 9:6 Colossians 4:10

COMPANIONS

Who was with him

Each line joins him to someone Scripture places beside him.

  • Paul (Saul) He vouched for Saul in Jerusalem, brought him to Antioch, and worked with him through the first journey and the council, until they parted over Mark. Acts 9:27 Acts 11:25–26 Acts 13:2 Acts 15:39
  • John Mark His relative (Colossians 4:10); taken to Antioch and on the first journey, and later to Cyprus. Acts 12:25 Acts 13:5 Acts 15:37–39 Colossians 4:10
  • Simeon called Niger A prophet or teacher with him at Antioch. Acts 13:1
  • Lucius of Cyrene A prophet or teacher with him at Antioch. Acts 13:1
  • Manaen A prophet or teacher with him at Antioch, “brought up with Herod the tetrarch”. Acts 13:1
  • Judas Barsabas Sent with Barnabas and Paul to carry the council's letter to Antioch. Acts 15:22 Acts 15:27
  • Silas Sent with them to Antioch; Paul later chose Silas when he and Barnabas parted. Acts 15:22 Acts 15:40
  • Titus Went up to Jerusalem with Paul and Barnabas. Galatians 2:1
  • Sergius Paulus The deputy of Cyprus who called for Barnabas and Saul and believed. Acts 13:7 Acts 13:12
  • Peter (Cephas) Gave him and Paul the right hand of fellowship; at Antioch Barnabas followed Peter's withdrawal from the Gentiles. Galatians 2:9 Galatians 2:13

HOW THE STORY ENDS

Scripture says, tradition says

SCRIPTURE SAYS

  • From the textScripture does not record his death. Acts last shows him sailing to Cyprus with Mark (Acts 15:39). Acts 15:39

TRADITION SAYS

  • Barnabas is seized in the synagogue at Salamis at the urging of Bar-jesus, dragged out of the city with a rope round his neck, and burned; Mark hides the ashes in a cave and sails to Alexandria. The work is told in Mark's name.[6] Who says so: The Journeyings and Martyrdom of St. Barnabas the Apostle (the Acts of Barnabas), written before AD 478, says the introduction in the Ante-Nicene Fathers; McGiffert dates it once to the 5th century and once to the 3rd
  • In 478, it is said, the body of Barnabas was found in Cyprus.[6] Who says so: Reported in the introduction to the apocryphal Acts, Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. 8 (1886), AD 478
  • A list of the Seventy printed among the doubtful works of Hippolytus names “Barnabas, bishop of Milan”. McGiffert calls the silence of Ambrose, bishop of Milan in the 4th century, “a sufficient proof of its groundlessness”.[11][2] Who says so: “On the Seventy Apostles”, attributed to Hippolytus, date unknown; its editor calls it “Probably spurious, but yet antique”

WRITINGS

Writings tied to him

LETTERS

Hebrews: Tertullian named Barnabas as its writer; the letter names none (see the question below and the Hebrews page)

OPEN QUESTIONS

Where readers have differed

Yes

Tertullian, On Modesty 20 (not earlier than AD 208); in modern times Grau and Zahn, as reported by Jacobs (ISBE, 1915)

Tertullian quotes Hebrews 6 from “an Epistle to the Hebrews under the name of Barnabas”, calling him “a man sufficiently accredited by God”. Hebrews 6:4–6 [10][22]

Not settled: one of several names

Jerome (392), who gives Barnabas “according to Tertullian” beside Luke and Clement; Fenlon (Catholic Encyclopedia, 1907), who thinks Tertullian's credit “probably” false

Jerome reports that the letter is not counted Paul's “on account of its difference from the others in style and language”, and lists the other names offered. The full views are on the Hebrews page.[3][18]

IN SCRIPTURE

Every passage

CHAPTERS · 10

Acts 4 Acts 9 Acts 11 Acts 12 Acts 13 Acts 14 Acts 15 1 Corinthians 9 Galatians 2 Colossians 4

PASSAGES · 9

Acts 4:36–37 Acts 9:26–30 Acts 11:19–30 Acts 12:25 Acts 13:1–14:28 Acts 15:1–41 1 Corinthians 9:6 Galatians 2:1–14 Colossians 4:10

WHAT SCRIPTURE DOES NOT SAY

  • Scripture does not say when or how Barnabas came to believe, or where the land he sold lay.
  • Scripture does not say whether he and Paul were reconciled after Acts 15, though Paul names him without blame in 1 Corinthians 9:6.
  • Scripture does not tell how or when he died.

IDENTIFICATIONS THIS PAGE RELIES ON

  • His name was Joses (Joseph in other Greek texts); the apostles “surnamed” him Barnabas, “which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation”. Acts 4:36
  • From the textThe Revised Version (1881) renders the same words “Son of exhortation”; the Greek word, paraklēsis, carries both senses. Acts 4:36
  • Scholars' viewHow the name itself means this is debated: Jacobs (ISBE, 1915) derives it from bar, “son”, and a Hebrew word for prophecy, and reports Deissmann's suggestion that it meant “son of Nebo”.[22]
  • Luke calls him “a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith”, and with Paul one of “the apostles” at Lystra. Acts 11:24 Acts 14:4 Acts 14:14
  • Scholars' viewLightfoot (1890) holds that “the apostleship of Barnabas is beyond question”, since Luke records his sending at the same time and in the same way as Paul's (Acts 13:2-3). He was not one of the Twelve. Acts 13:2–3 [13]
  • Early church · Clement of Alexandria (trans. William Wilson, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 2), 1885Clement of Alexandria (about AD 200) calls him one of the Seventy (Luke 10:1) and “a fellow-worker of Paul”; McGiffert notes the tradition can be traced “no further than Clement”.[9][1][2]
  • Scholars' viewLuther and Calvin took “the brother, whose praise is in the gospel” (2 Corinthians 8:18) to be Barnabas, as Jacobs (ISBE, 1915) reports. The verse names no one. 2 Corinthians 8:18 [22]

SOURCES

Where this page comes from

  • Eusebius (trans. A. C. McGiffert, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 1), Church History (1890), 1.12.1-4; 2.1.1-5, 10-13; 2.15-16; 2.23; 2.24; 3.11; 3.19-20; 3.25.4; 3.31.2-5; 3.32.1-6; 3.37.1; 3.39.9, 15; 4.22.4; 5.8.3; 6.14.6-7; 6.25.5; 6.36.2; 7.19; 7.25.15.
  • A. C. McGiffert, Notes to Eusebius, Church History (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 1) (1890), book 1 ch. 12 notes 201, 212; book 2 ch. 1 notes 235, 239, 241, 244, 246; ch. 15 notes 389-391; ch. 16 note 394; ch. 23 notes 493, 500, 516, 522, 523; book 3 ch. 20 notes 720, 724; ch. 25 note 798; ch. 31 notes 858, 866, 868; book 6 ch. 36 note 2046.
  • Jerome (trans. E. C. Richardson, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 3), Lives of Illustrious Men (1892), chapters 2 (James, with Richardson's note 2343), 4 (Jude), 5 (on Hebrews), 6 (Barnabas, with note 2364), 8 (Mark).
  • Jerome (trans. W. H. Fremantle, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 6), Against Helvidius; Letter 108 (to Eustochium) (1893), Against Helvidius 15 and 19 (the tract dated about AD 383 by the editor); Letter 108, section 8 (dated AD 404 by the editor).
  • Origen (trans. John Patrick, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 9, ed. Allan Menzies), Commentary on Matthew (1896), book 10, section 17, The Brethren of Jesus; ANF vol. 9 first published Buffalo, 1896; checked against the 1903 Scribner reprint (archive.org scan antenicenefather0009unse_s0x0).
  • Alexander Walker (trans.), Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 8, Apocrypha of the New Testament: introduction; Protevangelium of James, chapter 9; The Journeyings and Martyrdom of St. Barnabas the Apostle (1886).
  • Irenaeus (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1), Against Heresies (1885), 3.1.1 (also in Eusebius 5.8.3); 3.12.10.
  • A. Cleveland Coxe (ed.), Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, Introductory Note to the Epistle of Barnabas (1885).
  • Clement of Alexandria (trans. William Wilson, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 2), Stromata (1885), book 2, chapters 6 and 20; book 5, chapter 10.
  • Tertullian (trans. S. Thelwall, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 4), On Modesty (1885), chapter 20; the editor's note 701 dates the work 'not earlier than a.d. 208'.
  • Hippolytus (trans. J. H. MacMahon and S. D. F. Salmond, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 5), The Refutation of All Heresies; and, among the dubious pieces, On the Seventy Apostles (1886), Refutation book 7, chapter 18 in the ANF numbering, with note 873; On the Seventy Apostles, nos. 1, 6-7, 13-14, 24, 56, 65, with note 2027 ('Probably spurious, but yet antique').
  • John Chrysostom (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 11), Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles (1889), Homily 14, on Acts 6 (preached AD 400, by the editor's preface).
  • J. B. Lightfoot, Saint Paul's Epistle to the Galatians, 10th edition (1890), note on 1:19, p. 84; 'The Name and Office of an Apostle', pp. 95-96; dissertation 'The Brethren of the Lord', pp. 252-291.
  • Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, vol. 6 (Acts to Revelation) (1706-1721), on Acts 7:14-16; 13:13; 15:38.
  • M. G. Easton, Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897), entries Barnabas; Jude; Mark; Philip (2); Stephen.
  • William Smith, Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884), entry Mark.
  • Charles Souvay, St. Stephen (The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 14) (1912).
  • John Francis Fenlon, St. Barnabas (The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 2) (1907).
  • Joseph MacRory, St. Mark (The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 9) (1910).
  • S. F. Hunter, Philip, the Evangelist (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) (1915), vol. 4, p. 2369; checked against the printed 1915 edition (archive.org scan internationalst00orrgoog).
  • J. H. Farmer, Mark, John (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) (1915), vol. 3, p. 1987; checked against the printed 1915 edition (archive.org scan bibleencyclopedi03orruoft), which reads “815 AD”.
  • H. E. Jacobs, Barnabas (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) (1915), vol. 1, pp. 405-406; checked against the printed 1915 edition (archive.org scan bibleencyclopaed01unknuoft).
  • H. E. Jacobs, Brethren of the Lord (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) (1915), vol. 1, pp. 518-519; checked against the printed 1915 edition (archive.org scan bibleencyclopaed01unknuoft).
  • S. D. Press, Stephen (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) (1915), vol. 5, p. 2851; checked against the printed 1915 edition (archive.org scan bibleencyclopedi05orruoft), which prints “c 36 or 37 AD”.
  • A. T. Robertson, Paul, the Apostle (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) (1915), part 3, III. Chronology of Paul's Career, (1) The Death of Stephen; vol. 4, p. 2271; checked against the printed 1915 edition (archive.org scan internationalst00orrgoog).
  • Jacobus de Voragine (Caxton's English of 1483, ed. F. S. Ellis), The Golden Legend, vol. 6: The Lives of SS. Simon and Jude (1900).
  • C. M. Kerr, Philip (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) (1915), vol. 4, p. 2368, the apostle's later life; read in the printed 1915 edition (archive.org scan).

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