Barnabas
Barnabas was an early Christian mentioned in the New Testament. The name means son of consolation. His actions and events are described in the book of the Acts of the ApostlesHis name stands first on the list of prophets and teachers of the church at Antioch (Acts 13:1). Luke speaks of him as a "good man" (11:24). He was born of Jewish parents of the tribe of Levi. He was a native of Cyprus, where he had a possession of land (Acts 4:36, 37), which he sold. His personal appearance is supposed to have been dignified and commanding (Acts 14:11, 12). When Paul returned to Jerusalem after his conversion, Barnabas took him and introduced him to the apostles (9:27). They had probably been companions as students in the school of Gamaliel.
The prosperity of the church at Antioch led the apostles and brethren at Jerusalem to send Barnabas there to superintend the movement. He found the work so extensive and weighty that he went to Tarsus in search of Paul to assist him. Paul returned with him to Antioch and laboured with him for a whole year (Acts 11:25, 26). The two were at the end of this period sent up to Jerusalem with the contributions the church at Antioch had made for the poorer brethren there (11:28-30).
Shortly after they returned, bringing John Mark with them, they were appointed as missionaries to Asia Minor, and in this capacity visited Cyprus and some of the principal cities of Asia Minor (Acts 13:14). Returning from this first missionary journey to Antioch, they were again sent up to Jerusalem to consult with the church there regarding the relation of Gentiles to the church (Acts 15:2: Gal. 2:1). This matter having been settled, they returned again to Antioch, bringing the decree of the council as the rule by which Gentiles were to be admitted into the church.
When about to set forth on a second missionary journey, a dispute arose between Paul and Barnabas as to the propriety of taking John Mark with them again. The dispute ended by Paul and Barnabas taking separate routes. Paul took Silas as his companion, and journeyed through Syria and Cilicia; while Barnabas took his nephew John Mark, and visited Cyprus (Acts 15:36-41). Barnabas is not again mentioned by Luke in the Acts.
Feast day: June 11.
Initial text from Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897 -- Please update as needed
Text to integrate from Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religion:
Barnabas was the companion of the Apostle Paul, himself called an apostle in Acts xiv, 4, 14. According to Acts iv, 36, he was a Levite born in Cyprus, his original name was Joses, and he was surnamed by the apostles (in Aramaic) Barnebhuah, which is explained by the Greek huios parakleseos ("son of exhortation," not " of consolation," cf. Acts xi, 23) and denotes a prophet in the primitive Christian sense of the word (cf. Acts xiii, 1; xv, 32). Like his aunt, the mother of John Mark (Col. iv, 10), Barnabas seems to have been living in Jerusalem, and he sold his property, after having joined the Christian congregation in the first year of its foundation, for the benefit of needy coreligionists (Acts iv, 37; xii, 12). He soon occupied a leading place in the community.
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2 Other History 3 Alleged Writings |
Of his activity the Book of Acts records that he
introduced the still distrusted Saul to the Jerusalem
church after his return from Damascus (ix, 27).
When the news of the spread of Christianity to
Antioch came to Jerusalem Barnabas was sent to
the former city (xi, 22-24). From Antioch he went
to Tarsus to meet Paul and with him worked for an
entire year in the Antioch church (xi, 23-26). Both were sent to
Jerusalem with a contribution for the Christians of Judea (44 A.D.) and
returned to Antioch with John Mark (xi, 27-30;
xii, 25). The three were sent on a missionary
journey to Cyprus, Pamphylia, Pisidia, and Lycaonia
(xiii, 1 sqq.). In the narrative of this journey
Paul occupies the first place from the point where
the name " Paul " is substituted for " Saul " (xiii,
9). Instead of " Barnabas and Saul " as
heretofore (xi, 30; xii, 25; xiii, 2, 7) " Paul and
Barnabas " is now read (xiii, 43, 46, 50; xiv, 20; xv,
2, 22, 35); only in xiv, 14 and xv, 12, 25 does
Barnabas again occupy the first place, in the first
passage with recollection of xiv, 12, in the last two,
because Barnabas stood in closer relation to the
Jerusalem church than Paul. Paul appears as the
preaching missionary (xiii, 16; xiv, 8-9, 19-20),
whence the Lystrans regarded him as Hermes,
Barnabas as Zeus (xiv, 12). After this journey
follows a long stay in Antioch (xiv, 26-28) until
they became involved in a controversy with the
Judaizers and were sent to the Apostolic Council
at Jerusalem, where the matter was settled (xv,
1-29; Gal. ii, 1-10; see APOSTOLIC COUNCIL AT
JERUSALEM). According to Gal. ii, 9-10 Barnabas
was included with Paul in the agreement made
between them, on the one hand, and James, Peter,
and John, on the other, that the two former should
in the future preach to the heathen, not forgetting
the poor at Jerusalem. Having returned to Antioch
and spent some time there (xv, 35), Paul asked
Barnabas to accompany him on another journey
(xv, 36). Barnabas wished to take John Mark
along, but Paul did not, as he had left them on the
former journey (xv, 37-38). An unhappy dissension separated the two apostles; Barnabas went with Mark to Cyprus (xv, 39) and is not again
mentioned in the Acts; but from Gal. ii, 13 a little
more is learned about him, and his weakness under
the taunts of the Judaizers is evident; and from
I Cor. ix, 6 it may be gathered that he continued
to labor as missionary.
According to other sources, Barnabas was later brought to Rome and Alexandria.
The " Clementine Recognitions " (i, 7) make him
preach in Rome during Christ's lifetime, and
Clement of Alexandria (Stromata, ii,
20) makes him one of the seventy
disciples. Not older than the third
century is the tradition of the later
activity and martyrdom of Barnabas
in Cyprus, where his remains are said to have been
discovered under the emperor Zeno (474-491).
The Cypriot church claimed Barnabas as its founder
in order to rid itself of the supremacy of the
Antiochian bishop, just as did the Milan church afterward,
to become more independent of Rome. In this
connection, the question whether Barnabas was
an apostle became important, and was often
treated during the Middle Ages (cf. C. J. Hefele,
Das Sendschreiben des Apostels Barnabas,
Tubingen, 1840; O. Braunsberger,
Der Apostel Barnabas,
Mainz, 1876). The statements as to the year of
Barnabas's death are discrepant and untrustworthy.
Tertullian and other Western writers regard
Barnabas as the author of the Epistle to the
Hebrews. This may have been the Roman tradition--
which Tertullian usually follows-- and in Rome the
epistle may have had its first readers. But the
tradition has weighty considerations against it.
According to Photius (Quaest. in Amphil., 123),
Barnabas wrote the Book of Acts, and a gospel is
ascribed to him (cf. T. Zahn, Geschichte des
neutestamentlichen Kanons, ii, 292, Leipsic, 1890).
He is also traditionally assocatiated with the Epistle of Barnabas, although modern scholars think it more likely that that epistle was written in Alexandria in the 130s.New Testament History
Other History
Alleged Writings
