Barnabas
A Levite from Cyprus and an early member of the Jerusalem church. He introduced Paul to the apostles, taught in the church at Antioch with him, and shared his first missionary journey before the two parted over John Mark.
His name was Joseph, or Joses; the apostles called him Barnabas, which Acts translates “Son of Encouragement”. He was a Levite from Cyprus who sold a field and gave the money to the apostles (Acts 4:36–37). He vouched for the newly converted Saul in Jerusalem, was sent by the Jerusalem church to Antioch, and fetched Saul from Tarsus to work with him there (Acts 9:27) (Acts 11:22–26). The two carried famine relief to Judea and were then sent out together on the first missionary journey, where Acts calls them both apostles (Acts 11:30) (Acts 14:14).
Acts has Barnabas go up with Paul to the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:2). Paul, telling of a visit to Jerusalem with Barnabas, names him with himself as receiving “the right hand of fellowship” for the mission to the Gentiles (Galatians 2:1, 9). Paul also records that at Antioch Barnabas followed Peter in withdrawing from meals with Gentiles (Galatians 2:13). Acts says that the two separated over whether to take John Mark on a second journey, and that Barnabas sailed with Mark to Cyprus (Acts 15:36–39); the letter to the Colossians calls a Mark the cousin of Barnabas (Colossians 4:10). Paul also names him as one who, like himself, worked for his own living (1 Corinthians 9:6).
In the timeline
- c. AD 31–36, estimated dateThe Conversion of Paul
Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee who is persecuting the followers of Jesus, becomes one of them near Damascus. Acts tells the story three times, and Paul’s own letters speak of it as a revelation of God’s Son and a call to preach to the Gentiles.
- about AD 43, estimated dateThe Church at Antioch, Where Believers Were First Called Christians
Acts tells how believers scattered from Jerusalem begin to preach to non-Jews at Antioch in Syria. Barnabas is sent to them and brings Saul from Tarsus. Acts says that the disciples were first called Christians there and that the church sent famine relief to Judea.
- about AD 46 to AD 48, estimated datePaul’s First Missionary Journey
Acts tells how Barnabas and Paul, sent out by the church at Antioch, preach in Cyprus and in the cities of southern Asia Minor, first in the synagogues and then to Gentiles, and found churches there before returning to Antioch.
- about AD 49, estimated dateThe Council of Jerusalem
Acts tells how Paul and Barnabas go up from Antioch to Jerusalem to settle whether Gentile believers must be circumcised, and how the apostles and elders decide that they need not be. Whether the meeting Paul describes in Galatians is the same one is disputed.
- about AD 49, estimated datePaul Opposes Peter at Antioch
Paul tells the Galatians how Cephas, who had been eating with Gentile believers at Antioch, withdrew when people came from James, and how he rebuked him in front of everyone. Whether this came before or after the council of Jerusalem in Acts 15 is disputed.