Acts 4:36

Joses. Important textual evidence may be cited (cf. p. 10) for the reading “Joseph.”

Barnabas. This is the first reference to Barnabas, the man who was to travel with the apostle Paul on his First Missionary Journey. The name Barnabas is interpreted by Luke as meaning in Greek huios parakleseos, which may be translated, “son of consolation,” or “son of exhortation.” Scholars are not agreed as to the Hebrew or Aramaic words represented by this name. They may have been bar nebu’ah, “son of prophecy.” In any case his surname would imply that Barnabas was characterized by his gift of exhortation (see ch. 11:23). When Barnabas became a Christian is not known. Since he was a Levite, he may have taken part in the service of the Temple, and may have heard the Lord or the apostles preaching there. He was a relative of John Mark (Col. 4:10) who lived in Jerusalem (Acts 12:12). A tradition recorded by Clement of Alexandria (The Stromata ii. 20) lists Barnabas as one of the Seventy sent forth by Jesus (Luke 10:1; see also on Acts 9:27).

Extant is an epistle bearing the name of Barnabas, which the 3d-century Christian writers Clement of Alexandria and Origen believed was written by this apostle. However, the contents of the epistle show this to be untrue. It consists mainly of anti-Judaistic, allegorical interpretations of OT narratives. The epistle takes a position against the seventh-day Sabbath and in favor of the observance of the “eighth-day,” Sunday. It was probably written by a now-unknown hand about the middle of the 2d century A.D.

Cyprus. The island still so called, in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea. Jews were settled there at least as early as the Maccabean period (1 Maccabees 15:23).

Christian teachers were driven there from Jerusalem by the persecution that accompanied the death of Stephen (Acts 11:19). On their First Missionary Journey Paul and Barnabas visited Cyprus, probably at the request of Barnabas.