Acts 4:37

Land. Or, “a field.” In the early Hebrew polity the Levites held no private property, but lived in cities and on land held in common and were supported by tithes paid by the people (Num. 18:20, 21). But the case of Jeremiah (Jer. 32:7-12) shows that there was nothing to hinder a priest or a Levite from acquiring land by purchase or inheritance. Also, Barnabas may have held land by marriage. We are not informed as to the location of the field that Barnabas sold. Barnabas’ aunt Mary also had property, and although she did not sell her house, she made it available for the use of the Christian community (Acts 12:12).

Barnabas afterward seems to have worked for his livelihood, as Paul also did (1 Cor. 9:6). Barnabas may have been chosen as an example of the liberality of the early Christian body because of something out of the ordinary in the kind of gift or in the nature of the sacrifice which he made.