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BARNABAS
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BARNABAS , in the New Testament, the surname, according to Acts iv. 36, given by the apostles (possibly in contrast to See also:Joseph Barsabbas, Acts i. 23) to Joseph, "a Levite, a See also:man of See also:Cyprus by See also:birth," who, though like See also:Paul not of the Twelve, came like him to See also:rank as an apostle (Acts xiv. 4, 14, I See also:Cor. ix. 6; see APOSTLE). The See also:Greek rendering of this Semitic name (ulas aapaKAicrews) may be translated "son of See also:consolation" (as in the A. V.), or "son of exhortation" (as in the R. V.). But there is an initial difficulty about the Greek rendering itself, as no satisfactory See also:etymology of See also:Bar-nabas in this sense has as yet been suggested. The one at See also:present in favour on the ground of philological See also:analogy (see Z.N.T.W., 1906, p. 91 for a fresh instance), viz. Bar-See also:Nebo, lacks See also:intrinsic fitness for a See also:Jew and a Levite, and of course does not See also:accord with the statement in Acts itself. Hence it still seems best to assume some unknown Aramaic See also:form See also:equivalent to irap6KAt tns, and then to take the latter in the sense of comfort or encouragement. This rendering, rather than " exhortation " in the sense of eloquence, best suits the usage of Acts, which suggests such comfort as is given by encouraging rather than rousing words (ix. 31, xi. 23, xiii. 15, xv. 31 f.; cf. See also:Luke ii. 25, Vi. 24). All we hear of Barnabas points to goodness of See also:heart (" a See also:good man," xi. 24)as his distinctive quality, giving fineness of See also:perception (ix. 27, xi. 25 f.) and large insight into essentials (xi. 23 f.). It was probably the practically helpful and encouraging form that his See also:gift as a "See also:prophet" took (Acts xiii. i,
with 1 Cor. xiv. 3). It is perhaps significant that his first See also:appearance is of the generously helpful See also:kind described in Acts iv. 36 f. Yet we must beware of regarding Barnabas as merely a See also:fine See also:character; he plays too prominent a See also:part in the New Testament for any such See also:limitation. Thus, he next appears as braving the suspicions which dogged the ex-persecutor See also:Saul (Paul)—possibly an old acquaintance in Hellenist circles at See also:Jerusalem (cf. vi. 9, ix. 29)—and introducing him to the older apostles (ix. 27). More suggestive still of high repute as a man of insight and authority is his See also:mission from the Jerusalem See also: 22. This means very much, though his modesty led him to See also:call in the aid of his friend Saul to See also:cope with the new and expanding situation (25 f.). After their brief See also:joint visit to See also:Judaea and Jerusalem (xi. 30, xii. 25) we next get a glimpse of Barnabas as still See also:chief among the spiritual leaders of the Antiochene Church, and as called by the Spirit, along with Saul, to initiate the wider mission of the Gospel, outside See also:Syria even, in regions beyond (xiii. 2, 4). He led the way to his native Cyprus; but in the See also:crucial struggle with the magician Bar-Jesus, in- the presence of the See also:governor of the See also:island (xiii. 7 ff.), Saul seems to have come so decisively to the front, that henceforth, for the author of Acts he takes the See also:lead, and Barnabas appears as his colleague (see xiii. 13, " Paul and his See also:company," and See also:note the turning back of See also:Mark, the kinsman of Barnabas). The fact that at Lystra the natives styled Barnabas, See also:Zeus, and Paul, See also:Hermes, while suggesting that Barnabas was the man of nobler mien, proves that Paul was the chief See also:speaker (xiv. 12); and the notices in the Pauline epistles fully See also:bear out the view that " the gospel of the Gentiles " which they preached was in conception Paul's (Gal. ii. 1-9). Indeed, Barnabas's vacillation at Antioch, as recorded in Gal. ii. 11 if. (whether it preceded or followed their mission in Acts xiii.-xiv.), shows that, while gifted with true intuitions, he was not strong in thinking out his position to all its issues.on principle, and that it was here that Paul was so immensely his See also:superior. But what Barnabas did see with full reasoned conviction, he was staunch in upholding; thus he upheld the See also:general cause of See also:Gentile freedom from the See also:obligation of See also:circumcision (as distinct from perfect religious equality with Jewish believers) at the Jerusalem See also:conference (Acts xv.). With this stand for principle, however, his See also:main See also:work, as a See also:great See also:link in the transition of the Gospel from its Jewish to its universal mission, reached its See also:climax; and Acts transfers its See also:attention wholly to Paul, after explaining how their roads parted under rather painful circumstances (xv. 37 ff.). When Barnabas sails away with Mark to resume work in Cyprus, the mists of See also:history hide him from our sight. Only now and again do we catch fugitive and increasingly doubtful glimpses of him and his work. We learn from 1 Cor. ix. 6 that he adhered to Paul's principle of self-support in his mission work, and from See also:Col. iv. to that his name was well known and respected at See also:Colossae about A.D. 6o. Tradition, which See also:early regards him as one of the seventy (Clem. Alex.), carries him, plausibly enough, to See also:Alexandria (Clem. See also:Horn. i. 8, ii. 4; cf. the ascription to him of the Alexandrine See also:Epistle of Barnabas). But the See also:evidence for his having visited See also:Rome (later tradition says also See also:Milan) is stronger because more varied (Clem. Recog. i. 7, cf. Hem. i. 7; the early Actus Petri Vercellenses; and the See also:late Cypriot Encomium), especially if we might See also:trust the Western ascription to him of the epistle to the See also:Hebrews, which begins with See also:Tertullian (De Pud. 2o). But this may itself be See also:mere inference from its self-description' (xiii. 22), as a " word of exhortation," to the " son of exhortation " (Acts iv. 36) as its author. The See also:legend of his missionary labours in Cyprus, including martyrdom at See also:Salamis, is quite late and untrustworthy. The date of his See also:death is uncertain, but he was probably no longer living when Acts wa$ written (C.. A.D. 75-80). His was essentially a mediating role. He filled a position intermediate between Jewish and Pauline Christianity—one characteristic of See also:Christian Hellenists generally. Hence he is spoken of with respect in the Clementines; while Paul, as a See also:radical in relation to the See also:Law, is discountenanced. If we couldconfidently See also:credit him with the authorship of the epistle to the Hebrews, we could conceive his theological standpoint more exactly. But, in any See also:case, the Barnabas of history was a greater man than the Barnabas of See also:modern tradition. See W. See also:Cunningham, Epistle of Barnabas, pp. xlvii.-Ixii. ; O. Braunsberger, Der Apostel Barnabas, sein Leben . . . (See also:Mainz, 1876) ; articles s.v..in Ency. Biblica and See also:Hastings's See also:Dictionary of the See also:Bible. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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