Acts 13:1

We have here a divine warrant and commission to Barnabas and Saul to go and preach the gospel among the Gentiles, and their ordination to that service by the imposition of hands, with fasting and prayer.

I. Here is an account of the present state of the church at Antioch, which was planted, Act 11:20.

1. How well furnished it was with good ministers; there were there certain prophets and teachers (Act 13:1), men that were eminent for gifts, graces, and usefulness. Christ, when he ascended on high, gave some prophets and some teachers (Eph 4:11); these were both. Agabus seems to have been a prophet and not a teacher, and many were teachers who were not prophets; but those here mentioned were at times divinely inspired, and had instructions immediately from heaven upon special occasions, which gave them the title of prophets; and withal they were stated teachers of the church in their religious assemblies, expounded the scriptures, and opened the doctrine of Christ with suitable applications. These were the prophets, and scribes, or teachers, which Christ promised to send (Mat 23:34), such as were every way qualified for the service of the Christian church. Antioch was a great city, and the Christians there were many, so that they could not all meet in one place; it was therefore requisite they should have many teachers, to preside in their respective assemblies, and to deliver God's mind to them. Barnabas is first named, probably because he was the eldest, and Saul last, probably because he was the youngest; but afterwards the last became first, and Saul more eminent in the church. Three others are mentioned. (1.) Simeon, or Simon, who for distinction-sake was called Niger, Simon the Black, from the color of his hair; like him that with us was surnamed the Black Prince. (2.) Lucius of Cyrene, who some think (and Dr. Lightfoot inclines to it) was the same with this Luke that wrote the Acts, originally a Cyrenian, and educated in the Cyrenian college or synagogue at Jerusalem, and there first receiving the gospel. (3.) Manaen, a person of some quality, as it should seem, for he was brought up with Herod the tetrarch, either nursed of the same milk, or bred at the same school, or pupil to the same tutor, or rather one that was his constant colleague and companion - that in every part of his education was his comrade and intimate, which gave him a fair prospect of preferment at court, and yet for Christ's sake he quitted all the hopes of it; like Moses, who, when he had come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Had he joined in with Herod, with whom he was brought up, he might have had Blastus's place, and have been his chamberlain; but it is better to be fellow-sufferer with a saint than fellow-persecutor with a tetrarch.

2. How well employed they were (Act 13:2): They ministered to the Lord, and fasted. Observe, (1.) Diligent faithful teachers do truly minister unto the Lord. Those that instruct Christians serve Christ; they really do him honour, and carry on the interest of his kingdom. Those that minister to the church in praying and preaching (both which are included here), minister unto the Lord, for they are the church's servants for Christ's sake; to him they must have an eye in their ministrations, and from him they shall have their recompence. (2.) Ministering to the Lord, in one way or other, ought to be the stated business of churches and their teachers; to this work time ought to be set apart, nay, it is set apart, and in this work we ought to spend some part of every day. What have we to do as Christians and ministers but to serve the Lord Christ? Col 3:24; Rom 14:18. (3.) Religious fasting is of use in our ministering to the Lord, both as a sign of our humiliation and a means of our mortification. Though it was not so much practised by the disciples of Christ, while the bridegroom was with them, as it was by the disciples of John and of the Pharisees; yet, after the bridegroom was taken away, they abounded in it, as those that had well learned to deny themselves and to endure hardness.

II. The orders given by the Holy Ghost for the setting apart of Barnabas and Saul, while they were engaged in public exercises, the ministers of the several congregations in the city joining in one solemn fast or day of prayer: The Holy Ghost said, either by a voice from heaven, or by a strong impulse on the minds of those of them that were prophets, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. He does not specify the work, but refers to a former call of which they themselves knew the meaning, whether others did or no: as for Saul, he was particularly told that he must bear Christ's name to the Gentiles (Act 9:15), that he must be sent to the Gentiles (Act 22:21); the matter was settled between them at Jerusalem before this, that as Peter, James, and John laid out themselves among those of the circumcision, so Paul and Barnabas should go to the heathen, Gal 2:7-9. Barnabas, it is likely, knew himself designed for this service as well as Paul. Yet they would not thrust themselves into this harvest, though it appeared plenteous, till they received their orders from the Lord of the harvest: Thrust in thy sickle for the harvest is ripe, Rev 14:15. The orders were, Separate me Barnabas and Saul. Observe here, 1. Christ by his Spirit has the nomination of his ministers; for it is by the Spirit of Christ that they are qualified in some measure for his services, inclined to it, and taken off from other cares inconsistent with it. There are some whom the Holy Ghost has separated for the service of Christ, has distinguished from others as men that are offered and that willingly offer themselves to the temple service; and concerning them directions are given to those who are competent judges of the sufficiency of the abilities and the sincerity of the inclination: Separate them. 2. Christ's ministers are separated to him and to the Holy Ghost: Separate them to me; they are to be employed in Christ's work and under the Spirit's guidance, to the glory of God the Father. 3. All that are separated to Christ as his ministers are separated to work; Christ keeps no servants to be idle. If any man desires the office of a bishop, he desires a good work; that is what he is separated to, to labour in the word and doctrine. They are separated to take pains, not to take state. 4. The work of Christ's ministers, to which they are to be separated, is work that is already settled, and that which all Christ's ministers hitherto have been called to, and which they themselves have first been, by an external call, directed to and have chosen.

III. Their ordination, pursuant to these orders: not to the ministry in general (Barnabas and Saul had both of them been ministers long before this), but to a particular service in the ministry, which had something peculiar in it, and which required a fresh commission, which commission God saw fit at this time to transmit by the hands of these prophets and teachers, for the giving of this direction to the church, that teachers should ordain teachers (for prophets we are not now any longer to expect), and that those who have the dispensing of the oracles of Christ committed to them should, for the benefit of posterity, commit the same to faithful men, who shall be able also to teach others, Ti2 2:2. So here, Simeon, and Lucius, and Manaen, faithful teachers at this time in the church of Antioch, when they had fasted and prayed, laid their hands on Barnabas and Saul, and sent them away (Act 13:3), according to the directions received. Observe, 1. They prayed for them. When good men are going forth about good work, they ought to be solemnly and particularly prayed for, especially by their brethren that are their fellow-labourers and fellow-soldiers. 2. They joined fasting with their prayers, as they did in their other ministrations, Act 13:3. Christ has taught us this by his abstaining from sleep (a night-fast, if I may so call it) the night before he sent forth his apostles, that he might spend it in prayer. 3. They laid their hands on them. Hereby, (1.) They gave them their manumission, dismission, or discharge from the present service they were engaged in, in the church of Antioch, acknowledging that they went off not only fairly and with consent, but honourably and with a good report. (2.) They implored a blessing upon them in their present undertaking, begged that God would be with them, and give them success; and, in order to this, that they might be filled with the Holy Ghost in their work. This very thing is explained Act 14:26, where it is said, concerning Paul and Barnabas, that from Antioch they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled. As it was an instance of the humility of Barnabas and Saul that they submitted to the imposition of the hands of those that were their equals, or rather their inferiors; so it was of the good disposition of the other teachers that they did not envy Barnabas and Saul the honour to which they were preferred, but cheerfully committed it to them, with hearty prayers for them; and they sent them away with all expedition, out of a concern for those countries where they were to break up fallow ground.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Act_13:1-12. Beginning of Saul’s first Missionary journey. He visits Cyprus

1. Now there were in the church that was at Antioch] Rather, “Now there were at Antioch in the church that was there.”

We now come to the history of those three great journeys which the Apostle of the Gentiles undertook in his special work. It is fitting that the point of departure should be Antioch, the city in which Gentiles had first in large numbers been joined to the Church, and where as yet there had risen no difficulty about the way in which they were received.

prophets and teachers] Cp. Act_2:17. The prophecy of Joel was now to receive a wider fulfilment.

Simeon that was called Niger] The first name points out the man as of Jewish origin, and the second is a Latin adjective = black, which may have been assumed, or given to him, as a name from his dark complexion. Jews were, and are still, in the habit of having another name beside their national one, for use when they mixed among foreign nations.

Lucius of Cyrene] This name is Latin, though his birthplace or home may indicate that he was one of the Jews who abounded in Cyrene and the other parts of the North of Africa. Perhaps it is he who is mentioned in Rom_16:21.

Manaen] i.e. Menahem. This name is Jewish, and is found in Josephus (Antiq. xv. 10. 5) as the name of an Essene who foretold that Herod the Great would become king. It may well be that the name became, when the prophecy had received its fulfilment, a favourite one among those who were attached to or favoured the rulers of the Herodian family.

which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch] Rather, “foster-brother of Herod, &c.” The Vulgate gives “collactaneus.” Herod the Tetrarch (Antipas) had a brother Archelaus by the same mother. Manaen would hardly be said to have “been brought up with” one brother and not with the other.

The various connections and nationalities of the men who are here. named, are worthy to be noticed when we reflect on the work which was to have its beginning from Antioch. One a Cypriote, another a Cyrenian, another a Jew, but from his double name accustomed to mix among non-Jews, one a connection of the Idumean house of Herod, and Saul the heaven-appointed Apostle of the Gentiles, the list may be deemed in some sort typical of “all the world,” into which the Gospel was now to go forth.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act_13:1

Now there were in the Church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers.

The nature and sources of the narrative

We now lose sight for a time of the Church of Jerusalem and the apostles, and in the place of Jerusalem, Antioch becomes the centre of Church history. Indeed chaps, 13 and 14 form an independent and self-contained memoir from an Antiochean point of view. And it has, not without plausibility, been supposed that Luke has here made use of an original document and inserted it in his book, which document may have proceeded from the Church at Antioch, or may have belonged to a biography of Barnabas, or may have been a missionary narrative which Barnabas and Saul had made. (G. V. Lechler, D. D.)

The first designatory and valedictory service to missionary work

In this text notice--

I. Those members of the Church at Antioch as conspicuous men. They were stars. Among the thousands connected with the Bible, only a few are named, so they must have been special noteworthy men:--Barnabas, Simeon, that was called Niger--black. It has the same root as negro. Lucius of Cyrene, an African settlement. Simeon was black. He might have been an African; and Lucius was for certain. Manaen, brought up with Herod the tetrarch. It was the old custom to have a sort of adopted child as companion for young princes, thus forming what would seem a companionship for life. A man who had lived in court would be a fine man, but his living with Herod throws another light upon things. He was brought up in court--then he had heard John the Baptist thunder and lighten in his preaching. Brought up in court--then he knew John in prison. Was he one of Johns disciples? Brought up with Herod. Then he knew that woman, the wife of the steward, who ministered so to Jesus. Brought up with Herod. Then he was at the crucifixion when Jesus was set at nought, when on bended knees the cruel shout was raised, Hail, King of the Jews. Probably that was the crisis that brought him out. Now, here we find him among the disciples, not with Herod, but his name written in the Lambs book of life. He leaves the court and goes into the tents at Antioch, struck his sword, and is here a soldier of Jesus Christ. The Church of Christ is composed of wonderful variety.

II. We have a new speaker--The Holy Ghost. Who and what is the Holy Ghost? No one can answer. The Holy Ghost never intended that we should. The doctrine of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is a tremendous doctrine. We cannot draw a circle round infinity; we cannot even understand ourselves. How, then, can we understand God? We must leave the question, for it cannot be questioned. There are two very plain things--

1. That the Spirit is a person, not simply an influence.

2. Not only a person, but a Divine person.

III. We have an important command--Separate Me Barnabas and Saul for the work, etc.

1. Here is a beginning--the first mission to the heathen. The Acts of the Apostles is a book of beginnings. We read of the first fear, first hope, first joy, first sermon, first prayer meeting, the first sinner converted, the first Christians, the first baptism, the first Lords supper, and now the first instance, by order, of men set apart for the work of missions. There were no Christians in England, in Spain, in Italy then. Everything then had to begin. And the Holy Ghost said, Now is the time to begin.

2. Here is a wise choice. Now, there were at Antioch in the Church prophets and teachers. So Barnabas and Saul were not called away till they could be spared. The two captains were not removed till the ship was officered. Note, they were the best men. Not inexperienced or young, but the kind the Holy Ghost requires to send out--the very Barnabas and the very Saul. The Church may spare Barnabas and Saul now.

3. Here are propitious circumstances. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted. As they were going on in their ministry. It was a special meeting, because they were fasting. They wanted to know something, and as they were inquiring the Holy Ghost spake.

(1) The Holy Ghost requires that He Himself should call persons to the ministry before the Church calls them--I have called them. We cannot make ministers or missionaries. When we call them, we only ratify the call of God.

(2) Those who go should be sent out by the act of the Church.

(3) Missionaries are separated men. Separate from home, separate from the refinement of life, separate from wealth, separate from those who have watched them grow into Christians, separate from old companions, separate from the elders of the Church, separate by the rolling sea, separate by the mountain, separate by the wilderness.

(4) Separate Me Barnabas and Saul for the work, etc. This work is a work. (G. Stanford, D. D.)

Prophets and teachers

The two were not necessarily identical (Eph_4:11), though the higher gift of prophecy commonly included the lower gift of teaching. The former implies a more direct message from God, coming through the Holy Ghost; the latter a more systematic instruction, in which reason and reflection also bore their part. (Dean Plumptre.)

Simeon that was called Niger.

The name seems to indicate the swarthy complexion of Africa; but nothing more is known of him. The epithet was given to him, probably, to distinguish him from the many others of the same name, possibly, in particular, from Simon of Cyrene. (Dean Plumptre.)

Lucius of Cyrene.--Probably one of the company of men of Cyprus and Cyrene (Act_11:20) who had been among the first evangelists of Antioch. On the ground that Cyrene was famous for its School of Medicine, some writers have identified him with the author of the Acts, but the two names Lucius and Lucas are radically distinct, the latter being contracted from Lucanus. (Dean Plumptre.)

Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch.--

Manaen

This statement has been interpreted to mean that he was Herods foster-brother, and the Vulgate translates the term by one which signifies fed from the same breast. But all that is implied is that Manaen and Herod were companions in studies and amusements. In the same household Joanna the wife of Chuza the steward was a believer in Christ. Thus early had the Word of God been known and acknowledged in a royal court. God indeed has had from the first those in all ranks who served Him--Moses, Obadiah, Daniel, and the saints in Caesars household. As now, so it has ever been, those with the same advantages make a different use of them. Manaen, numbered amongst the first ministers of the Church; Herod, remembered for his part in the murder of John and Christ. (W. Denton, M. A.)

Manaen

This is the only record that we have of this man. Yet it is impossible not to find a melancholy interest in the juxtaposition of characters and lives so strangely contrasted. At the very time that the one foster-brother was prominent among the ministers of Christ, the other was living in a dishonoured exile with a dark past and a hopeless future--a fact of daily experience, viz., that the lives of men may begin, in the closest companionship, and under nearly the same conditions, and yet the end of the one shall be honour and the other shame.

1. The name Manaen was connected earlier with the Herods. When Herod the Great was a boy, an Essene of this name, believed to possess prophetic gifts, met him as he went to school, and reading, perhaps, in his features the signs of an insatiable ambition and an indomitable will, hailed him as king of the Jews. He stood in somewhat the same relation to him that Ahijah did to Jeroboam. As with the son of Nebat, so with the son of Antipater, the early prophecy was not forgotten. When he attained the summit of his power he would fain have attached the prophet to his court as friend and counsellor. What the identity of name renders probable is that on the refusal of the old man the king transferred his offer of patronage to his son, or grandson, and had brought him up as the companion of one of his favourite sons. If so, the first great event in the life of Manaen must have been the change from the stern purity of the life of the Essenes to the pomp and luxury of the court of Herod. Soon this would be followed by a yet greater change. Antipas and Archelaus were sent to receive their education at Rome, and Manaen would naturally share this training. He may have heard of the arrival of the wise men, and could not have been altogether ignorant of the Messianic hopes which animated the people. The very name which he bore (Menahem, the comforter), bore witness of this hope.

2. One so brought up would continue to be attached to the royal household, and Manaen may have adopted the life and the principles of those with whom he lived. He may have acquiesced in the kings incestuous marriage, but we can estimate the effect which the teaching of the Baptist must have had upon him. Here he saw a life, like in form to that devotion which he had known in his youth, the reappearance of the prophetic character, the open and fearless speech, as of a new Elijah, and as we find traces of the influence of the Baptists teaching within the circle of Herods attendants, it is reasonable to think that he too must have come under it.

3. The first trace is in Luk_3:14, where the soldiers were literally men on a march to the war with Aretas, the father of the wife whom the tetrarch had divorced in order that he might indulge his guilty passion for Herodias. The line of their march would take them down the valley of the Jordan, and so they would pass by the chief scene of the Baptists ministry. From that hour there must have been many among the attendants of Herod who were disciples of John.

4. The next trace meets us in Joh_4:46, where the word nobleman means an attendant of the king, i.e., of the tetrarch Antipas. I do not assume the identity of this nobleman with Manaen, but I point to it as one of the tokens of the Baptists work as preparing the way of the Lord, even among Herods followers. The nobleman thus believed, and Herods court now included some who were disciples, not of the Baptist only, but of the Prophet of Nazareth.

5. The imprisonment of John brought him into yet closer contact with the tetrarchs immediate followers. Even Herod himself heard him gladly. It is clear from Mat_11:2-3, that some of the Baptists disciples were allowed free access to him, and who so likely as attendants of the prince? If we believe that every word which our Lord spoke at such a time was full of meaning, they that wear soft clothing and are gorgeously apparelled, and live delicately, are in kings houses, may have been those who were halting between two opinions, like reeds shaken by the wind, whom it was necessary to remind that the true servants of God were to be found, not in kings houses, but in prison.

6. The narrative of the circumstances of the Baptists death includes notice of the feast of lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee, amongst whom must have been the nobleman of Capernaum, and the steward of Herods household, and the kings foster-brother and friend, who must have shuddered with an unimaginable loathing. It was time for them to make their choice.

7. At or about this time, some at least did make it, and among them was she who ministered to Christ of her sustenance, e.g., Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herods steward. This she could hardly have done, according to the Jewish law of property and marriage, without her husbands consent.

8. It may be that up to this point the foster-brother had continued faithful to the relationship which that name involved. But soon the course of events brought about a disruption of it. The ambitious intrigues of Herod Agrippas (Act_12:1-25) enabled him to assume the disused title of king. This gave him a higher dignity than that of his uncle the tetrarch, and the pride of Herodias was stung to the quick, and she gave her husband no peace until he had taken the fatal step of leaving his tetrarchy, in the hope of obtaining the privilege of regal rank. But the attempt failed, and he had the mortification of seeing his tetrarchy merged in the kingdom of Agrippa, and was exiled first to Gaul and then to Spain. The tradition that Pilate also was banished to the former province, suggests the probability that the two may have met once again there, to test the value of the friendship which had been purchased at so terrible a price.

9. About this time we have the first actual mention of Manaen. Unknown as he is to us, he stood then on the same level as Barnabas, in a higher position than St. Paul. Whatever his past life had been, it had led him to this. But what calls for special notice, as showing the tendency of the Baptists teaching, is the fact that he is found at Antioch, not at Jerusalem. The words of the Baptist, God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham, contained by implication the whole gospel of the calling of the heathen, and Manaen must have seen that they did so. At Antioch, too, he must have taken upon himself the new name, and to one who had seen Antipas and Jesus face to face it must have been a joy unspeakable to cast off all connection with the Herodiani, and to take his place among the Christiani. In him, the prophetic form of utterance which had reappeared in John after long centuries of desuetude was powerful. As the disciples of John fasted oft, so he and those who were with him fasted as they ministered to the Lord. From his lips and theirs came the words which marked out the fittest labourers for the new and mighty work. One who had begun with the training of an Essene, and the teaching of the Baptist, now gave the right hand of fellowship to the two new apostles, not of the twelve, as they went forth to their work among the heathen.

10. To such a man the Gentile Church, in its infancy, must have owed much. He alone of all the earlier teachers of the Church may have sojourned in the imperial city. From him the Apostle of the Gentiles must have had encouragement and support, and there is a probability that the debt is even greater. St. Lukes life as a Christian must have begun at Antioch, and if so, then he must have known Manaen, and from him he may have learnt many of the facts of the history of the Baptist, and the details of Herodian history, of which the third Gospel is so full. Conclusion: Whatever interest may attach to the juxtaposition of the two names of Manaen and Antipas, is deepened and strengthened by this fuller study. The danger of the weak will--untrue to its own convictions, and therefore losing them altogether, or keeping them only to its own condemnation--the power of earnestness and faith to triumph over the temptations of outward circumstances and perilous companionship are seen more clearly. Our inquiries, too, will have added something to the conviction as we read the Gospels that we are dealing, not with cunningly devised fables, but with true histories, dropping hints, after the manner of all true histories, naturally and incidentally, suggesting more than they tell, and rewarding those who seek diligently with new insight into the facts which they record. (Dean Plumptre.)

Manaen and Herod, the different effects of a secular education

It would be natural to expect that children who grew up together under the same examples and instruction should appear in the same religious character in after life. But in this case the result was otherwise. One became a minister, the other a libertine. Manaen was a man eminent for faith and virtue, learning and ability, or he would not so soon have become a prophet in this celebrated Church. Herod was vicious and debauched in private life; haughty, cruel, and tyrannical in his government, and was the murderer of the Baptist. Herod made no virtuous improvement of his early advantages; Manaen early became religious and escaped the corruptions of the world. Mens lives are not always answerable to the advantages they enjoy. The same gospel which is a savour of life and a rock of salvation to some, is a savour of death and a rock of offence unto others. The difference between these two men is observed in other families. How is this?

I. There is a great diversity in natural temper.

1. There is in all an inclination to evil, but in a different degree.

2. It is the wisdom of parents to watch the various tempers and propensities of their children.

II. Different worldly prospects often make a great difference in character and conduct.

1. Herod was of royal descent, and had early prospects of a throne. Manaen had no such object, and was more at liberty to admit the sober concerns of religion.

2. Different passions and capacities put young men on different pursuits. Some through natural indolence and diffidence fall so low in their designs that they never rise. Others are animated by an ambition that proves a snare. Others, again, set out with a governing aim to please God.

III. The sovereign grace of God must be taken into account. Men are dependent on the Holy Spirit. He strives with them. Some resist, others yield.

IV. Reflections.

1. The particular care which was taken in apostolic times to secure men of learning and ability as public teachers. The unlettered men whom Christ called were trained by the Master Himself. Paul was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel. Timothy from a child had known the Scriptures; Apollos was mighty in them. Luke, Stephen, and others appear to have had superior literary abilities. The apostles cautioned ministers to lay hands suddenly on no man who had not had time to furnish his mind.

2. The duty of parents to pay particular attention to the different dispositions of their children. Some must be ruled with great rigour, others with more lenity.

3. The young may here see that no worldly connections, temptations, etc., will excuse them in the neglect of religion.

4. The young are here cautioned not to abuse the grace of God.

5. Let the young be rational and discreet in forming their worldly prospects. (J. Lathrop, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 13:1. There were in the church at Antioch certain prophets and teachers — Some of them, it seems, the stated pastors of the church, and some only occasionally resident there: Paul and Barnabas were of the latter. Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod — His foster- brother, now freed from the temptations of a court. As they ministered to the Lord — Which all diligent faithful teachers do: for while they minister to the church in praying and preaching (both which are here included) they minister also unto the Lord, being the servants of the people for Jesus’s sake, (2Co 4:5,) and having a continual regard to him in all their ministrations; engaging in, and prosecuting them from a principle of love to him, in obedience to his will, and with an eye to his glory. And fasted — Religious fasting should not be neglected, in our ministering to the Lord; it being both a sign of our humiliation and a means of our mortification. It was not, indeed, much practised by the disciples of Christ, while he, the bridegroom, was with them; yet, after he was taken from them, they abounded in this duty, as persons who had well learned to deny themselves, and to endure hardness. The Holy Ghost said — Namely, by immediate revelation, but in what way communicated we are not informed. Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them — Namely, the extraordinary work of preaching the gospel among the Gentiles — This was not ordaining them; Saul was ordained long before, and that not of men, neither by man, Gal 1:1. At his conversion he was expressly called to preach to the Gentiles; and that call was renewed at the time Jesus appeared to him during his trance in the temple: but at what time Barnabas was called by the Holy Ghost to this work, is not said. And when they had fasted and prayed — A certain day being appointed for the purpose; and laid their hands on them — A rite which was used, not in ordination only, but in blessing, and on many other occasions. It was here intended to be a solemn token of their designation to their important office; they sent them away — Dismissed them from Antioch, with all the most affectionate marks of Christian friendship, and fervent desires for the success of their ministry.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1. Spirit-commissioned Mission of Barnabas and Paul from Antioch, Act_13:1-3.

1. There were… at Antioch—How they came there, the whole five, from Jerusalem, is pleasantly narrated in Act_11:19-30. The twelfth chapter is mainly an episode. The present chapter recommences—or would had it begun as it should at Act_12:24—the main narrative.

Prophets— Inspired utterers, whether of prediction, doctrine, or exhortation.

Teachers—Expositors of biblical or doctrinal truth specially endowed by nature or grace, 1Co_12:28; Eph_4:11.

Barnabas—The leader of the five founders of the Antiochian Church. Each of the five was a man of mark.

Simeon… Niger—Simon the negro, as it might with scarce an impropriety be rendered; for the literal Greek phrase, Simon the called Niger, seems to imply an epithet rather than a name; an epithet in Latin, signifying black, and, doubtless, referring to Simon’s country and colour. Now, as we are told (Act_11:20) that some of these Christians from Jerusalem were Cyrenians, we have a strong ground for suspecting that this was the very Simon, the Cyrenian, who bore the Saviour’s cross. Luke’s omission to call up this reminiscence, as he has that connected with Manaen, may have arisen from the fact that the well known surname of Simon amply identified him to his contemporaries. He may have been a member of the Pentecostal Church through its seven years’ life.

Lucius of Cyrene—See our note on Act_6:9. Alford, Wordsworth, and most later commentators decide, without giving reasons for it, that Lucas is identical not with Lucius, but with Lucanus. There is no philological reason that we are able to discover why it may not be identical with either and both. The root of the name is Lux, light; of which Lucanus, Lucius, and Lucilius are adjective forms, signifying luminous, and actually appearing in our English word lucid. So Wetstein quotes Varro as saying, Qui mane natus dicereter Manius; qui loci Lucius—He born at dawn is called Manius; by daylight, Lucius. Alford objects that it is improbable that Paul would call the same man at one time Lucius, and at another Lucas. But the senior apostle was variously called Simon, (and Simeon, Act_15:14,) Cephas, and Peter, doubtless, usually with some reasons for the discriminations. (See note on Act_13:9.) So it will be found that our historian is called Lucius in his Roman relations, and Lucas in his Greek.

Wordsworth refers for his authority to Bentley’s Latin Epistola ad Millium; but our own examination of that very learned treatise discloses rather a proof than a disproof of the identity of Lucius and Lucas. The only matter touching on this point we can there find is a full list of examples of parallel names. One example is precisely in point. Λεοντιος, Leontius, Λεοντας, Leontas, is an exact instance of the identity of the terminations ιος, ius, and ας, as, such as we have in Λουκιος, Lucius, and Λουκας, Lucas.

The coincidences between Lucius and Luke are very decisive. Lucius is a prophet and a teacher, and so is Luke, being a preacher and an evangelist. Lucius is at Antioch; Luke was so permanently at Antioch as to be very generally held by ecclesiastical writers an Antiochian. Lucius, at Corinth, joins Paul in his salutations, (Rom_16:21,) but Luke had preceded Paul at Corinth as the bearer of his epistle thither. (2Co_8:18.) It was in writing to Rome that Paul uses the Roman form of the name; it was in writing at Rome (his Acts) that Luke here uses the Roman form. Luke here records his name because he is giving the exact list of the authorizers of this first regular Christian mission.

By this view we see that Luke, who professes that in his Gospel he had to use others as eyewitnesses, is in his Acts essentially an eyewitness, we may say, throughout the whole. He was in Palestine from the resurrection to the dispersion of the Pentecostal Church. He is now at Antioch, where his history centres, to the end of the fifteenth chapter. From this present verse to its end this book might be entitled The Acts of Paul; and this concentrating upon Paul was because he was for the rest of his life closely identified with him; and he was so identified because he was a Gentile evangelist, and Paul was apostle to the Gentiles. The result of all these facts is, that the authenticity of the book of Acts is set in a most resplendent light, and the full dimensions of Luke’s life and character are strikingly drawn out. (See notes on Luk_24:13; Act_6:9; Act_16:10.) Scholars of eminent name have maintained this identity, such as Grotius, Poole, Lightfoot, Wetstein, and Stuart. [We are indebted for a confirmation and extension of our impressions on this subject to “Horae Lucanae, by Mr. H.S. Baynes, London,” a new work received while revising the proofs of this volume.]

Cyrene—See note on Act_6:9.

Manaen—Hebrew Manahem, the name of a king of Israel, (2Ki_15:14.) There was, according to Josephus, an Essene of this name who foretold to Herod the Great his future attainment of the crown, and was ever held in great honour by Herod after he became king. Quite likely this was a son of that associated with Herod Antipas, as the former was favoured by the first Herod. Manaen is probably an instance of one who passed from Essenism to Christianity, (see note on Mat_3:7,) and became one of the saints in Herod’s household. (See note on Mat_14:2.)

Brought up with—The foster-brother. That is, either his mother was nurse of Herod Antipas, so that both were nourished at the same breast, or he was his mate, associated, as was often the case, to incite the young prince to good conduct. It was singular that such a man should, while Herod was in his dismal exile in Lyons, be in this great metropolis a Christian teacher.

And Saul—The man of the most singular antecedents, and of the most brilliant future, comes last, as far the youngest and the latest converted. The last shall be first.

It was about A.D. 45, fifteen years from the founding of the Pentecostal Church, when Paul was near forty years of age, that this primitive initiation of Christian missions took place.

PART THIRD.

CHRISTIANITY AMONG THE GENTILES. From Chapter Act_13:1, to End of Acts.

Through the remainder of his work Luke’s subject is the evangelization of the Gentiles, and his hero is Paul. His field is western Asia and Europe; his terminal point is Rome, and the work is the laying the foundation of modern Christendom. At every point, even at Rome, Luke is careful to note the Gospel offer to the Jews, and how the main share reject, and a remnant only is saved. And thus it appears that Luke’s steadily maintained object is to describe the transfer of the kingdom of God from one people to all peoples.

I. PAUL’S FIRST MISSION From Antioch, through Cyprus, into Asia, as far as Lystra and Derbe, thence back to Antioch, Act_13:1—Act_14:28.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

At Antioch., in the Church that was there for in the Church that was at Antioch, A.V.; prophets, etc., for certain prophets, etc., A.V. and T.R.; Barnabas, etc., for as Barnabas, etc., A.V.; Symeon for Simeon, A.V.; the foster-brother of for which had been brought up with, A.V. At Antioch, in the Church, etc. Kta than rather means "the existing Church," just as at aiJ ousai ejxousiai means "the existing powers," "the powers that be," in Rom_13:1, A.V. and T.R. The then Church seems mere the meaning than the Church there. Luke writes from the standpoint of many years later. Prophets were a regular part of the ministry of the then Church. (see Act_11:27 Act_21:9, Act_21:10; Rom_12:6, Rom_12:7; 1Co_12:10, 28 13:2, etc.; 1Co_14:1, 1Co_14:3, etc., 22, 24, 31, Eph_4:11. See also note on Act_4:26) Teachers (didaskaloi) are coupled with prophets, as here, in 1Co_12:28, 1Co_12:29; Eph_4:11. The teachers would appear to differ from the prophets in that they were not under the ecstatic influence of the Holy Spirit, and did not utter exhortations or prophecies in a poetic strain, but were expounders of Christian truth, under the teaching of the Spirit. What they spoke was called a didach), (1Co_14:26) and their function was didaskalia, as Rom_12:7, where didaskali is reckoned among the carismata, the gifts of the Holy Ghost. It was forbidden to women to teach, (didaskein 1Ti_2:12) though they might prophesy. (Act_21:9) It is thought by Meyer, Alford, and others that the position of the particles te attaching the two following names to Barnabas in the first place, and one name following to Manaen in the second, indicates that Barnabas, Symeon, and Lucius were prophets, and Manaen and Saul teachers. Lucius has by some been falsely identified with St. Luke. The foster-brother; suntrofov may equally mean a foster-brother, one nursed at the same time at the same breast, which would indicate that Manaen"s mother was wet-nurse to Herod the tetrarch; or a playmate, which would indicate that he had been sodalis to Herod. It is only found here in the New Testament, but is used by Xenophon, Plutarch, etc., and in RAPC 1Ma 1:7 2Ma 9:29. In this chapter and onwards the scene of the great drama of Christianity is transferred from Jerusalem to Antioch. The first part, which has hitherto been played by Peter and John and James, is now taken up by Barnabas and Saul, soon, however, to be classed as Paul and Barnabas.

Vers. 1-15. The invasion of heathendom.

It has been well remarked that Antioch was the true center of direct missions to the heathen world. An Ethiopian eunuch, and a Roman centurion, had indeed been gathered into the fold of Christ. But they were both closely connected with the land of Judah, and their conversion had not led to any further extension of the gospel of Christ. At Antioch the seed of Christian truth first fell in abundance upon heathen soil; from Antioch first went forth the preachers of the gospel with the express purpose of disseminating it among the nations of mankind. It is a deeply interesting study to mark the various steps by which the providence of God brought about this great event. There was first the molding of the great soul of Saul into a fitting instrument for this momentous ministry by the circumstances of his conversion. The tenderness of heart caused by the memory of his persecution of the Church of God; the gradual loosening of the ties which bound him to the Jews" religion, through the bigotry, the distrust, and the repulses of his Jewish countrymen, which drove him from Jerusalem; the friendship of the kind and sympathetic Barnabas; his enforced retreat to his native Tarsus, within easy distance of Antioch; these were the preparatory steps by which God was bringing about his great purpose. Then, as the work grew among the Gentiles, Barnabas was sent to Antioch by the Church of Jerusalem; thence, needing more help, he went to Tarsus and sought Saul and brought him to Antioch. Then followed a full year"s ministry in that great heathen city. That year brought a rich experience of things sad and of things joyful; experience of heathen darkness, experience of God"s grace; widening knowledge of the thoughts, the wants, the misery of heathenism; deepening knowledge of the power of a preached gospel; a further loosening of the strait bands of Judaism as lettering Christian liberty. And then, when the ground was thus prepared, came the direct call of the Holy Ghost, "Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." And what a work it was! It requires some knowledge of the degradation of human nature as manifested in all the vileness of the voluptuousness and impostures of the East, in the incredible and growing flagitiousness of the once noble Roman character under the shameful profligacy"s of the empire, and of the general spread of vice, oppression, and cruelty in the Roman world, to take a just measure of the work to which Barnabas and Saul were called. It was a work of hopeless difficulty if measured by the strength of man; it was a work of incalculable importance if measured by its world-wide influences and results a work than which no greater has ever been undertaken either by man or for man. To revolutionize the whole relations of man with God; to upset and root out all the old thoughts of the whole world concerning God and the service of God; to give a new direction to man"s thoughts about himself, about his duty, and about eternity; to transform human life from sin to holiness; and to do all this by the power of words, was the task given to Barnabas and Saul. And they did it. That we know and love God; that we believe in Jesus Christ for the remission of our sins; that we live righteous lives; that we have a good hope of the resurrection to eternal life is the fruit of the mission of Barnabas and Saul. They invaded heathendom with the sword of faith, and heathendom fell before their onslaught. O God, raise up in our days such soldiers of the cross that all the kingdoms of the world may become the kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ!

HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON. Vers. 1-3. An illustrious Church.

Antecedently it might have been expected that the Church of Jerusalem would prove to be the most influential and illustrious of all Christian communities, and that from all lands and ages men would look back to it as the most potent factor in the early history of "our holy religion." But in this respect it must give place to "the Church that was at Antioch." This community was remarkable for four things.

I ITS HUMAN COMPOSITION. (Ver. 1.) Great names have been entered on the rolls of many Churches; but very few indeed, if any, could compare with the list which included the names of Barnabas and Saul, as well as that of a man (Manaen) who was the foster-brother of Herod Antipas. A Church is influential, not only according to the number of souls it can count in its communion, but according to the character of the men who are included in its ranks. A Church which can win and can train and send forth a most useful minister, or a most successful missionary, or a most powerful writer, may do a work which, in the balances of Heaven, weighs more than that of another which has five times its number on the lists. Nowhere more than here does quality, character, spiritual worth, tell in the estimate of truth and wisdom.

II ITS DIVINE INDWELLING. The Church at Antioch had "prophets and teachers" (ver. 1). This statement implies that there were those amongst the brethren who received occasionally such Divine impulse that they spoke under the consciousness of his inspiration. And to them, or to one of them, the Spirit of God made known the Divine will that they should set apart two of their number for special work (ver. 2). Evidently this Church was one in which, as in a temple, the Holy Ghost dwelt. The fact of the indwelling of the Spirit is not, indeed, anything which is itself remarkable; for no Church of which this cannot be said is worthy of its name. But of "the Church that was at Antioch" this was strikingly and eminently true, if we may take this short passage of its history as of a piece with the rest.

III ITS RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY. We know that Barnabas and Saul "taught much people"; (Act_11:26) the work of evangelization went on actively at, Antioch. We may gather from our text ministered to the Lord, and fasted that the Church was diligent in its devotions; not only worshipping when it was convenient and agreeable to the flesh, but to the extent of self-denial: twice in two verses we read of the members fasting (vers. 2, 3). Fasting, for the sake of fasting or with a view of pleasing Christ, is not enjoined, and both the words of our Lord and the genius of his religion discourage rather than encourage it. But we shall undoubtedly do well to pursue our work and to maintain our worship unto the Lord up to and within the line of self-control and even self-denial; not only not giving the reins to our bodily cravings, but checking these and restricting ourselves beyond that which is positively demanded, if by so doing we can worship God more spiritually or work more effectively for our fellows.

IV ITS OBEDIENT ENTRANCE ON AN APPARENTLY HOPELESS ENTERPRISE. (Vers. 2, 3.) The Church was commanded by its Lord to send two of its members on the errand of converting the Gentiles, "and they sent them away." It was not its part to "reason why," but to obey. Had it reckoned the likelihood of the case, dwelt on the difficulties in the way of success, measured the might and number of its adversaries, weighed the strength of two Jews against the learning, the prejudice, the military forces, the material interests, the social customs, the evil habits, the inwrought unrighteousness of a bitterly and even passionately hostile world, it would have hesitated, it would have refrained. But it did not measure these things. It heard the sovereign sound of its Divine Leader"s voice, and it proceeded unquestioningly to obey. It "sent them away." And they went forth those two men unpracticed in the wiles of the world; poor; unarmed; unequipped with any forces which, on mere human lines, could avail anything; determined to preach a doctrine which would be received with the haughtiest contempt, which would clash with men"s strongest interests and smite their most cherished sins; they went forth, with the confidence of the Church behind them (ver. 3), with the hand of the Lord upon them, with the hope of his welcome and his reward before them. It was a splendid action of an illustrious Church, and the nearer we can approach it in our own times and in our own communities, the dearer shall we be to our Master and the greater service shall we render to our race. C.

HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON Vers. 1-3. Ordination of Barnabas and Saul.

I THE TRUE WEALTH OF A CHURCH. There were prophets and teachers at Antioch. Nothing is said about its wealth in money, only about its wealth in men. A religious community may possess splendid buildings, wealthy members; may command amply all the external appliances of worship and work; but unless it has men, it has not strength. Intelligence and enthusiasm, piety and genius, constitute the true forces of the Church. Without these, it is feeble with all its worldly resources; with these, it is mighty in poverty.

II THE CONSECRATION OF THE FIRST MISSIONARIES.

1. It was preceded by prayer and fasting. The moderation of the body gives freedom and clearness to the judgment. There is nothing artificial in the true proceedings of spiritual man. The bodily and the spiritual life cannot be both affirmed at the same time. In denying the body we affirm the Spirit. In casting off the weights of sense we rise into the purer air.

2. It was accompanied by laying on of hands. "Order is Heaven"s first law," and in the Church "let all things be done decently and in order." The act marks peculiar selection out of the mass of men, and for special and peculiar ends of work. From Antioch in its strength and spiritual prosperity went forth the first missionaries. This is an example. When we are full of thought we long to speak or otherwise give it to the world. When the fire burns within the soul the tongue cannot be mute. In like manner, a vigorous Church will be a missionary Church; the falling off of missionary interest is a symptom that we have less hold upon the truth or have lost the fullness of love from the heart. J.

HOMILIES BY P.C. BARKER Vers. 1-5. An ordination service.

This chapter is very interesting, as finding for us the real starting-point of Saul"s grand missionary labors; as recording the change of his name to Paul (ver. 9); as altering the order hitherto observed in mentioning it, from "Barnabas and Saul" to "Paul and Barnabas" (vers. 2, 8; comp. with vers. 13, 43); and lastly, as forming the commencement of a long sketch of history almost exclusively occupied with his acts and career alone. For reasons which doubt- less came of the Holy Spirit, of his purpose, his motions, and his sanctifying guidance, Paul now takes the foreground and henceforth is kept in it. His early character and career had been marked, his "call" had been marked, his waiting and trial since had been marked, and now marked for ever on the page of Scripture and upon the genius of Christ"s Church was the stamp of his work and devotion. The preamble alike of the chapter and of this long sketch of history is filled in with the very brief recital of the ordination of Barnabas and Saul to missionary labor. Let us observe what is distinctly recorded as the condition of things at this juncture, and what thereupon the course of things.

I THE CHURCH APPEARS AS THE UNIT ECCLESIASTICAL. This is worth observing, if only for the honor thereby done the Church. But yet more for the suggestions that arise from it, as indicating that it is the point of departure condescendingly recognized by Heaven itself, by Christ and the Spirit of duty, of work, of character, of privilege to men. Wherever the Church, it is the living center, where dwells the Spirit, around which warmest and most intelligent affection, devotion, and enthusiasm should gather, even beyond those owned to by David and the most pious of the Jews toward Jerusalem and Zion. (Psa_137:4-6) No metropolitan center of officialism, it purports to be and is ordained to be a living fountain head. This is the "rest of the Lord". (Psa_132:8, Psa_132:14) This is where his people find rest. This the spot from which the heralds of everlasting truth set out, and of which they say again and again, "All my springs are in thee". (Psa_87:7)

II EMPHATIC MENTION IS MADE OF FIVE MEN IN THE CHURCH. They are prophets and teachers.

1. Though every Christian man should be a spring of good to others and a true minister in the Church, the New Testament, far from dishonoring the idea of orders among those who compose it, here evidently enough countenances it.

2. The personnel of these five excites interest. Barnabas, who stands first, we know, and Saul, who stands last. Lucius is an African, and is mentioned. (Rom_16:21) The epithet attached to Symeon marks something interesting, though we cannot say certainly what. While a volume of interest underlies what is added to the name of Manaen! It is a signal ease, indeed, of "one being taken and the other left.

3. The holy engagements of these five men is emphasized. They are warming the fire; they are keeping warm the Church; they are prevailing in prayer with God; they are subduing the body and keeping it under subjection. How often might five men save and bless a Church, and call down richest blessing on it!

III EMPHATIC HONOUR IS SET ON THESE FIVE MEN.

1. The Spirit "speaketh expressly" to them, in the midst of their prayer and fastings and devotion. (Act_10:3, Act_10:4, Act_10:10, Act_10:19, Act_10:30) It is possible that this occasion may have found the Church gathered together also, but it cannot be affirmed that it was so. Any way, there were more than "two or three gathered together in the Name" of Christ.

2. The Spirit speaks another "call" to them. The forces of the Church are growing. Two of the five are "called" to go far away to the Gentiles. The other three are "called" to "separate" the two designated for" the work." "Doubting nothing" and "without gainsaying," they do this. Still does the Spirit keep the choosing and the designating, and should be honored and glorified for doing so. And still does the Spirit delegate the outer and visible carrying out of his will to the ministers of the Church. Note:

(1) What a happy "separating" this compared with the many of which the Church, and, alas! the world, has heard, through all the succeeding centuries!

(2) The method of "separating" Barnabas and Saul. It is

(a) after fasting;

(b) by prayer; and

(c) with the accompanying sign of laying on of hands.

(3) The probable object and advantages of this service. If there seem any ceremony about it, it is not vain ceremony. It is full of meaning, and may be full of use and advantage.

(a) An object, high, holy, not self-serving, is very distinctly placed before those thus ordained.

(b) They are reminded that the eyes of witnesses are upon them.

(c) They are reminded that he who calls them to be "separated" will hear their call to him when perils abound, when flesh is weary, when the heart is sore and weary, when enemies press in, and when all things seem against them.

(d) They are taught that in this "one thing" they now do, their Master and their Judge, the one Being to whom they are responsible, is above, the great invisible but ever sympathizing One. How blessed and how useful have the memories of self-consecration often been in the subsequent periods of life! The heart has dwelt with them and been refreshed and enriched by them. And what added impression, stimulus, and sustained energy have often come to us in the memory of those, if only of earth, who once heard our vows and witnessed our consecration! But these have most possessed the heart and ruled it and governed it entirely, when to the rest has been added the unswerving conviction that the Spirit called, and that it was his call and nothing less than his, that we once heard and never could forget. B.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL REMARKS

Act_13:1. In the Church that was at Antioch.—Better at or in Antioch, in or throughout, or for the benefit of the Church, κατά having all these different meanings. Certain should be omitted. Prophets (see on Act_2:17) and teachers (1Co_12:28).—Named together (Rom_12:6; Eph_4:11), yet not the same, though both functions might be united in one person—as, e.g., in Paul (Gal_2:2; 2Co_12:1) and John (Rev_1:1; Rev_1:9). Barnabas, named first, appears to have held at Antioch a position corresponding to that of Peter at Jerusalem (Holtzmann). Along with him Simeon and Lucius were prophets. Manaen and Saul.—Most likely teachers (Holtzmann). Brought up with.—σύντροφος. Might mean educated along with (2Ma_9:29), but better rendered collactaneus, nourished at the same breast (Xen., Mem., ii. 3, 4).

Act_13:2. Ministered refers to the rites of Christian worship, as prayer, exhortation, and fasting (Rom_15:27). They may signify the prophets and teachers, or the congregation or church in general. The Holy Ghost said.—Perhaps, as in Act_11:28; Act_20:23, through the lips of the prophets, or by the still small voice whispering to each of the leaders, as in Act_8:29. The work where unto I have called them.—Though not stated, doubtless understood by all to be that of carrying the gospel to the heathen (Act_14:26; Act_15:38), as had already been intimated to Saul at his conversion (Act_9:15).

Act_13:3. Fasted and prayed.—Compare Act_10:30; Act_14:23, which show that the two were frequently practised in conjunction by both individuals and the Church. This fast was special, in preparation for the ordination of the missionaries. They—i.e., the prophets and teachers—laid their hands on them, without the co-operation of the Church members (against Overbeck). They—i.e., the Church—sent them—the missionaries—away—rather, gave them leave to depart, i.e., “released them from their regular duties and bade them ‘God-speed’ ” (Ramsay). In Act_13:4 they are represented as having been sent forth by the Holy Ghost.

HOMILETICAL ANALYSIS.—Act_13:1-3

The Church at Antioch; or, the Designation and Dispatch of the First Missionaries

I. The names of the missionaries.—

1. Barnabas. Originally called Joses. Styled Barnabas, meaning Son of Consolation or of Exhortation, either from his sympathy or from his eloquence, or perhaps from both. A native of Cyprus, a Levite, who stood high in the esteem of the Church at Jerusalem on account of his self-sacrificing liberality, and who had lately arrived in Antioch on a mission from the mother Church in the metropolis (Act_4:36-37; Act_11:22; which see).

2. Saul, a native of Tarsus, a scholar of Gamaliel, a participator in the murder of Stephen, a persecutor of Christians, a convert of Jesus, a powerful evangelist, recently introduced to the Church at Antioch by Barnabas (Act_7:58; Act_8:1-3; Acts 9., Act_11:25-26; which see).

II. Their standing in the Church at Antioch.—

1. Their offices. Prophets and teachers. All prophets were teachers, though all teachers were not prophets. A prophet was one who authoritatively uttered Divine communications, whereas a teacher was one who had the gift of teaching and explaining what the prophet uttered (see 1Co_12:28; Eph_4:11). Both offices were held by Barnabas and Saul, though Saul and Manaen it has been thought (Besser) were designed to be regarded as teachers; Barnabas, Simeon, and Lucius as prophets (see “Critical Remarks”).

2. Their colleagues.

(1) Simeon, called Niger, and so distinguished from both Simon Peter and Simon the Canaanite. Otherwise unknown, though probably a Jew who received the Roman appellation from the Gentiles. Whether a native of Africa who had become a proselyte (Alford) cannot be told.

(2) Lucius of Cyrene. Supposed by some to have been the writer of the Acts (see Act_1:1), and by others with greater likelihood Lucius, Paul’s kinsman (Rom_16:21). On the place of his birth see Act_2:10.

(3) Manaen = Menahem (2Ki_15:14) occurs only here. Whether he had simply been brought up with, i.e., educated along with, Herod the tetrarch, a son of Herod the Great, an uncle of Herod Agrippa, the murderer of John the Baptist (Mat_14:11), and the derider of our Lord (Luk_23:11), or nursed with him at the same breast, cannot be decided by expositors. The former notion (Calvin, Grotius, Baumgarten, and others) derives support from the circumstance that it was “common for persons of rank to associate other children with their own for the purpose of sharing their amusements and studies, and by their example serving to excite them to greater emulation” (Hackett); the latter (Kuinoel, Olshausen, Tholuck, and others) might have easily occurred if Manaen’s mother had been Herod’s nurse. And this is not unlikely if Manaen’s father or grandfather was the Essene prophet mentioned by Josephus (Ant., XV. x. 5), who in the early youth of Herod the Great foretold his future elevation to the throne.

III. Their call to be missionaries.—

1. To whom given.

(1) Without question inwardly to the missionaries themselves. The narrative (Act_13:2) seems to indicate that Barnabas and Saul had already become conscious of an inward prompting to undertake a Gentile mission. Without this it might have been difficult to persuade them to undertake so arduous an enterprise; with this their path of duty would be immeasurably clearer. No man should enter on the office of a minister or missionary without an inward conviction that he is called of God (Heb_5:4).

(2) As certainly in outward form to the Church, without whose authorisation the evangelists should not proceed. The work of carrying the gospel into regions beyond may be executed by private individuals, but the duty of sending the gospel into all the world rests with the Church in its corporate capacity. Hence ambassadors should be sent abroad in its name and with its sanction. Nor should private individuals readily regard themselves as called to be ministers or missionaries, if they cannot obtain the concurrence of the Church. 2. When given. While they, the prophets and teachers, ministered to the Lord and fasted. Whether by themselves or in company with the members of the Church is not stated; but this may be inferred, that either the whole body of the Church or its leaders were at this time seeking heavenly light and guidance on this very point, the carrying of the gospel into regions beyond. When God desires to stir His people up to enter on some “forward movement” for the glory of His name and the extension of His cause and kingdom, He usually pours out upon them the Spirit of grace and supplication.

3. By whom given. By the Holy Ghost, the invisible but ever-present and Divine representative of Jesus Christ, whom Christ promised to send as His Church’s teacher and guide after He Himself had withdrawn His bodily presence (Joh_14:16-17; Joh_15:26; Joh_16:7-14). The same Spirit still must call forth the Church’s ministers and missionaries.

4. In what form given.

(1) To the missionaries themselves, probably, in a clear presentation to their minds of the claims of the heathen world, and a strong conviction wrought within their hearts that they should yield to those claims by going forth as messengers of the cross.

(2) To the Church by a still small voice, probably, which simultaneously spoke in each prophet’s and teacher’s heart, and seemed to say, “Separate now for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them”—the work not being mentioned because it was understood, either as having formed the subject of their thoughts and the object of their prayers, or as being universally recognised in the Church that the Spirit’s office was to organise and extend the kingdom of Christ.

IV. Their ordination to the missionary office.—

1. By whom ordained.

(1) By the whole body of the Church. Whoever the agent, the act was that of the entire Christian community.

(2) By the prophets and teachers. Whether others besides these participated in the solemnities of the occasion, not being stated, will be differently replied to by different readers and interpreters.

2. How ordained.

(1) By fasting and prayer. In these religious services the entire body of Christian people may have taken, and probably did take, part.

(2) By laying on of hands. This symbolical rite was most likely performed by the Church’s leaders, the prophets and teachers; but whether by all or only by representatives cannot be decided.

3. To what ordained. Not to the work of the ministry, since Paul was a minister already (Gal_1:1), nor to the apostleship (Lightfoot), since “the apostle was always appointed by God, not by the Church” (Ramsay), but to the special business of carrying the gospel to the Gentiles. The mission-field, the high place of honour in the Christian Church, calls for men of the clearest intellect, the largest heart, and the bravest spirit—in short, for men of the type of Barnabas and Saul.

V. Their departure from Antioch.—Simply told, “they,” the Christians at Antioch, “sent them,” Barnabas and Saul, away (see Critical Remarks).

1. On a holy errand. To carry the light of truth and life into darkened understandings and benighted hearts, to proclaim the message of salvation to a lost and ruined world, to bring all nations to the obedience of the faith (Rom_1:5). An errand more sublime imagination cannot well conceive.

2. With fervent prayers. Commending them to heaven for protection on their journeys, for assistance in their labours, for success in their enterprise.

3. In hope of a triumphant return. Looking forward doubtless to the time when those who were setting forth would come back with tidings of what great things God had done by their hands (compare Psa_126:6), which they did (Act_14:27).

Learn.—

1. That a Church may consist of different congregations.

2. That in the Church exist various orders of office-bearers.

3. That the presiding personality in the Church of Jesus Christ is the Holy Spirit.

4. That no one can legitimately exercise office in the Church without the Spirit’s call.

5. That fasting and prayer prepare the human soul for the Spirit’s communications.

6. That the Church of Christ should ever regard itself as a great missionary society.

7. That the Church should follow with its prayers those who represent it in mission-fields.

HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS

Act_13:1-3. The Church at Antioch a True Church.

I. Its chief president was the Holy Ghost.

II. Its ministers were various.—Prophets, teachers, missionaries (possibly elders had not yet been appointed, though already they existed in Jerusalem) (Act_11:30).

III. Its membership was mixed—not confined to one class, but composed of Jews and Gentiles.

IV. Its doctrine was evangelical, consisting of the tenets of the gospel.

V. Its worship was scriptural—fasting and prayer.

VI. Its spirit was missionary—it sent forth the first evangelists to the heathen.

Act_13:2-3. The Indispensable Requirements of a True Minister or Missionary.

I. A call from the Holy Ghost.

II. Ordination from his brethren.

III. Recognition by the Church.

IV. A definite sphere of labour.

Act_13:3. The Best Travelling Attendance for a Missionary on his Departure.

I. The Divine call concerning him.

II. The Spirit’s impulse within him.

III. The Church’s prayers behind him.

IV. The sighing of the heathen world before him.—Gerok.

Act_13:1-3. The Forward Movement at Antioch.

I. The contemplated character of this movement.—Not the consolidation of the Church’s own membership, the elaboration of the Church’s worship, the systematisation of the Church’s doctrine, the development of the Church’s resources, the completion of the Church’s order—all of which were praiseworthy objects; but the extension of the gospel throughout the heathen world—the greatest movement that can occupy the thoughts of Christ’s people.

II. The felt necessity for the movement.—Hardly remarkable that this was first recognised not in Jerusalem, the city of exclusive theocratic privilege, of religious conservatism, of haughty spiritual pride, of comparative poverty, but in Antioch, a city of mixed population, of intellectual liberality, of commercial enterprise, of large wealth.

III. The earnest preparation for the movement.—In proportion to its vast importance and herculean difficulty, it required to be gone about with caution. Not only had fitting agents to he selected and proper fields to be marked out for their labours, but the approbation of the Holy Ghost and the concurrence of the Church had to be secured. Accordingly it was not surprising that the Church’s leaders gave the whole scheme prolonged and serious consideration, and in company with the Church’s members, it may be supposed, spread the matter out before the Lord.

IV. The actual initiation of the movement.—This was done by the Holy Ghost, whose province alone it was to sanction such a forward step, and without whose approbation the Church authorities would not have felt warranted to stir. Only when they got His signal could they see their way to advance; when that came they could no longer hold back.

V. The practical execution of the movement.—This was entrusted to Barnabas and Saul, than whom no better evangelists have ever unfurled the banner of the cross. Were all heathen missions conducted by two such captains, fewer failures and more successes would be recorded. Barnabas and Saul present the types of men the Church should seek for her missionaries.

VI. The faithful historian of the movement.—Not Lucius of Cyrene, but Luke, the beloved physician, who in his unadorned and artless chronicles has supplied an admirable model for missionaries’ reports.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

PART FOURTH

The extension of the Church of Christ in Gentile countries through the agency of Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles; his three missionary journeys, at the termination of each of which he returns to Jerusalem, and diligently promotes union between the Gentile-Christians, and the Judæo-Christian primitive congregation.

Act_13:1 to Act_21:16

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SECTION I

THE FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY OF PAUL, ACCOMPANIED BY BARNABAS, TO THE ISLAND OF CYPRUS, AND TO PAMPHYLIA AND PISIDIA, TWO PROVINCES OF ASIA MINOR (Ch. 13 and 14)

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A.—Barnabas and Paul, sent forth as Missionaries by the Church at Antioch, in Obedience to the Directions of the Holy Spirit

Act_13:1-3

1Now [But] there were in the church [congregation] that was at Antioch certain [om. certain1 ] prophets and teachers; as [namely] Barnabas, and Simeon [Symeon] that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which [who] had been brought up with Herod2 the tetrarch, and Saul. 2As [But (δὲ) as] they ministered [offered worship] to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate [for] me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. 3And when they had [Then (τότε) they] fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent [and sent] them away.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Act_13:1. a. We now lose sight, during a certain period, of the church in Jerusalem, as well as of the apostles, and, in place of Jerusalem, Antioch temporarily appears as a central point of ecclesiastical history. Indeed, the two chapters (Acts 13 and Acts 14) which constitute Sect. I. of Part IV., may be regarded as an independent memoir, complete in itself, and written from an Antiochian point of view. Some writers have, accordingly, maintained with a certain degree of plausibility, that Luke here availed himself of a document, and incorporated it with his book, that originated in the Antiochian congregation itself (Meyer; comp. Bleek, Stud. u. Krit., 1836, p. 1043), or that belonged to a biography of Barnabas (Schwanbeck), or that was a missionary report presented in writing by Barnabas and Saul respecting this journey. (Olshausen).

b. Now there were in the church that was at Antioch.—This first verse resembles in its tone one that might be employed as an inroduction to a special history of the congregation in Antioch. The prophets and teachers of the latter are mentioned to us by name the προφῆται are the immediate organs of the Holy Spirit, and utter their sayings and make their addresses to the congregation in an exalted frame of mind [see above, Exeg. note on Act_11:27-28, and Doct. no. 1.—Tr.]; the διδάσκαλοι, more directly guided by their own judgment, after due meditation, furnished instructions to others. [They are “those who had the χάρισμα διδασκαλίας, 1Co_12:28; see also Eph_4:11.” (Alf.).—Tr.]. It is fruitless to attempt to decide which of the five men here named, belonged to the former, and which to the latter class; at least the correlative particles: τε—καί—καί, and, τε—καί (Meyer) here afford no important aid. And no argument can be derived from the circumstance that Barnabas received this particular name, בַּר נְבוּאָה from the apostles [Act_4:36], on account of possessing the gift of prophecy. For if he is named first in the present list, the reason must doubtless be sought in the preëminence which had hitherto been practically assigned to him, while Saul, as the one who had last of all become connected with the congregation, and who, no doubt, still modestly retired from public view, is, accordingly named the last. Of the three persons whose names occupy an intermediate position, we know nothing whatever, with the exception of the facts here stated. Symeon [Συμεὼν] was also called Niger [“a familiar name among the Romans.” (Hack.).—Tr.]. There is no certainty that Lucius is identical with the individual so named in Rom_16:21. As he is here expressly styled a Cyrenian [ὁ Κυρηναῖος], it may be conjectured that he was one of the first heralds of the Gospel in Antioch, since Luke says (Act_11:19-20) that ‘some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene.’ Of Manaen (מְנַחֵם), too, no knowledge can be obtained from any other source. [Μαναήν is “a Hellenistic form of the Hebrew Menahem, 2Ki_15:14.” (Alex.).—Tr.]. The Herod with whom “he had been brought up”, is undoubtedly not Agrippa II., who was only in the seventeenth year of his age when [his father] Agrippa I. died (Jos. Antiq. 19:9. 1). For one of his comrades [taking σύντροφος in the sense of contubernalis, companion.—Tr.] would at this period have been still too young to serve as a teacher in the church. We are hence led to assume that Herod Antipas is meant—the Herod who caused John the Baptist to be beheaded, and to whose jurisdiction [Pilate supposed that] Jesus belonged [Luk_3:1; Luk_23:7.—“He was now in exile on the banks of the Rhone, but though divested of his office is called tetrarch, because he was best known under that title.” (Hack.).—Tr.]. If this be the case, Menahem must have reached the age of 45 or 50 years at the present period.—Σύντροφος may signify: cum aliquo nutritus, i. e. nourished at the same breast; if this is the correct definition here, Menahem’s mother had been the nurse of Antipas (Vulgate [see note 2, appended to the text, above]; Kuin.; Olsh.); but the word usually signifies playmate, Comrade; [it is understood here by Luther; Calvin; Grot.; Baumg.; Ewald, etc. in the sense of: one brought up with another, as in the text of the Engl. version.—Tr.]. Whichever signification of the word may be adopted, it is a remarkable circumstance that a man who had been reared at a royal court, and specially at that of Herod the Great, should have subsequently become a shepherd and teacher of the Christians.

Act_13:2. As they ministered [But as they offered worship] to the Lord.—Luke proceeds to describe the directions which the Spirit gave to the Church respecting the appointment of Barnabas and Saul as missionaries. The command of the Spirit was given at a certain time when the believers were worshipping and fasting. Αειτουργεῖν designates, in the classic writers, the discharge of civil offices and duties—in the Septuagint and in Heb_10:11, the performance of priestly offices in the temple of Jehovah,—and here, obviously, refers to the rites of worship [τῷ Λυρίῳ]. But that the subject, the pronoun αὐτῶν, does not exclusively refer to the five prophets and teachers mentioned in Act_13:1, but includes the whole Christian congregation of Antioch, appears from the circumstance that the command: ἀφορίσατε, according to the tenor of the whole passage (with which compare Act_14:26-27), is not addressed solely to the teachers, but rather to the whole congregation, so that αὐτῶν also necessarily refers to the latter. The Holy Ghost said (namely, through one of the prophets): Separate me [for my service] Barnabas and Saul (namely, for a holy service); ἀφορίζειν here involves the idea of sanctifying and consecrating, even as קָדַשׁ always expresses the conception that a certain object has been set apart or separated from common and daily use. The work which the Holy Ghost called these two men to perform, is not expressly stated. It was, without doubt, already known that Saul had been called to labor as a missionary among the Gentiles.

Act_13:3. And when they had fasted and prayed.—The immediate consecration and dismission of the two men, demonstrates that the congregation had clearly understood the revelation of the Spirit. The believers, while fasting and praying, laid their hands on both, commended them—their journey, and its great object—to the protection and the grace of God (Act_14:26), and thus sent them forth.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. The Redeemer has become Lord and King—the Exalted One—only as the Crucified One. So, too, His Church continually follows the sign of the cross—hoc signo vincet. The first assault which was made against the church, at the time when Stephen was stoned, led to the extension of the Gospel in Palestine, and it was carried even to Gentiles. And now, as a consequence of the second and more violent persecution, of which the apostle James became a victim, and from which Peter could be delivered only by a miracle, missions among pagans are regularly commenced. “By succumbing we conquer.”

2. The apostolate of Paul, strictly speaking, begins on the occasion of this mission—he is now first sent forth (ἀπόστολος). He had not voluntarily offered his services, but received a call (rite vocatur), is chosen, and is sent forth—and all is done by divine authority. Jesus himself chose the Twelve during his earthly ministry, and exercised them by a preliminary mission (Matt. Acts 10); it was, however, only after his resurrection that they received full authority from him, and were sent forth; but even then it was necessary for them to wait until they were endowed with the gifts of the Spirit [Act_1:4; Act_1:8], before they actually commenced their labors. Saul, too, was called by Jesus Christ, but the Lord had already ascended to heaven and was glorified; at that time he was told by Jesus himself, that he should be sent to the Gentiles and to Israel. But it is only at this comparatively late period, after sufficient time had been afforded for his internal growth and his progress in the divine life, and after he had, besides, lived in retirement, that he is actually sent, and enters upon his glorious career as the apostle of the Gentiles.—It is the Holy Ghost who calls him, together with Barnabas, to his great work, but men are the agents of the Holy Ghost. It is some one of the Christian prophets in Antioch to whose soul the Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, makes a communication, and through whose mouth He says that Barnabas and Saul should be separated for the work. And it is the church that receives this command, and that, in the obedience of faith, while fasting and praying, dedicates the two men to their work by the imposition of hands, and then sends them forth. When the outward circumstances alone are considered, Barnabas and Saul were missionaries who proceeded from the Antiochian church; the latter was the society or authority that gave them their commission. But this church was, in truth, simply the agent in giving effect in public to the previous internal call proceeding from the Redeemer. It was the Lord himself who both called and sent, who, through his Spirit, made known his will to the church, and who, through the church, sent forth his messengers. The firm conviction of the latter that they had received a divine call and had been sent by the Lord, was the source whence they derived that confidence and that joy, without which they could not have successfully labored. The work of Christ gradually enters upon the ordinary course of congregational and ecclesiastical development, especially in the person of Saul. He had been directly aroused and awakened by the Redeemer, but his conversion was consummated through the agency of a disciple of Jesus, who was an ordinary member of the church in Damascus (Act_9:10-19); so, too, he had originally received his call as the apostle of the Gentiles from the Lord himself, but that call was made effectual through the congregation at Antioch. Such a combination and interweaving of the Divine and the Human, and such an execution of the divine will through human agents, now occur, when men are called and dedicated to the regularly established sacred office, as well as to missionary labors. It is only under such circumstances that the “rite vocari” [a right or properly authorized call], within the pale of ecclesiastical order, can afford joy and confidence, and secure fidelity, in the discharge of official duties.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Act_13:1. Now there were … at Antioch … prophets and teachers.—A congregation is now supposed to be in an excellent condition, when it is well provided with real estate, funds, a handsome building, etc., none of which, however, were owned by the church at Antioch; but there were prophets and teachers there, and these are now generally wanting. (Gossner).—Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod.—Two persons may be brought up together, and even be nourished at the same breast; nevertheless, ‘the one shall be taken, and the other left.’ [Mat_24:40 f.]. (Starke).

Act_13:2. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said.—The Holy Ghost does not come to a full stomach and a wandering mind. The full stomach neither studies diligently, nor offers devout prayer. (Gossner).—The Holy Ghost said, Separate, etc. The choice of God, the endowment with his gifts, the training which was accomplished by means of various dispensations—all these preceded in the order of time, and created a willing mind; thus they constituted the inward call; the call of the church, the separation and authorization were now added, and constituted the outward call. (Rieger).—Separate me … Barnabas and Saul, i.e. so that they may live, labor, think and desire solely in my service, in accordance with my will and good pleasure. Teachers should be God’s peculiar people, chosen and separated solely to please Him. (Ap. Past.).—Why were precisely Barnabas and Saul separated? All the servants of God should be ready, whenever He needs them; but His call and command alone can authorize them to commence the work. Let not him who is called, despise him who is left; let not him who waits, envy him who receives an office, (ib.).—The most humble service which is required of us in accordance with God’s call, is honorable, and worthy of being performed; the highest dignities are not worthy of being the objects of our pursuit. (Rieger).

Act_13:3. And when they had fasted.—There was, accordingly, no farewell banquet given, but a farewell fast was observed! It is now common, even in affairs belonging to the kingdom of God, first of all to hold gay festivals; and therefore seasons of mourning follow. (Williger, who also appends the beautiful narrative of the consecration and mission of John Williams, the apostle of the South Sea).

On Act_13:1-3.—The Lord sends forth laborers into his harvest: I. The harvest which he has in view; II. The laborers whom he chooses; III. The mission—the manner in which it is to be effected. (From Lisco.).—The Scriptural mode of sending forth heralds of the Gospel to the heathen: I. By the impulse and direction of the Lord; (a) those who send, must be moved, not by their own spirit, but by the Holy Spirit; (b) those who are sent, must be chosen, not solely in accordance with the dictates of human prudence, but rather on account of the influences of divine grace on them, of which they furnish good evidence; (c) their destination must not be arbitrarily determined, but be indicated by the Lord. II. With holy desires and acts; (a) those who send should fast, abstaining from all excess, so that they may hare means for providing for the wants of the heathen; (b) they should pray—the united prayer of those who send, and of those who are sent, availeth much; (c) the heralds should receive the imposition of hands—after having been consecrated to their work in the proper manner, their labors are also to be conducted according to ecclesiastical order, unto the salvation of the heathen, and the growth of the church. (Lisco).—The first Christian missionary meeting at Antioch: I. The circumstances, in consequence of which the first missionaries went forth from Antioch; (a) on account of the peculiarly flourishing condition of the congregation in that city; (b) and the special indication of the will of divine wisdom. II. The solemn appointment of the first missionaries; (a) the men who were first commissioned; (b) the manner in which they were commissioned. (id.).—That the assumption of the sacred office requires both an internal and an external call: I. The internal; II. The external call. (id.).—The missionary power of Christianity: I. When the church possesses spiritual life, missions prosper; II. When missions are actively maintained, the church prospers. (From Lisco).—The best attendants of a messenger of the faith who is sent forth: I. The call of God, addressed to him; II. The impulse of the Spirit, within him; III. The prayers of the church, which are offered for him; IV. The sighs of the pagans, who long for him.—The blessed bond of union between the church at home, and her missionaries abroad: I. The blessing which extends to missionaries, from their original but distant home—spiritual and temporal gifts, support, ordination, prayer. II. The blessing which missionaries send back to their distant home—admonitions to pray, exhortations to praise God, the strengthening of faith, the increase of love.—What gives to missions their life and power? I. The call of God, in which they originate; II. The fidelity of the laborers who are sent; III. The prayers of the church, by which they are sustained.—How can the church secure the divine blessing, when she engages in any work? I. Not by being directed by human calculations, but by yielding to the impulses of the Holy Spirit; II. Not by premature rejoicings, but by humble prayer; III. Not by confiding in the names of men, even though they should be those of Barnabas and Saul, but by confiding in the name of the living God, on whose blessing all depends.—[The manifestations of the influences of the Divine Spirit: I. In the conversion of sinners; which is effected (a) through the inspired Word (Eph_6:17 : Jam_1:18; 1Pe_1:23); (b) set forth, in its purity, by divine aid; and (c) applied by the Spirit to the sinner’s heart. II. In the edification of believers; which is effected (a) by the Spirit through the Word (1Th_2:13); (b) and the holy Sacraments, as means of grace, combined with prayer and self-examination; (c) all of which are profitable only through faith wrought by the Spirit. (Heb_4:2; Eph_2:8). III. In the extension of the Church in heathen lands; which is effected (a) when the Spirit incites men to go forth as heralds of the cross; (b) opens the hearts of their hearers (Act_16:14; Rom_10:17); (c) and conveys light, life and power through their words (1Co_2:4).—Tr.]

Footnotes:

[1]Act_13:1. a. The text. rec. inserts [with E. G. H.] after ἦσαν δέ, the word τινες which is wanting in A. B. D. [Cod. Sin.], in several minuscules, and in ancient versions [Syr. Vulg.]; it is, without doubt, a spurious addition, intended to imply that the persons here named, were only some, but not all of the prophets and teachers of the Antiochian congregation. [Omitted by recent editors generally, except Scholz.—Tr.]

[2]Act_13:1. b. [For the words: “which … Herod,” (Geneva), the margin of the Engl. Bible offers the version: “Herod’s foster-brother.” (Rheims.). Alford says of σύντροφος, that it is “probably collactaneus (Vulg.), ‘foster-brother’; not ‘brought up with,’ for, if he had been brought up with Antipas, he would also have been with Archelaus.”—Archelaus and Antipas were brought up with a certain private man at Rome. (Jos. Ant. xvii. 1. 3). The original is “more concisely and exactly rendered in the margin, Herod’s foster-brother.” (Alex.). See below, Exeg. note b. on Act_13:1., and comp. with collactaneus of the Vulg. the German equivalent Milchbruder i. e., milk-brother.—Tr.]

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Acts

TO THE REGIONS BEYOND

Act 13:1 - Act 13:13.

We stand in this passage at the beginning of a great step forward. Philip and Peter had each played a part in the gradual expansion of the church beyond the limits of Judaism; but it was from the church at Antioch that the messengers went forth who completed the process. Both its locality and its composition made that natural.

I. The solemn designation of the missionaries is the first point in the narrative.

The church at Antioch was not left without signs of Christ’s grace and presence. It had its band of ‘prophets and teachers.’ As might be expected, four of the five named are Hellenists,-that is, Jews born in Gentile lands, and speaking Gentile languages. Barnabas was a Cypriote, Simeon’s byname of Niger {‘Black’} was probably given because of his dark complexion, which was probably caused by his birth in warmer lands. He may have been a North African, as Lucius of Cyrene was. Saul was from Tarsus, and only Manaen remains to represent the pure Palestinian Jew. His had been a strange course, from being foster-brother of the Herod who killed John to becoming a teacher in the church at Antioch. Barnabas was the leader of the little group, and the younger Pharisee from Tarsus, who had all along been Barnabas’s protege, brought up the rear.

The order observed in the list is a little window which shows a great deal. The first and last names all the world knows; the other three are never heard of again. Immortality falls on the two, oblivion swallows up the three. But it matters little whether our names are sounded in men’s ears, if they are in the Lamb’s book of life.

These five brethren were waiting on the Lord by fasting and prayer. Apparently they had reason to expect some divine communication, for which they were thus preparing themselves. Light will come to those who thus seek it. They were commanded to set apart two of their number for ‘the work whereunto I have called them.’ That work is not specified, and yet the two, like carrier pigeons on being let loose, make straight for their line of flight, and know exactly whither they are to go.

If we strictly interpret Luke’s words {‘I have called them’}, a previous intimation from the Spirit had revealed to them the sphere of their work. In that case, the separation was only the recognition by the brethren of the divine appointment. The inward call must come first, and no ecclesiastical designation can do more than confirm that. But the solemn designation by the Church identifies those who remain behind with the work of those who go forth; it throws responsibility for sympathy and support on the former, and it ministers strength and the sense of companionship to the latter, besides checking that tendency to isolation which accompanies earnestness. To go forth on even Christian service, unrecognised by the brethren, is not good for even a Paul.

But although Luke speaks of the Church sending them away, he takes care immediately to add that it was the Holy Ghost who ‘sent them forth.’ Ramsay suggests that ‘sent them away’ is not the meaning of the phrase in Act 13:3, but that it should be rendered ‘gave them leave to depart.’ In any case, a clear distinction is drawn between the action of the Church and that of the Spirit, which constituted Paul’s real commission as an Apostle. He himself says that he was an Apostle, ‘not from men, neither through man.’

II. The events in the first stage of the journey are next summarily presented.

Note the local colouring in ‘went down to Seleucia,’ the seaport of Antioch, at the mouth of the river. The missionaries were naturally led to begin at Cyprus, as Barnabas’s birthplace, and that of some of the founders of the church at Antioch.

So, for the first time, the Gospel went to sea, the precursor of so many voyages. It was an ‘epoch-making moment’ when that ship dropped down with the tide and put out to sea. Salamis was the nearest port on the south-eastern coast of Cyprus, and there they landed,- Barnabas, no doubt, familiar with all he saw; Saul probably a stranger to it all. Their plan of action was that to which Paul adhered in all his after work,-to carry the Gospel to the Jew first, a proceeding for which the manner of worship in the synagogues gave facilities. No doubt, many such were scattered through Cyprus, and Barnabas would be well known in most.

They thus traversed the island from east to west. It is noteworthy that only now is John Mark’s name brought in as their attendant. He had come with them from Antioch, but Luke will not mention him, when he is telling of the sending forth of the other two, because Mark was not sent by the Spirit, but only chosen by his uncle, and his subsequent defection did not affect the completeness of their embassy. His entirely subordinate place is made obvious by the point at which he appears.

Nothing of moment happened on the tour till Paphos was reached. That was the capital, the residence of the pro-consul, and the seat of the foul worship of Venus. There the first antagonist was met. It is not Sergius Paulus, pro-consul though he was, who is the central figure of interest to Luke, but the sorcerer who was attached to his train. His character is drawn in Luke’s description, and in Paul’s fiery exclamation. Each has three clauses, which fall ‘like the beats of a hammer.’ ‘Sorcerer, false prophet, Jew,’ make a climax of wickedness. That a Jew should descend to dabble in the black art of magic, and play tricks on the credulity of ignorant people by his knowledge of some simple secrets of chemistry; that he should pretend to prophetic gifts which in his heart he knew to be fraud, and should be recreant to his ancestral faith, proved him to deserve the penetrating sentence which Paul passed on him. He was a trickster, and knew that he was: his inspiration came from an evil source; he had come to hate righteousness of every sort.

Paul was not flinging bitter words at random, or yielding to passion, but was laying the black heart bare to the man’s own eyes, that the seeing himself as God saw him might startle him into penitence. ‘The corruption of the best is the worst.’ The bitterest enemies of God’s ways are those who have cast aside their early faith. A Jew who had stooped to be a juggler was indeed causing God’s ‘name to be blasphemed among the Gentiles.’

He and Paul each recognised in the other his most formidable foe. Elymas instinctively felt that the pro-consul must be kept from listening to the teaching of these two fellow-countrymen, and ‘sought to pervert him from the faith,’ therein perverting {the same word is used in both cases} ‘the right ways of the Lord’; that is, opposing the divine purpose. He was a specimen of a class who attained influence in that epoch of unrest, when the more cultivated and nobler part of Roman society had lost faith in the old gods, and was turning wistfully and with widespread expectation to the mysterious East for enlightenment.

So, like a ship which plunges into the storm as soon as it clears the pier-head, the missionaries felt the first dash of the spray and blast of the wind directly they began their work. Since this was their first encounter with a foe which they would often have to meet, the duel assumes importance, and we understand not only the fulness of the narrative, but the miracle which assured Paul and Barnabas of Christ’s help, and was meant to diffuse its encouragement along the line of their future work. For Elymas it was chastisement, which might lead him to cease to pervert the ways of the Lord, and himself begin to walk in them. Perhaps, after a season, he did see ‘the better Sun.’

Saul’s part in the incident is noteworthy. We observe the vivid touch, he ‘fastened his eyes on him.’ There must have been something very piercing in the fixed gaze of these flashing eyes. But Luke takes pains to prevent our thinking that Paul spoke from his own insight or was moved by human passion. He was ‘filled with the Holy Ghost,’ and, as His organ, poured out the scorching words that revealed the cowering apostate to himself, and announced the merciful punishment that was to fall. We need to be very sure that we are similarly filled before venturing to imitate the Apostle’s tone.

III. The shifting of the scene to the mainland presents some noteworthy points.

It is singular that there is no preaching mentioned as having been attempted in Perga, or anywhere along the coast, but that the two evangelists seem to have gone at once across the great mountain range of Taurus to Antioch of Pisidia.

A striking suggestion is made by Ramsay to the effect that the reason was a sudden attack of the malarial fever which is endemic in the low-lying coast plains, and for which the natural remedy is to get up among the mountains. If so, the journey to Antioch of Pisidia may not have been in the programme to which John Mark had agreed, and his return to Jerusalem may have been due to this departure from the original intention. Be that as it may, he stands for us as a beacon, warning against hasty entrance on great undertakings of which we have not counted the cost, no less than against cowardly flight from work, as soon as it begins to involve more danger or discomfort than we had reckoned on.

John Mark was willing to go a-missionarying as long as he was in Cyprus, where he was somebody and much at home, by his relationship to Barnabas; but when Perga and the climb over Taurus into strange lands came to be called for, his zeal and courage oozed out at his finger-ends, and he skulked back to his mother’s house at Jerusalem. No wonder that Paul ‘thought not good to take with them him who withdrew from them.’ But even such faint hearts as Mark’s may take courage from the fact that he nobly retrieved his youthful error, and won back Paul’s confidence, and proved himself ‘profitable to him for the ministry.’

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Part III

The Witness to the Gentiles.

The Apostle to the Gentiles; his Ministry and Captivity.

Chapters 13-28

CHAPTER 13

1. The Divine Choice. Barnabas and Saul separated unto the work (Act 13:1-3).

2. The Beginning of the Journey and the events in Cyprus (Act 13:4-12).

3. The Gospel in Galatia. Paul’s Address (Act 13:13-41).

4. The Gospel rejected by the Jews (Act 13:42-52).

The thirteenth chapter is the beginning of the third part of this book. The second great center of Christianity comes to the front. It is no longer Jerusalem, but the city of Antioch. The gospel which had been preached in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, which Cornelius and his house had heard and accepted, is now in a special manner to go far hence to the Gentiles. The city in which the first great Gentile church had been established is the starting point. Peter, so prominent in the first twelve chapters of our book, is no longer the leading actor. He is mentioned only once in this second part of the Book of Acts. In the fifteenth chapter, in connection with the council in Jerusalem, his voice is heard once more. The special work in connection with the kingdom of heaven, in opening the door to the Jews and Gentiles (Act 2:1-47 and chapter 10) had been accomplished by him. Now he disappears from our view, though he continued to exercise his apostleship in connection with the circumcision (Gal 2:7). Paul, the great Apostle of the Gentiles, instead appears upon the scene, and his wonderful activity is described in the remaining part of the book. The opposition and blindness of the Jews in a continued rejection of the gospel becomes fully evident throughout this section, and the book itself closes with the testimony against them: “Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it” (Act 28:28). Besides this we shall find in these chapters the acts of the Holy Spirit in the call and sending forth of the chosen instruments in the way He guided them, how He filled them, opened doors, and manifested Ills gracious power in the salvation of sinners.

The beginning of the great movement to send now the Gospel far hence to the Gentiles was inaugurated by the Holy Spirit. The assembled prophets and teachers ministered to the Lord in praise and prayer, when the Holy Spirit’s voice was heard demanding the separation of Barnabas and Saul unto a work He had called them. The personality of the Holy Spirit is here fully demonstrated. They were thus sent forth not by the church, nor by a missionary society or committee, but by the Holy Spirit.

Accompanied by John Mark as a helper they sailed to Cyprus. Here at Paphos they found a Jew, a sorcerer and false prophet by name of Bar-Jesus (Son Jesus). Such evil persons, special instruments of Satan, appear repeatedly in this book, and generally when the Gospel was carried into some new regions. In Samaria it was Simon Magus; in Macedonia the damsel with the familiar spirit, and here this demon-possessed Jew. He was an enemy of all righteousness. He tried to keep the Word from the Roman Sergius Paulus. Thus the Jews tried to keep the Gospel from reaching the Gentiles. The judgment which fell upon this wicked Jew is typical of the judicial blindness which has come upon the Jews. But as this sorcerer who opposed the Gospel was not to see the sun for a season, even so, the blindness of the Jews is not permanent.

For the first time, and that in connection with this incident, the name of Paul is mentioned. Some have suggested that he took the name in honor of Sergius Paulus, but that is incorrect. Paul is a Roman name, and means “little.” Later he writes of himself as “less than the least of all saints.” He took the lowest place, and the name which signifies this comes now into prominence. Barnabas is taking the second place; not Barnabas and Saul, but Paul and Barnabas is now the order.

John Mark left them when they had come to Perga in Pamphylia. It was on account of the work (chapter 15:38). It was a failure and for a time he was unprofitable. See 2Ti 4:11 where we read of his restoration. He is the one who wrote the Gospel of the obedient servant, the Gospel of Mark.

In Act 13:16-41 Paul’s great address in Antioch of Pisidia is reported. Then the Jews rejected the Gospel, and when they preached to the Gentiles they contradicted and blasphemed.

Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Paul and Barnabas on the Island of Cyprus. Act 13:1-12

Barnabas and Saul delegated as missionaries:

v. 1. Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as, Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod, the tetrarch, and Saul.

v. 2. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate Me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.

v. 3. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

Luke here begins the second great part of his book of the Acts. After having narrated the story of the establishment of the Church, he now proceeds to furnish a biographical account of the missionary labors of Paul and of his captivity in Caesarea and Rome. In the local congregation at Antioch there were, as important and influential members, certain prophets and teachers, men to whom the Spirit had given the power to uncover the veil of the future whenever He so directed, and men that had the gift of teaching in an unusual measure. In some of them, as in the case of Paul, both gifts may well have been united, Gal 2:2; 2Co 12:1. Whether these men actually belonged to the presbyters of the congregation or not is immaterial; at any rate, they held positions of honor and importance among the brethren in the congregation. From the text it would almost seem to follow that the first three were especially distinguished for their prophetic ability, the last two for their gift of teaching. Barnabas is named first, as the man to whom the congregation really owed its sound establishment, then Simeon with the surname Niger, then Lucius of Cyrene, probably one of the disciples who first preached at Antioch, chap. 11:20. In the second group are mentioned Manaen, a man of some influence, having enjoyed the distinction of having been brought up with, educated together with, Herod Antipas, as some think, his foster-brother, and finally Saul. The order in which they are given shows the relative importance accorded them, as usual in the careful writing of Luke. While these men were serving the Lord in the ministry of the Word, in the teaching and praying of public worship, and also observing the custom of fasting which they had taken over from the Jewish regulations, but probably did not observe on the same day, choosing Wednesday and Friday rather than Monday and Thursday, the Holy Ghost gave them a charge. Either in a vision or by direct prophetic communication to the one or the other of these men He commanded that Barnabas and Saul should now be set aside, placed in a class by themselves, for the purpose of performing the work for which He had called them. Not only Saul, therefore, but also Barnabas had been selected by the Lord for some special work in the interest of His kingdom, for the proclamation of the Gospel among the Gentiles. The will of God having been thus revealed, the congregation held a solemn service of ordination. Having fasted in preparation for the event, they joined in urgent prayer that God would bless and prosper the two chosen servants in their work, and then laid their hands on them in token of blessing and of official appointment. This was the method of separating or delegating them for the office or service for which the Lord intended them. Note: On similar occasions, even in our days, if a man is separated for the ministry of the Word, or if a pastor is called to a new field, it is altogether proper and well-pleasing to God for those concerned in the movement, through their pastors or church officers, to lay their hands on them, and the custom of fasting, of making it a solemn occasion, is by no means to be despised. After this ceremony the two missionaries were sent away, dismissed, by the congregation. They were going forth as the delegates of the Church, as the representatives of the entire congregation, to proclaim the Gospel to the Gentiles. This fact is often lost sight of in our days, and consequently the feeling of responsibility for the missions of the Church is not so keen as it well might and should he. There is need for much improvement in this respect.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Subdivision 1. (Act 13:1-52; Act 14:1-28.)

Foundation principles.

The first subdivision here naturally comprises the account of the first mission from Antioch, constituted thus, instead of Jerusalem, the center of the new work. It gives us evidently the foundations laid by one who was a "wise master-builder," and with this the reception accorded to the grace proclaimed. This lies upon the surface; how much that must be underneath may the Spirit of God disclose to us as we take up what is here!

1. We have first the divine call, which must in some way be repeated, wherever profitable labor is to be done after this fashion. The Spirit of God is here pleased to make known to us that all the separation and guidance of the Lord’s servants and messengers is from Himself. How strange and incongruous is the thought of "ordination" which so attaches to it in the minds of many! For, in the first place, both Barnabas and Saul are expressly named among the "prophets and teachers" ministering to the Lord in Antioch at this time. They were not. then, to be ordained to such an office, who had already been a good while in it; and surely not by men who could not be supposed to be any way superior, if equal, to themselves! One would surely say that the idea of equals lifting equals to a higher position than themselves, and which after all was only the position they had held before; would be too contradictory to be entertained by any serious mind. But if not, this was no ordination to an office at all.

Again, there was only one degree higher than those of these prophets and teachers, and that was the apostle’s. Paul was an apostle, as all admit, in the fullest and most eminent way; but he distinctly declares himself (Gal 1:1) "an apostle; not of men, nor through man:" men neither called him, nor ministered in this in any way. It was not then to this that he and Barnabas were called at Antioch.

We are told, moreover, to what it was they were called: for, at the end of the special work to which in fact they immediately set out, they return to Antioch, and there it is added, "whence they had been committed to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled." It is as certain, therefore, as Scripture itself can make it, that the work in question was not an apostle’s, prophet’s, or teacher’s office, but simply an evangelistic mission to the needy fields of Asia Minor.

Indeed, by this separation of Saul and Barnabas from their number at the Spirit’s word, is only made more distinctly apparent that free and necessary work on His part which has been continually coming into more prominence in this book. He chooses, He sends; nothing is rightly done apart from this. Fit it was, the Spirit being come to take charge of all that should be done in the Name of Christ on earth, that this choice and will of the Spirit should now be emphasized in the strongest way. Judaism was a system of law, with a strong principle of succession in it; where in the most sacred things, as in the priesthood, son succeeded father; where the elders ruled as elders (though in this there was a right and necessary element, as has been said, and as we shall have more fully to see hereafter); the only exception to this (and it is a streak of blessed light through all the darkness of the history) is in the reservation of the prophet’s office in the hand of God alone. Elsewhere, with the succession of kings, priests, elders, the flesh came in to defile and mar in every shameful and terrible way possible; while the prophets, with God’s call and message; were the men of God in their several days. Each could say, after the pattern of Paul, "neither of men nor by man." Prophecy in this character of it, as has been already said, is of the very spirit of Christianity. It breathes of intercourse with God. And with God manifested in Christ, the sanctuary opened, who can wonder that the apostle should say, "I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied; for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues;" "covet spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy;" for "ye may all prophesy" (1Co 14:1; 1Co 14:5; 1Co 14:31).

In the shadow of Judaism, (as we see in the disastrous return to it, now for so many centuries,) succession -that is, dependence upon flesh and blood -comes in naturally everywhere. The simple rule of God -the conscience before Him alone -cannot be permitted. The prophet call, the prophet voice, -these have less room for them in such legal systems than in Judaism itself: naturally, again; for this is the veil reintroduced, and therefore darker than anything that God could ever have permitted. At the time to which we have come in the book before us, Christianity was coming into her proper freedom from the yoke of bondage, the last remains of the shadow passing from her spirit; and in the new freedom, that it might be freedom, the rule of God was to be recognized in its full and sweet reality. The Christian was "not in the flesh, but in the Spirit," which meant both of these two inseparable things. Thus, of necessity, in the highest department of Christian work, the rule of the Spirit must be above all emphasized. It was only the assertion of what was now to be the universal principle; but it is here expressed in a manner the most distinct; not by a Voice within the soul itself merely, but by one that demanded and obtained the obedience of the gathered company, -to which they openly set their seals; for the imposition of hands was the sign of identification and fellowship with those to whom the call was -with their obedience to it.

They were all in all seriousness of spirit waiting upon the Lord when the word came; and afterwards when they laid their hands upon them, prayer and fasting accompanied the action. But those who acted with this true and earnest interest assumed no authority in it: they "let them go" -not "sent them away." The "sending forth," as now directly said, was of the Spirit.*

{*While the names of the prophets and teachers are given, it is not to be inferred that the ministry and fasting were only by these, but rather that the whole assembly at Antioch was engaged. Some of the gifts are mentioned, and these were doubtless the channels of the Spirit’s communication, but on their return we find Paul and Barnabas gathering the whole assembly to rehearse the accomplishment of the work to which they had been committed (Act 14:26-27). It would thus seem that all was done with the fellowship of the entire assembly; and this seems to agree with the teaching as to the local assembly being the habitation of the Spirit. S.R.}

2. The journey through Cyprus has but one point in it upon which the historian dwells. Salamis is only mentioned to state that they announced the word of God there in the synagogues of the Jews. The rule, "to the Jew first," was observed in this case; nor have we any record of work among the Gentiles. Among the Jews also the fact of the preaching is not accompanied by any statement as to the effect; there may have been such; it would be natural, under such preachers, and on a mission directed by the Spirit of God, to reason that there must have been; but it is certain that it is only the fact that is given us here; and not its consequences. The Jew is still sought by divine grace, and sought in an especial manner also. The giving up of the nation as such does not mean any turning away of the offer of salvation from them. The first step upon the road here makes plain that the love that has been with them seeks them still. The breach is upon their side; not on His.

This seems to connect morally with the account which is now given of the Jew at Paphos; scarcely a Jew indeed, one would say, so perverted, heathenized, demonized, is he. All the more, however, is he the true picture of the Jew, or of Judaism, fallen by opposition to Christ into the power of the enemy, and then becoming the most virulent of foes. Such is this Bar Jesus, with his fair name and his practice of occult arts, false prophet through and through. He is the worst hindrance to the Gentile inquirer, stout refuser of salvation on his own account; and that, whether outside the professing church, or (as he will be by-and-by) within it. He is to be the great antagonist of Paul all through, bringing him at last into the Roman prison, in which for so many generations he was shut up; for without the Jew the Roman could have done little.

Plainly, it is not the opposition of the moment at which we are looking here, but something far deeper and more lasting; -lasting until the "mist and darkness," come upon the Jew for his opposition to the truth, shall pass away, in the dawn of a day beyond the present. Bar Jesus, living reality as he was, is nevertheless a type of something far more enduring than himself, and to us all more important. It will be good for us to stand still a little; and contemplate that to which our attention is here by the Spirit of God pointed, -the universal foe of the grace of the gospel.

"God gave man the law." This, which is almost the universal cry (hardly accurate as it is), is an argument which no one can contest, and which, it is thought, makes it really heresy to take seriously what Paul says about a Christian being "dead" to it. You may put in a word, and say, "dead to the (ceremonial) law." Then it will be all right to say so. But unfortunately the apostle, no matter what his apologists may invent for him, will not permit this. For the law of which he is speaking in the very place in which he says this (Rom 7:4-7), is at any rate that which said, Thou shalt not covet," the last commandment graved upon those tables of stone shown, it is argued, by their very material to be absolutely permanent.

If this be true; then, as undoubtedly the Jew thought, he has certainly matter of contention with Paul about it. But the Jew went further than this, and upon the same warrant of "This do and thou shalt live," denied Paul’s whole gospel of "righteousness without works" (Rom 4:6), spite of his testimonies from Abraham and David. We shall find all this carefully gone through in the epistles, and we have no intention of taking it up here; but here is the fundamental controversy through the Christian centuries, within, more than with those outside the profession. Ritualism, Romanism, (how much more than these!) are just Judaism come into Christianity; but yet not purely that, -not Judaism as God gave it, -but with an element introduced which is of the enemy. Judaism was not an enemy to the truth of God; the law was a handmaid -Hagar. It pointed to Christ its end and fulfilment, not only in its types, but also by its own manifest incompetence to bring to God. Its "ministration" was of death and condemnation, with the veil before the face of God! The word from His lips was "None can see Me and live." Thus the finger of hope could only point forward to the "new covenant," which in the mere announcement of it made the first old (Heb 8:13). But in the new ritualism of Rome and of her daughters, while the shadows of Judaism are darker than of old, no finger is found pointing beyond itself, -no glory of Christ illumines them. He is come and gone; and has left still a closed up sanctuary, and a gospel of doubt! The glory is still in the face of Moses; the veil is upon His own! But this is Judaism with its heart dead within it, and the light that plays over it weird, fantastic, demonic. Its mysteries are magic; the power it craves oppressive, not protective; its yoke is tyrannous, and its burden heavy. It is Elymas the sorcerer, courting the powers of the world, and opposing the gospel of grace in the apostle. It is Paul of all men whom this does oppose.

The conflict with the Jew manifests Saul as Paul, the name which he henceforth retains. The contrast between the two is such as could not escape notice. Saul, the man of Benjamin, necessarily brings up the figure of that other Saul, the king of men, such as the people "asked," head and shoulders above the common stature, in contrast with Paul, the "little," the man "less than the least of all saints," and only the chief of sinners. But this is he who can now be "strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus," "a good soldier of Jesus Christ." Paul is the fittest name possible for the man who is to be taken into the third heaven, and lead us into the open sanctuary, and present us "perfect in Christ Jesus."

It is not from the converted Sergius that Paul derives his name, the most unlikely thing possible for one so free from all human dependence. While, at the same time, it is quite in keeping with all else here that the man who escapes from the snare of the Jew should be also a Paul -a "little" one. "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the Kingdom of heaven." In Scripture, while the history is ever truth, the fullest reason of things is always the spiritual one; for He who is Infinite Wisdom governs all, and with an absolute control of all material, which if we accredited it, and realized the service of love in which it is made to work, we should see the glory of God indeed.

Upon the opposers of truth the mist and darkness of error must surely settle down. Woe to him who resists at any point the light of God! It is by the cover of darkness alone that he can do it; and he who shuts his eyes to any part of truth will find that he can make no terms with the error to which he surrenders. In the purport of his act he shuts out everything; and it is only the mercy of God which can put limit to the terms of an absolute surrender to the "authority of darkness."

3. The conflict at Paphos is thus but a typical introduction to what follows it; in which we are now to find what the reception of the gospel of Christ will be in a world so needy of it, so ignorant of its need. The conversion of the proconsul is all that we hear of in this way in Paphos; for we have not all that took place; but all that the Spirit of God saw fit to communicate. Cyprus is now left behind, and "Paul and his company" cross over to the mainland, to Perga in Pamphylia, on their onward way. There John their assistant leaves, when the work is just beginning, and returns to Jerusalem. With the general reticence of Scripture in such matters, we are told nothing of his motives. We may inter, as it is usual to do, and as the point at which he leaves and his return home naturally would indicate, that the difficulties of the way were making themselves felt with one whose strength was not sufficiently in God for the demand. The path of faith will surely be too severe a test for all that is not faith; and all may not be faith that at first seems so. Faith is strengthened in the path, and does not fail because of difficulties which it supposes, and by which it is exercised: but the unreal is sifted out, and the true state of things is made apparent. Not that there was not reality in John, as we realize in his recovery afterwards. He needed, no doubt, the lesson, to learn which Paul’s faithfulness also might be requisite, when again he offered himself for what he failed in now. How good when we truly learn by our failures the way not to fail! A different thing, indeed, from the constant failure to which so many seem only to become habituated, and easily plead their weakness, as if they found no more strength in God than in themselves.*

{*May there not be a suggestion too that Mark shrunk from the evident tendency to reach Gentiles? This is the theme of this part of the book, and the mention of his return to Jerusalem is significant. S.R.}

With the sorrow of this defection on them, the travelers pass on from Perga; and next we hear of them at Antioch in Pisidia, where we have the proclamation of Paul’s gospel, in a way that "stands over against" the proclamation to the Jews by Peter at Jerusalem. Antioch of Pisidia ("the well-watered plains?") may give us a hint of this, as the other Antioch (of Syria -Aram, the "high" or "exalted") has been seen to "stand over against" Jerusalem in another respect. The address here is indeed to Israelites, and in the synagogue also, but taking in the proselytes in a distinct way, too, -"ye that fear God." The announcement, besides, of justification for every one who believeth in Jesus gathers in the Gentiles in numbers the next sabbath, inflaming, alas! the jealousy of the Jews. As a consequence of this, the turning to the Gentiles is definitely announced. Peter declares forgiveness of sins to those who repent and are baptized. Paul, justification in Christ for the believer. No apostle except Paul in terms declares this; although John here; as in other ways, comes nearest to him; indeed, the difference in this respect is scarcely more than verbal. The bold assurance as to the impotence of Moses, law, in the face of the synagogue, is characteristic of Paul.

The apostle begins by reminding them how God had brought Israel out of Egypt, and planted them in the land. After this, while through their sins the time was indeed disastrous, He had raised them up judges to the end of about 450 years, till Samuel -another memorable deliverance. There was more disaster, for the people would have a king; but here also, after forty years of trial, God over-topped their failure with the gift of one after His own heart; with him the promise of a Saviour in his line. There was then a weary interval, which for his purpose the speaker can pass over; at last, after a needed baptism of repentance proclaimed to Israel, the Saviour came. All had known John; and he had borne public witness to the coming after him of One with regard to whom he was not worthy to do a menial’s office. His salvation whom John had heralded was now being declared to the residents at Antioch.

A strange story indeed, of a smitten and slain Saviour! slain in accordance with their prophecies, by a people who refused the testimony of the prophets. Causelessly slain, yet His death had broken the bonds of death, and God had raised Him in an exceptional manner from among the dead: a thing borne witness to by many witnesses.

The apostle had testimony of his own which he could have added, as we know; but he prefers to make his appeal to what they had in their hand, the Scriptures which, thank God, are in our hand also. He appeals to three special texts as to the fulfilment of this promise.

The first is the second psalm, to which Peter also had appealed. God had owned a Man on earth -His anointed King on Zion -as His begotten Son. This was the claim which, as made by Jesus, the scribes so stoutly resisted. That any man should dare; in that sense, to call God his Father, was in itself, whatever he might offer in proof, incredible and monstrous. All His glorious works were nullified by this claim. Yet there it was, upon the face of their own scriptures, true certainly as to

some Man: so that, if He had not claimed it, He could not have been the Christ of God! Thus the very objection that they made was proof rather for, than proof against Him. Jesus was in fact the One raised up of God to them in fulfilment of the promise. Did they but recall that psalm, -and how could an Israelite forget it? -they might see how the very controversy of Israel and of the kings of the earth with Him was recorded in it, -the vain attempt "against Jehovah and against His Christ." Did not He who sat in the heavens laugh? What could they do with Him they had safely guarded in His sepulchre? -with the Risen One whom they had helped so manifestly to proclaim? If they had His body, they had only to produce it, to quench all this joy that had so strangely arisen over the grave of a Crucified Man. But everywhere that Cross itself became a triumph! The Crucified had become glorified on earth; was it not the reflection of a brighter and heavenly glory?

The second psalm does not, however, speak of resurrection; for that the apostle adduces a singular text from Isaiah (Isa 55:3), "I will give you the sure (or faithful) mercies of David." These mercies, as every one knew, were to be in a Person (as the next verses also show), a Son of David, greater far than he. And of Him the sixteenth psalm, next quoted, plainly speaks. David it is; and yet was it fulfilled in David? Here was a Pious One; who on account of what He was, though His soul would be in hades, would not be suffered to see corruption in the grave. That was not true of David, as they all knew. Of One whom they could not deny to be the Son of David it was true. In Him those mercies were deposited in a way which rescued them from peril evermore.

The connection between the "mercies" and the "Pious" One is not seen in English. The words are really the same -and this both in Greek and Hebrew; and some would make them so in English, by translating, "Thy Merciful One;" but I do not take this to be the connection. It is not as being merciful that God could not suffer Him to see corruption: nor for anything that He is towards men. As "Thy Pious One" is undoubtedly a good translation, so it is one that suits the place in which we find it here. But the word used in relation to Jehovah, as in the first case, cannot mean this; we cannot speak of Jehovah’s "piety"; and here the alternative rendering as "mercies," "benefits," is evidently right. The word in Hebrew, in its radical meaning, speaks of affection abundant and ready to flow out, whether God ward or manward, and needing therefore to be variously expressed. In the One before us, the true David, or "Beloved," is found the abundant outflow in both directions; and here is the connection between the passages as far as this word is concerned. In the Mediator standing between God and man, both God and Man are found in full, ideal relationship. And it is in the Risen Man that this is clearly established, never to be disordered any more.

The effect is now that there is a gospel: "Through this Man is announced to you remission of sins;" and that in a complete way which not only witnesses mercy on God’s part, but righteousness, -as justification manifestly does. The wail of the Jobs of ancient time is answered, "How shall man be just with God?" though in a way transcending all ability on man’s side; for now God is just, and the Justifier of the ungodly, through faith in Jesus. The justification of a sinner -the righteousness of God put fully upon his side -in the only way in which it could possibly be accomplished, will be the wonder and delight of eternity. What indeed could Moses, law do in such a matter? It was only for sins done inadvertently that it provided (Lev 4:2; Lev 4:13; Lev 4:22; Lev 4:27); for any other it was incompetent. And if "without shedding of blood is no remission," "the blood of bulls and goats could not take away sins" (Heb 9:22, Heb 10:4-7). Of something beyond itself it was ever speaking; yea, of Him whose death for sinners was now an offence everywhere to the Jew.

The apostle adds the warning which the prophet had already given; or rather, God by him; an intimation not to be carried away by the unbelief of their leaders, -an unbelief so plainly foretold. Alas, it was soon to be seen that they needed the warning, and yet that it was to be, except to a remnant, given in vain!*

{*This address of Paul has something in common with that of Stephen, in that it is a historic summary. It differs from that however, and resembles Peter’s at Pentecost, in showing from Scripture the death and resurrection of Christ. S.R.}

4. The history of this follows; in which we see the pride of the Jew in his exclusive privileges making him refuse the most precious blessings, if he is to share them with the Gentile. The simple condition of faith which the gospel imposes sets the believing Gentile upon the same footing with the Jew; and on the next sabbath almost the whole city comes together to hear news like this. The sight of the multitudes stirs up the Jews to jealousy, and they contradict Paul with open railing. This in turn rouses the two evangelists to declare their express commission to the Gentiles; and that, since they who had been privileged to have the first invitation of divine grace had put it from them, they would turn to these. And again they produce the undeniable statement of the Word, that Christ was set to be a light to the nations, a salvation even to the end of the earth.

It is, in fact, to One whose labor has been in vain in Israel that God speaks after this manner (Isa 49:4-6). If Israel were not gathered, this even would be a small thing, compared with the work in which. He should be glorified, of wide blessing among the Gentiles. This shows it contemplated, at least, that there might be a time when Israel would reject while the Gentiles would receive Him. What serious question would not such a suggestion raise in the mind of a Jew! And these prophets were read continually in their synagogues! but unbelief gets through the plainest testimonies. The Gentiles are glad, however, and glorify the word of the Lord; and in the sovereign grace of God many believe; and the word of the Lord is carried abroad throughout all the country.

But an opposition is now roused, which follows the apostles through all their labors in these parts. Those who will not themselves receive the truth will not, if they can help it, suffer the truth to be received; and the Jews have influence enough with the Gentiles to turn them against those whom they hate for bringing blessing to the Gentiles! Such is man! So the bringers of good news are cast out for the news they bring; but the disciples are filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

5. The work at Iconium does not present much difference from that at Antioch; only that here a larger number of the Jews believe. The end is similar; the unbelieving Jews stir up the Gentiles, and the apostles have to flee. What is emphasized in the account given is certainly the help found in God, who links Himself to human weakness so as to make it "mighty through God." First, in the synagogue they "so spake that a great multitude of both Jews and Greeks believed." Here, spite of its being clearly the work of God to bring men to Himself, yet none the less is He pleased to give effect to the words of His people in such sort that it can be said, they so spake as to produce faith. There is a right fitting of words to such an end which must not be overlooked; a skill which only a wisdom begotten of love can enable with, and which disdains not diligence for the attainment of its ends, -"And because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he pondered and sought out, and set in order many proverbs. The preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written uprightly, even words of truth" (Ecc 12:9-10).

There are many who seem to think that the teaching of the Spirit of God should set aside all this. They speak slightingly of the "study" even of the word of God. They no longer cry after knowledge," nor "lift up the voice for understanding;" they do not "seek her as silver," nor "search for her as for hid treasures." Yet they doubt not to "understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God" (Pro 2:3-5). Without sowing of seed, they expect harvests, and that negligence now shall do the work of diligence, and find the blessing it has never sought.

But the man of God is to be furnished unto all good works; and from Scripture only is this furnishing. If we are to be "as new-born babes, desiring the sincere milk of the Word," how much does a new-born babe desire milk? Alas! the careless way in which the word of God is read today shows little of the teaching of the Spirit of God; and thus with each new wind of doctrine, the anchors of so many drag at once!

Here we are speaking rather of the ability to affect others; and for this the need of gift from God must not be forgotten. But the possession of whatever gift does not render one superior to the rules which are common to all Christians, and which are plain moral rules, every one. The servant serves with what the Christian has acquired; and this is a most important rule indeed! We acquire and prove in our own souls what we can then use for the souls of others; and the very fact that we are to serve others with it shows the need all have of it, and not servants only. There is no part of the word of God that is not intended for all the people of God; and we all learn as learners, not as teachers. Oh for the longing from the heart of every Christian for that which has all come from the heart of God for all His own!

Those so speak as to make men believe, who have themselves received with a living and joyous faith what they impart to others; and who impart it therefore, not according to the rules of an artificial pedagogy, but from such full hearts as alone can reach hearts.

So the apostles spake, and so the Iconians believed. But all the more it stirred the souls of some to faith, the more would it awaken opposition in the hearts of its rejectors. Again it was the Jews who evil affected the Gentiles towards the brethren, newly become such. Here too, however, the weak are with the Strong, who protects them and enables them to continue in the midst of the opposition, by means, perhaps, of the signs and wonders which He grants them to do, and of which at Antioch we hear nothing. They seem by no means, therefore, a necessary accompaniment of the gospel, but rather an occasional help, -in this case, seemingly, to quiet opposition, and make men realize with whom they had to do.

The city was divided; but at last a determined attack was to be made, -a combined attempt to stone them on the part of Jews and Gentiles both. Acting then upon the Lord’s words to the disciples, they flee to Lystra and Derbe, in the wilder parts of Lycaonia, and there pursue their work.

6. As at Iconium there was seen the power of Him who was with His word, so now at Lystra is demonstrated the fickleness of the multitude, who presently stone the man whom at first they would have worshiped as a god. The healing of the impotent man suggests the latter; yet is all incompetent to commend to the mass the blessed truth brought to them by the healer, which should have been its own commendation; while the tale of his traducers finds its way to the very bottom of their hearts! Both ways one touches boundaries here, but finds good nowhere. Men will idolize you, perhaps; for God has lost His place with them, and it is easily given to another. They will destroy their idol too, as easily. This is the creature, man, to whom nevertheless God has sent a message of infinite grace, the story of a work more wonderful than ever blessed before the ears that hear it; but over this he has the greatest difficulty! What but the power of the Spirit could one trust to make way for the gospel in a world like this?

Preserved from it at Iconium, Paul is permitted to be stoned at Lystra; how, amid it all, his mind must have gone back to Stephen! but that he should abide in the flesh was needful yet for many; and this, and not the wills of lawless men, governs all: while the disciples stand round him, he rises up, and returns into the city. "Fear would have said, Go anywhere else just now. Self would have said, Stay there, and see what a future triumph for the gospel! But the thoughts of man are in neither suggestion the mind of Christ; and this the apostle had and acted on." (W. Kelly.) "On the morrow he went away with Barnabas to Derbe."

7. The limit of their journey at the present time is now reached. At Derbe there are many disciples made, with no record of after-persecution; and thence they return to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, "confirming the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that through much tribulation we must enter into the kingdom of God." Such words for the mass seem idle now, though assuredly they should still have meaning. The lives of the speakers were in this case an illustration in full of what they declared, and it was not possible for any to dissent from a principle so manifest as these had made it.

Now for the first time we come to the appointment of elders in the assemblies; a class of officers of which we have heard hitherto only among the assemblies in Judea. Unless age and experience are to count for nothing in the affairs of the assembly, an eldership must naturally obtain recognition everywhere, practically if not formally; and in the Jewish assemblies it seems to have been simply a natural growth (1Pe 5:1; 1Pe 5:5), officialized by antique and patriarchal custom. Yet all would not be ready to take their part in the responsibilities implied, and many would become in different ways disqualified. The eldership would thus become more restricted than the term properly would argue for.

In the assembly also, in contradistinction from Judaism, all terms had a spiritual significance. The "babes, young men, and fathers" were spiritual grades primarily; even though by no means wholly severed from their natural representatives. Years would count, and yet not simply as time and nothing else. That would be true even in nature, that men might be older or younger than their age; but spiritually much greater and more significant would such disproportion be. Thus there would be disqualifications for eldership, and mainly moral, though not wholly. If any one examines the apostle’s qualifications of an overseer (which was the official status of the elder), as given in the first epistle to Timothy, he will easily discern the moral character on which all is based, and that it is that of the "father" (1Ti 3:1-7; comp. 1Ti 5:1). A specific gift was quite another matter; and though it might and should develop, no age or experience could communicate it. But it was just the experience of one spiritually a "father" which would enable him for oversight in the family of God.

In the case of the assemblies here, the apostles choose elders for them; they are not able, therefore, to do it for themselves: and this is confirmed by die express commission given to. Titus to appoint elders in those of Crete, as by the directions as to them given to Timothy; where the fact of his being at Ephesus, where there were already such (Act 20:17) makes their inability to appoint also as evident as that of the assembly. It was an office which apparently any might desire, and to which, therefore, one would say, all who had the needful qualifications might be appointed. The appointment conveyed an authority which the exercise of special gift did not require; that of the preacher or teacher being simply that of the word he ministered, and not of office.

Things being thus set in order in these young assemblies, with prayer and fasting they commended them to the Lord, in whom they had believed; and passing back along the road by which they had come, having reached the seacoast, sailed to Antioch. There they had been committed to the grace of God for the work now fulfilled; and there they related how God through them had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. There they remained no little time.

F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13:1-3 The prophets and teachers of the church at Antioch spent significant time in worship and prayer, earnestly seeking the Lord’s will as they fasted and opened themselves to divine direction. As they prayed, the Holy Spirit spoke to them, and they set apart Barnabas and Saul in clear recognition of God’s call for them to carry out a special work in his name. The believers’ inward journey in prayer and listening to God is matched by their outward journey in service, evangelism, and mighty works of healing and salvation.

13:1 prophets and teachers: See “The Gift of Prophecy” Theme Note; see also 1 Cor 12:28-29; Eph 4:11. • The name Simeon suggests a Jewish background (see Gen 29:33; Luke 2:25; 3:30); he is also called “the black man”—he was probably of African descent. • Lucius is a Latin name; he came from Cyrene, the capital of Libya in North Africa. He was probably one of the preachers from Cyrene who had brought the Christian message to Antioch (Acts 11:20). • Manaen had been brought up with King Herod Antipas; he was probably Luke’s source for insight into Antipas’s thoughts and actions (see Luke 9:7-9). • Barnabas and Saul are prominently featured in the subsequent narrative.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Act 13:1. Τὴν οὖσαν) which already was, and in a flourishing condition: ch. Act 11:20-27: and from which, therefore, teachers might be sent to the rest. Comp. ch. Act 15:35, “Paul also, and Barnabas, continued in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.”—προφῆται, prophets) eminent for their power in the Divine word, and who had a solid knowledge of Divine things, with the power of setting it forth.—Λούκοις, Lucius) The same name occurs, Rom 16:21.—Μαναὴν, Manaen) freed from the temptation of a court.—Σαῦλος, Saul) He had now for several years borne the apostleship: but among the veterans at Antioch, with remarkable modesty, he was content with the lowest place, as David even after his anointing fed sheep. Afterwards he was attached to Barnabas, and subsequently became superior to him: Act 13:9; Act 13:13. For some time, now the one, now the other is put first of the two: and Barnabas indeed is so in the public letter, ch. Act 15:25.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act_13:1. This mention and naming of the prophets and teachers is intended to indicate how rich Antioch was in prominent resources for the sending forth messengers of the gospel, which was now to take place. Thus the mother-church of Gentile Christianity had become the seminary of the mission to the Gentiles. The order of the persons named is, without doubt, such as it stood in the original document: hence Barnabas and Saul are separated; indeed, Barnabas is placed first (the arrangement appears to have been made according to seniority) and Saul last; it was only by his missionary labours now commencing that the latter acquired in point of fact his superiority.

κατὰ τὴν οὖσαν ἐκκλησίαν] with the existing church. ἐκεῖ is not to be supplied. Comp. Rom_13:1. This οὖσαν is retained from the original document; in connection with what has been already narrated, it is superfluous.

κατά, with, according to the conception of (here official) direction. Bernhardy, p. 240; Winer, p. 374 [E. T. 500].

προφῆται κ. διδάσκαλοι] as prophets (see on Act_11:27) and teachers (who did not speak in the state of apocalyptic inspiration, but communicated instruction in a regular and rational unfolding of doctrine, 1Co_12:28; Eph_4:11).

The five named are not to be regarded only as a part, but as the whole body of the prophets and teachers at Antioch, in keeping with the idea of the selection which the Spirit designed. To what individuals the predicates prophet or teacher respectively belong, is not, indeed, expressly said; but if, as is probable in itself and in accordance with Act_4:36, the prophets are mentioned first and then the teachers, the three first named are to be considered as prophets, and the other two as teachers. This division is indicated by the position of the particles: (1) τέ … καί … καί; (2) τέ … καί. Comp. Kühner, ad Xen. Mem. ii. 3. 19; Baeumlein, Partik. p. 219 f.

That the prophets of the passage before us, particularly Symeon and Lucius, were included among those mentioned in Act_11:27, is improbable, inasmuch as Agabus is not here named again. Those prophets, doubtless, soon returned to Jerusalem.

Concerning Simeon with the Roman name Niger (Sueton. Aug. 11, al.), and Lucius of Cyrene (Rom_16:21?), who is not identical with the evangelist Luke, nothing further is known. The same is also the case with Menahem (מְנַחֵם), who had been σύντροφος of the tetrarch Herod, i.e. of Antipas; see Walch, de Menachemo συντρόφῳ Herodis, Jen. 1758. But whether σύντροφος is, with the Vulgate, Cornelius a Lapide, Walch, Heumann, Kuinoel, Olshausen, and others, to be understood as foster-brother (conlactaneus, comp. Xen. Eph. ii. 3), so that Menahems mother was Herods nurse; or, with Erasmus, Luther, Calvin, Grotius, Raphel, Wolf, Heinrichs, Baumgarten, Ewald, and others, brought up with, contubernalis,cannot be determined, as either may be expressed by the word (see Wetstein and Kuinoel). The latter meaning, however (comp. 1Ma_1:6; 2Ma_9:29; and see, in general, Jacobs, ad Anthol. XI. p. 38), makes the later Christian position of Menahem the more remarkable, in that he appears to have been brought up at the court of Herod the Great. At all events he was already an old man, and had become a Christian earlier than Saul, who is placed after him.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 13:1 . κατὰ τὴν οὖσας ἐκκ .: the word οὖσαν may well be used here, as the participle of εἰμί is often used in Acts to introduce some technical phrase, or some term marked out as having a technical force, cf. Act 5:17 , Act 14:13 , Act 28:17 , so that a new stage in the history of the Christians at Antioch is marked no longer a mere congregation, but “the Church that was there” (Ramsay, Church in the R. E. , p. 52). So also Weiss, in loco ; οὖσαν stands in contrast to Act 11:21-26 : there was no longer a mere company of believers at Antioch, but a Church. ἐν Ἀ .: Blass maintains that the order of words as compared with the mention of the Church in Jerusalem, Act 11:22 , emphasises the fact that Antioch is the starting-point of the succeeding missionary enterprise, and is named first, and so distinctively set before men’s eyes. προφῆται καὶ διδάσκαλοι , see above on Act 11:27 . From 1Co 12:28 it would seem that in Corinth at all events not all teachers were prophets, although in a sense all prophets were teachers, in so far as they edified the Church. The two gifts might be united in the same person as in Paul himself, Gal 2:2 , 2Co 12:1 (Zöckler). In Eph 4:11 , as in 1Co 12:28 , Apostles stand first in the Church, Prophets next, and after them Teachers. But whilst it is quite possible to regard the account of the gift of προφητεία in 1 Corinthians 12-14 as expressing “inspiration” rather than “official character,” this does not detract from the pre-eminent honour and importance assigned to the prophets and teachers at Antioch. Their position is such and their powers are such in the description before us that they might fairly be described as “presbyters,” whose official position was enhanced by the possession of a special gift, “the prophecy” of the New Testament, “presbyters” who like those in 1Ti 5:17 might also be described as κοπιῶντες ἐν διδασκαλίᾳ , Moberly, Ministerial Priesthood , pp. 159, 160, 166, 208. See further on the relation of the prophets and teachers in the Didaché “Church,” Hastings’ B.D., i. 436, Bigg, Doctrine of the Twelve Apostles , p. 27; and on the relation of prophecy and teaching in the N.T., McGiffert, Apostolic Age , p. 528, Zöckler, in loco . τε … καὶ : a difficulty arises as to the force of these particles. It is urged that two groups are thus represented, the first three names forming one group (prophets), and the last two another group (teachers), so Ramsay (p. 65), Weiss, Holtzmann, Zöckler, Harnack, Knabenbauer, and amongst older commentators Meyer and Alford; but on the other hand Wendt, so Nösgen, Felten, Hilgenfeld think that there is no such separation intended, as Paul himself later claims the prophetic gift (1Co 14:6 ), to which Zöckler would reply that at this time Paul might well be described as a teacher, his prophetic gift being more developed at a later date. Amongst recent English writers both Hort and Gore regard the term “prophets and teachers” as applying to all the five (so Page). Συμεὼν : nothing is known of him. Spitta would identify him with Simon of Cyrene, Mat 27:32 , but the epithet Niger may have been given to distinguish him from others of the same name, and possibly from the Simon to whom Spitta refers. Λούκιος ὁ Κ .: Zöckler describes as “quite absurd” the attempt to identify him with Luke of the Acts. The names are quite different, and the identification has been supported on the ground that Cyrene was a famous school of medicine. This Lucius may have been one of the men of Cyrene, Act 11:20 , who first preached the Gospel at Antioch. Others have proposed to identify him with the Lucius of Rom 16:21 . Μαναήν : of the three names, as distinct from Barnabas and Paul, Blass says ignoti reliqui , and we cannot say more than this. For although Mark is described as σύντροφος of Herod the Tetrarch (Antipas), the description is still very indefinite. A.V. “brought up with,” R.V. “foster-brother,” collactaneus , Vulgate. For an ingenious study on the name and the man see Plumptre, in loco, cf. also Wetstein and Zöckler. The name occurs in Mal 1:6Mal 1:6 , but the reading must apparently give place to συνέκτροφοι . It is also found in 2Ma 9:29 , and once in the N.T. in the present passage. Deissmann, from the evidence of the inscriptions, regards it as a court title, and quotes amongst other places an inscription in Delos of the first half of the second century B.C., where Heliodorus is described as σύντροφος τοῦ βασιλέως Σελεύκου φιλοπάτορος . So Manaen also might be described as a confidential friend of Herod Antipas, Bibelstudien , pp. 173, 178 181. Σαῦλος , placed last probably because the others were older members of the Church. The position certainly does not mark the list as unhistorical; if the account came from the Apostle himself, the lowest place was eminently characteristic of him.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 13:1-12. BEGINNING OF SAUL’S FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY. HE VISITS CYPRUS

1. τινες omitted with אABD. Unrepresented in Vulg.

1. ἦσαν δὲ ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ κατὰ τὴν οὖσαν ἐκκλησίαν, now there were at Antioch in the Church which was there.

We now come to the history of those three great journeys which the Apostle of the Gentiles undertook in his special work. It is fitting that the point of departure should be Antioch, the city in which Gentiles had first in large numbers been joined to the Church, and where as yet there had risen no difficulty about the way in which they were received.

προφῆται καὶ διδάσκαλοι, prophets and teachers. Cf. Act 2:17. The words of Joel were now to receive a wider fulfilment.

We see from the ‘Teaching of the Twelve Apostles,’ chap. 13 that these two classes of instructors became recognized in the Church, πᾶς δὲ προφήτης ἀληθινός, θέλων καθῆσαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ἄξιός ἐστι τῆς τροφῆς αὐτοῦ, ὡς αὔτως διδάσκαλος άληθινός ἐστιν ἄξιος καὶ αὐτός, ὥσπερ ὁ ἐργάης, τῆς τροφῆς αὐτοῦ.

Συμεὼν ὁ καλούμενος Νίγερ, Simeon that was called Niger. The first name points out the man as of Jewish origin, and the second is a Latin adjective = black, which may have been assumed, or given to him, as a name from his dark complexion. Jews were, and are still, in the habit of having another name beside their national one, for use when they mixed among foreign nations.

Λούκιος ὁ Κυρηναῖος, Lucius of Cyrene. This name is Latin, though his birthplace or home may indicate that he was one of the Jews who abounded in Cyrene and other parts of northern Africa. Perhaps he is the person mentioned Rom 16:21.

Μαναήν, Manaen, i.e. Menahem. The name is Jewish, and is found in Josephus (Ant. xv. 10. 5) as the name of an Essene who foretold that Herod the Great would become king. It may well be that the name became, when the prophecy had received its fulfilment, a favourite one among those who were attached to or favoured the rulers of the Herodian family.

Ἡρώδου τοῦ τετράρχου σύντροφος, the foster-brother of Herod the tetrarch. The Vulg. gives ‘collectaneus.’ Herod the tetrarch (Antipas) had a brother Archelaus by the same mother. Manaen would hardly be said to have ‘been brought up with’ (as A.V.) one brother and not with the other.

The various connections and nationalities of the men who are here named are worthy to be noticed when we reflect on the work which was to have its beginning from Antioch. One a Cypriote, another a Cyrenian, another a Jew, but from his double name accustomed to mix among non-Jews, one a connection of the Idumean house of Herod, and Saul, the heaven-appointed Apostle of the Gentiles,—the list may be deemed in some sort typical of ‘all the world,’ into which the Gospel was now to go forth.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Chap.

13:1-14:28.] First missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas. Henceforward the history follows Saul (or Paul, as he is now (ver. 9) and from this time denominated), his ministry, and the events of his life, to the exclusion (with the sole exception of the council in ch. 15) of all the other Apostles.

13:1.] The τινες of the rec. has been interpolated, to make it appear that the persons mentioned were not the only prophets and teachers at Antioch. The enumeration is probably inserted on account of the solemnity of the incident about to be related, that it might be known who they were, to whom the Holy Spirit entrusted so weighty a commission. That those enumerated were all then present, is implied by the τε … καί: see ch. 1:13.

προφῆται] See on ch. 11:27.

διδάσκ.] Those who had the χάρισμα διδασκαλίας, see 1Co 12:28; Eph 4:11. They were probably less immediately the organs of the Holy Spirit than the προφῆται, but under His continual guidance in the gradual and progressive work of teaching the Word (see Neander, Pfl. u. L. p. 58).

Συμεὼν ὁ καλ. Νίγερ] Nothing is known of him. From his appellation of Niger, he may have been an African proselyte.

Λούκιος] A Lucius, probably the same person, is mentioned Rom 16:21 as a συγγενής of Paul. There is no reason to suppose him the same with Λουκᾶς (Lucanus),—but the contrary; for why should Paul in this case use two different names? See Col 4:14; 2Ti 4:11; Phm 1:24 Wetstein, believing them to be the same, quotes Herodotus, iii. 131, πρῶτοι μὲν Κροτωνιῆται ἰητροὶ ἐλέγοντο ἀνὰ τὴν Ἑλλάδα εἶναι, δεύτεροι δὲ Κυρηναῖοι, which certainly is curious enough.

Μαναήν] The same name with Menahem (Μαναήμ or -ην LXX) the king of Israel, 2Ki 15:14. A certain Essene, of this name, foretold to Herod the Great, when a boy going to school, that he should be king of the Jews (Jos. Antt. xv. 10. 5). And in consequence, when he came to the throne, he honoured Manaen, and πάντας ἀπʼ ἐκείνου τοὺς Ἐσσηνοὺς τιμῶν διετέλει. It is then not improbable that this Manaen may have been a son of that one: but see below. The Herod here meant was Antipas, who with his brother Archelaus (both sons of Herod the Great by Malthace a Samaritan woman, see Mat 14:1, note) παρά τινι ἰδιώτῃ τροφὰς εἶχον ἐπὶ Ῥώμης, Antt. xvii. 1. 3. Both were at this time exiles, Antipas at Lyons, Archelaus at Vienne.

σύντροφος] Probably ‘collactaneus’ (Vulg.), foster-brother; not, ‘brought up with,’ for, if he had been brought up with Antipas, he would also have been with Archelaus: see above.

In this case, his mother may have called her infant by the name of the person who had brought the Essenes into favour with Herod, and no relationship with that person need have existed.

Σαῦλος] mentioned last, perhaps because the prophets are placed first, and he was not one, but a teacher: or it may be, that he himself furnished the account. This circumstance, which has been objected to by some as invalidating the accuracy of the account, is in fact an interesting confirmation of it, as being eminently characteristic of him who spoke as in 1Co 15:9; 2Co 12:6; Eph 3:8. See Baumgarten’s striking remarks on this, vol. ii. p. 7 ff. From the arrangement of the copulæ, it would seem as if Barnabas, Symeon, and Lucius were prophets,—Manaen and Saul, teachers.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The same was Antipas, which put John Baptist to death.

Paul with Barnabas is again the second time appointed Apostle of the Gentiles, not of man, neither by man, but by an extraordinary commandment of the holy Ghost.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

CHAPTER XIII.

Of the prophets and teachers in the Church of Antioch, 1.

By command of the Holy Spirit the Church appoints Saul and

Barnabas to a particular work, 2, 3.

They depart, and travel to Seleucia, Cyprus, and Salamis,

preaching in the Jewish synagogues, 4, 5.

At Paphos they meet with Bar-Jesus or Elymas, a Jewish

sorcerer, who endeavoured to prevent the deputy of the island

from receiving the Christian faith, 6-8.

Saul, for the first time called Paul, denounces the judgments

of God upon him, and he is struck blind, 9-11.

The deputy, seeing this, is confirmed tn the faith, 12.

Paul and his company leave Paphos, and come to Pamphylia,

where John Mark leaves them, and returns to Jerusalem, 13.

Paul and Barnabas proceed to Antioch; and, coming into a

synagogue of the Jews, are requested by the rulers of it to

preach to the people, 14,15.

Paul preaches, and proves that Jesus is the Christ, 16-41.

The Gentiles desire the sermon to be preached to them the next

Sabbath, and many of the Jews and proselytes receive the

Christian faith, 42, 43.

The next Sabbath the whole city attend; and the Jews, filled

with envy, contradict and blaspheme, 44, 45.

Paul and Barnabas with great boldness show that, by the order

of God, the Gospel was to be preached first to them; but,

seeing they had rejected it, it should now be taken from them,

and sent to the Gentiles, 46, 47.

The Gentiles rejoice and receive the truth, 48, 49.

The Jews raise a persecution against the apostles, and expel

them, 50.

They come to Iconium, full of joy and the Holy Ghost, 51, 52.

NOTES ON CHAP. XIII.

Verse 1. Certain prophets and teachers] προφηται και διδασκαλοι. It is probable that these were not distinct offices; both might be vested in the same persons. By prophets we are to understand, when the word is taken simply, persons who were frequently inspired to predict future events, and by teachers, persons whose ordinary office was to instruct the people in the Christian doctrine. These also, to be properly qualified for the office, must have been endued with the influence of the Holy Spirit; for, as but a very small portion of the Scriptures of the New Testament could have as yet been given, it was necessary that the teachers should derive much of their own teaching by immediate revelation from God. On prophets and teachers, see the note on Ac 11:27.

Barnabas] Of whom see before, Ac 11:22-24.

Simeon-Niger] Or Simeon the Black, either because of his complexion, or his hair. It was on reasons of this kind that surnames, surnoms, name upon name were first imposed. Of this Simeon nothing farther is known.

Lucius of Cyrene] See Ac 11:20.

Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod] Our margin has given the proper meaning of the original word συντροφος, a foster-brother; i.e. Manaen was the son of the woman who nursed Herod Antipas; and the son, also, whose milk the young Herod shared. Of a person whose name was Manaen or Menahem, and who was in the court of Herod, we read several things in the Jewish writers. They say that this man had the gift of prophecy, and that he told Herod, when he was but a child, that he would be king. When Herod became king he sent for him to his court, and held him in great estimation. It might have been the son of this Menahem of whom St. Luke here speaks. Dr. Lightfoot has shown this to be at least possible.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Here followeth an history, not only worthy to be remembered, but also very profitable to be known, how Paul was appointed the teacher of the Gentiles; for his calling was, as it were, a key whereby God opened to us the kingdom of heaven. We know that the covenant of eternal life was properly concluded with the Jews, so that we had nothing to do with God’s inheritance, forasmuch as we were strangers, (Ephesians 2:12;) and the wall of separation was between, which did distinguish those of the household from strangers. Therefore it had profited us nothing, that Christ brought salvation unto the world, unless, the disagreement being taken away, there had been some entrance made for us into the Church. The apostles had already received commandment touching the preaching of the gospel throughout the whole world, (Mark 16:16,) but they had kept themselves until this time within the borders of Judea. When Peter was sent to Cornelius, it was a thing so new and strange, that it was almost counted a monster, [prodigy.] Secondly, that might seem to be a privilege granted to a few men extraordinarily; but now, forasmuch as God doth plainly and openly appoint Paul and Barnabas to be apostles of the Gentiles, by this means he maketh them equal with the Jews; that the gospel may begin to be common as well to the one as to the other. And now the wall of separation is taken away, that both those who were far off and those which were nigh hand may be reconciled to God; and that being gathered under one head, they may grow together to be one body. Therefore Paul’s calling ought to be of no less weight amongst us, than if God should cry from heaven in the hearing of all men, that the salvation, promised in times past to Abraham, and to the seed of Abraham, (Genesis 22:17) doth no less appertain unto us at this day, than if we had come out of the loins of Abraham. For this cause is it that Paul laboreth so much in defense and avouching of his calling, (Galatians 1:17, 12-24;) that the Gentiles may assuredly persuade themselves that the doctrine of the gospel was not brought to them by chance, neither by man’s rashness, but, first, by the wonderful counsel of God; secondly, by express commandment, whilst that he made that known to men which he had decreed with himself.

1 There were in the church. I have declared in the fourth to the Ephesians, (Ephesians 4:11) and in the twelfth of the First to the Corinthians, (1 Corinthians 12:28,) what difference there is (at least in my judgment) between doctors and prophets. It may be that they are in this place synonyma, [synonymous,] (or that they signify both one thing,) so that this is Luke’s meaning, that there were many men in that church endowed with singular grace of the Spirit to teach. Surely I cannot see how it can hang together, to understand by prophets those which were endowed with the gift of foretelling things; but I think rather that it signifieth excellent interpreters of Scripture. And such had the office to teach and exhort, as Paul doth testify in the fourteenth of the First to the Corinthians, (1 Corinthians 45:37.) We must mark Luke’s drift: Paul and Barnabas were ministers of the church of Antioch; God calleth them thence now unto another place. Lest any man should think that that church was destitute of good and fit ministers, so that God did provide for other churches with the loss of it, Luke preventeth this, and saith, that there was such store there, that though it did help others, yet did there remain sufficient for the use thereof; whereby appeareth how plentifully God had poured out his grace upon the Church, whence rivers, as it were, might be deducted and carried into diverse places.

So even in our time God doth so enrich certain churches more than others, that they be seminaries to spread abroad the doctrine of the gospel. It must needs be that Manaen, who was brought up with Herod, came of some noble family. And this doth Luke recite of purpose that he may set forth to us his godliness who, despising worldly pomp, had coupled himself to the simple and despised flock of Christ. He might, indeed, have been a principal courtier if he had been ruled by ambition; but that he may wholly addict himself to Christ, he refuseth not to change those smokes of honor with [for] reproach and ignominy. For if we consider in what state the Church stood then, he could not give his name to the gospel, unless he should make himself subject to common infamy. Therefore the Lord meant to teach us, by his example, to despise the world, that those may learn with a valiant and lofty mind to despise the world, who cannot otherwise be true Christians, unless they cast away those things which are precious to the flesh, as hurtful lets and hindrances.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

XIII.

(1) Now there were in the church that was at Antioch.—The fulness of detail in this narrative suggests the inference that the writer was himself at Antioch at this period.

Certain prophets and teachers.—The two were not necessarily identical, though the higher gift of prophecy commonly included the lower gift of teaching. The former implies a more direct message from God, coming from the Holy Ghost; the latter a more systematic instruction, in which reason and reflection bore their part.

Simeon that was called Niger.—The name seems to indicate the swarth-complexion of Africa; but nothing more is known of him. The epithet was given to him, probably, to distinguish him from the many others of the same name, possibly, in particular, from Simon of Cyrene. (See Note on Act_11:20.)

Lucius of Cyrene.—Probably one of the company of “men of Cyprus and Cyrene” (Act_11:20) who had been among the first evangelists of Antioch. On the ground that Cyrene was famous for its School of Medicine, some writers have identified him with the author of the Acts, but the two names Lucius and Lucas are radically distinct, the latter being contracted for Lucanus.

Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch.—Literally, the foster-brother of Herod. Here we enter on a name that has historical associations of some interest. In the early youth of Herod the Great, his future greatness had been foretold by an Essene prophet of the name of Menahem or Manaen (Jos. Ant. xv. 10, § 5). When the prediction was fulfilled, he sought to show honour to the prophet. The identity of name makes it probable that the man who now meets us was the son, or grandson, of the Essene, and that Herod had had him brought up with Antipas as a mark of his favour. Both Antipas and Archelaus were educated at Rome, and Manaen may therefore have accompanied them thither. By what steps he was led to believe in Jesus as the Christ, we can only conjecture; but it seems probable that the austere type of life, so closely resembling that of the Essenes, which was presented by the Baptist, may have impressed him, as he was living in the court of his early companion, and that, through him, he may have been led on to the higher truth, and, in due time, after the Day of Pentecost, have become a sharer in the prophetic gift. The fact that Herod the Great had adorned the city of Antioch with a long and stately colonnade may, perhaps, have given him a certain degree of influence there.

And Saul.—The position of Saul’s name at the end of the list seems to indicate that it was copied from one which had been made before he had become the most prominent of the whole company of the prophets.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

25 And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their ministry, and took with them John, whose surname was Mark.

1 Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

Ver. 1. Now there were, &c.] Bishop Ridley expounded the Acts and Paul’s Epistles every morning in his family, giving to every man a New Testament, hiring them besides with money to learn by heart certain principal chapters, but especially this thirteenth chapter of the Acts.

Herod’s foster brother] Puer collactaneus, συντροφος, one that had sucked of the same milk with Herod Antipas, who beheaded the Baptist. The love of foster brothers in Ireland (saith Camden) far surpasseth all the loves of all men. But Manaen hated all for Christ.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The church that was at Antioch - See the notes on Act 11:20.

Certain prophets - See the notes on Act 11:27.

And teachers - Teachers are several times mentioned in the New Testament as an order of ministers, 1Co 12:28-29; Eph 4:11; 2Pe 2:1. Their precise rank and duty are not known. It is probable that those mentioned here as prophets were the same persons as the teachers. They might discharge both offices, predicting future events, and instructing the people.

As Barnabas - Barnabas was a preacher Act 4:35-36; Act 9:27; Act 11:22, Act 11:26; and it is not improbable that the names “prophets and teachers” here simply designate the preachers of the gospel.

Simeon that was called Niger - “Niger” is a Latin name meaning “black.” Why the name was given is not known. Nothing more is known of him than is mentioned here.

Lucius of Cyrene - Cyrene was in Africa. See the notes on Mat 27:32. Lucius is afterward mentioned as with the apostle Paul when he wrote the Epistle to the Romans, Rev 16:21.

And Manaen - He is not mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament.

Which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch - Herod Antipas, not Herod Agrippa. Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, Luk 3:1. The word translated here as “which had been brought up,” σύντροφος suntrophos, denotes “one who is educated or nourished at the same time with another.” It is not used elsewhere in the New Testament. He might have been connected with the royal family, and, being nearly of the same age, was educated by the father of Herod Antipas with him. He was, therefore, a man of rank and education, and his conversion shows that the gospel was not confined entirely in its influence to the poor.

And Saul - Saul was an apostle; and yet he is mentioned here among the “prophets and teachers,” showing that these words denote “ministers of the gospel” in general, without reference to any particular order or rank.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Manahen ... foster-brother to Herod, or nursed with the same milk. (Witham) --- It would appear from his having been brought up with Herod, that he was of noble parentage. He is likewise believed to have been one of the seventy-two disciples. The Latins keep his feast on the 24th of May. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The church that was at Antioch; the true church, which hath a being, and whose Builder and Maker is God. Other churches (as that of the circumcision) are no churches or congregations of the faithful.

Prophets and teachers; these two offices might be in the same person, as he that had the gift of prophecy, and could foretell things to come, might be a teacher to instruct the people; but yet they were frequently appertaining to several persons, one excelling in one gift, another in another.

Simeon that was called Niger; this Simeon is thus distinguished from Simon Peter, and from Simon the Canaanite, this name of Niger being given him by the Romans.

Lucius; this hath been thought the name of Luke, it being more after the Latin termination; and that it might be he that wrote the Gospel called by his name, and this book of the Acts. However, we meet with this name, Rom 16:21; and St. Paul sends salutation unto him that was so called.

Of Cyrene; born at a place so called, or brought up in the synagogue of the Cyrenians; of which, Act 6:9.

Either this Manaen was Herod’s foster brother, or had the same tutors and instructors with him, their education being together.

This Herod was Herod Antipas, who set at nought our Saviour, and killed the Baptist.

And yet Manaen, as another Moses, kept his integrity in that Pharaoh’s court; and, as Moses, he choose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, Heb 11:25. Thus there was an Obadiah in Ahab’s house, 1Ki 18:3, and divers believe in Nero’s family, Phi 4:22.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

St. Paul as a Missionary

1. Prophets] see on Act_11:27. Simeon that was called Niger] Niger was a Roman cognomen. Lucius of Cyrene] doubtless one of those Cyrenians who first preached at Antioch (Act_11:20). Manaen] the OT. form is 'Menahem.' Which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch] Two meanings are possible. Either, (1) Menabem's mother had been Herod's wet-nurse; or (2) Menahem had been brought up with Herod as his fosterbrother. The tetrarch (Herod Antipas) was the son of Herod the Great, by Malthace, and received (after his father's death) Galilee and Peræa. In 39 a.d. he was banished to Gaul, where he died.

2. As they ministered to the Lord] i.e. celebrated divine worship. From the Gk. word used is derived our word 'liturgy.'

And fasted] see on Mat_6:16; The Holy Ghost said] an expression vividly suggesting the personality of the Holy Ghost, and His office as the Guide of the Church. Acts is so full of such expressions (Act_10:19; Act_8:29, Act_8:39; Act_11:12; Act_13:4; Act_16:6) that it has even been called 'the Gospel of the Holy Ghost.' In this case the Holy Ghost probably spoke by one of the prophets. Separate me Barnabas and Saul] Some regard this incident as the ordination of Paul and Barnabas; others as their solemn setting apart for missionary work. Henceforth they are called 'apostles' by St. Luke (Luk_14:4, Luk_14:14).

3. This was the apostolic custom to fast at ordinations: see Act_14:23.

Act_13:4 to Act_15:35; First Missionary Journey and Council of Jerusalem. During this journey St. Paul conclusively established his right to the title of Apostle, (1) by the success of his labours, Act_13:49; Act_14:1, Act_14:21; (2) by signs and wonders, Act_13:11; Act_14:3, Act_14:10 and (3) by the foundation and organisation of churches, Act_14:23. It will be noticed that St. Paul takes the lead, and soon becomes a more prominent figure than Barnabas. Although upon a mission to the Gentiles, St. Paul always addresses the Jews first (Act_13:46).

Act_13:4-13. Cyprus. This island was familiar ground to Barnabas (Act_4:36). It contained a large Jewish population, to which the apostles mainly confined their attention (Act_13:5). The principal town was Salamis, but the seat of government was Paphos (see Act_13:6). Cyprus was at this time a senatorial province, and the governor is therefore correctly described as proconsul (Act_13:7). The principal exports of Cyprus were copper and timber. The deity chiefly worshipped was Aphrodite (Venus). Paphos, the centre of her worship, had an evil reputation for laxity of morals.

5. Their minister] Possibly for the administration of baptism, which St. Paul usually performed by deputy (1Co_1:14-17).

6. A.. sorcerer] lit. 'a magus.' Here in a bad sense: see on Mat_2:1.

7. Deputy] Gk. anthupatos, i.e. 'proconsul,' the correct title of the governor of a senatorial province. Sergius Paulus] a member of the ancient patrician gens of the Sergii. An inscription has been discovered in Cyprus, which speaks of the proconsulship of this Paulus.

8. Elymas] The name is Arabic, meaning 'the wise,' an equivalent of the Gk. magus.

9. Paul] Saul, as a Roman citizen, had the well-known Roman name Paul. It is here introduced, because the apostle, for the first time, comes into intimate contact with the Roman world. The name Saul in Gk. has the ridiculous sense of 'waddling.' Observe that from this point Paul becomes a more prominent figure than Barnabas. Filled with the Holy Ghost] This miracle of wrath was justified by a special revelation.

13. John departing from them] Mark may have objected to the conversion of so many Gentiles. Others suggest personal resentment against St. Paul, whose reputation was now eclipsing that of St. Barnabas, Mark's cousin. Failure of courage or of perseverance is also possible.

14-52. Antioch of Pisidia. St. Paul's Sermon in the Synagogue.

The cities which the apostles now proceeded to evangelise (Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe) were situated in the southern part of the Roman province of Galatia, and it is now very generally supposed that the Epistle to the Galatians was addressed to the churches in these cities. If so, we can use that Epistle to illustrate this narrative. The other view that the Galatian Churches were situated in N. Galatia is less probable, because no missionary journey in N. Galatia is mentioned in Acts.

14. Perga] An important city, the capital of Pamphylia. Antioch in Pisidia] rather, 'Pisidian Antioch.' This Antioch was really in Phrygia, but from its position was called 'Antiochia ad Pisidiam,' 'Antioch bordering on Pisidia.' It was the centre of military and civil administration for S. Galatia, and commanded the great high-road from Syria to Ephesus and the West. We gather from Gal_4:13 that St. Paul preached in Galatia on account of an illness which overtook him on his travels. Prof. Ramsay supposes that having caught malarial fever at the low-lying Perga, he determined to try the effect of the mountain air of Antioch. The Synagogue] The sabbath service of the synagogue consisted then as now of, (1) the recitation of the Shema (i.e. of Deu_6:4-9; Deu_11:13-21; Num_15:37-41); (2) fixed prayers and benedictions; (3) a lesson from the Law; (4) a lesson from the Prophets, intended to illustrate the law; (5) a sermon or instruction. The ruler of the synagogue (at Antioch there appears to have been more than one) decided who was to read or preach.

16-41. St. Paul's sermon falls into three parts: (1) the historical introduction (Act_13:16-25); (2) the preaching of salvation through the Incarnation, the Death and the Resurrection of Jesus, who is God's Son, to whom the prophets bore witness (Act_13:26-37); (3) the practical application and appeal (Act_13:38-41). The introduction reminds us of Stephen's apology, but whereas Stephen laid the main stress upon Moses, St. Paul lays it upon David. The description of our Lord's rejection by the rulers, and of His death and resurrection reminds us strongly of St. Peter's earlier speeches at Jerusalem, but St. Paul adds the further claim that Jesus is God's Son (Act_13:33). The Pauline doctrine of justification by faith, and not by the works of the Law, finds expression in Act_13:39 : cp. Gal_2:16; Gal_3:2., etc., which show that this doctrine was actually preached to the Galatians.

18. Suffered he their manners] Both here and in Deu_1:31 the true reading probably is 'bare he them as a nursing father.'

19. By lot] RV 'for an inheritance.'

20. Judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years] This period for the judges (more precisely 443 years) is also adopted by Josephus, but is inconsistent with 1Ki_6:1. Another reading, adopted by the RV, makes the period of 450 years extend from the death of Joshua to the reign of David.

22. See Psa_89:20; 1Sa_13:14;

24. His coming] i.e. His entry upon the Messianic office (to be dated from His Baptism).

26. To you] RV 'to us.'

33. In the second psalm] There is another reading 'in the first psalm,' which may be correct, as there is evidence that the first two psalms were sometimes counted as one. In the passage referred to (Psa_2:7) the Messiah is declared to be begotten as the Son of God on the day when Jehovah scatters His enemies before Him. So at the Resurrection, when the enemies of Jesus were confounded, He was 'declared to be the Son of God with power,' and made 'the first begotten of the dead' (Col_1:18; Rev_1:5).

34. I will give you the sure mercies of David] RV 'I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.' See Isa_55:3. But how does this text prove the Resurrection of Jesus, and His unending life? Because unless Jesus had risen to unending life and power, the Messianic promises made to David could never have been fulfilled.

35. See Psa_16:10, and cp. St. Peter's use of the passage, Act_2:31.

40. In the prophets] The particular prophecy quoted is Hab_1:5. Habakkuk had threatened the Jews with destruction by the Chaldaeans (Babylonians). The passage, as applied by St. Paul, looks forward to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans.

42. RV 'And as they went out, they besought,' etc. The request for another sermon (according to the RV) was general and not confined to the Gentiles.

45. What irritated the Jews was not the substance of the gospel message, but the fact that it was proclaimed to the heathen as well as to themselves.

46. Lo, we turn to the Gentiles] This momentous decision to appeal to the Gentiles directly, and not through the instrumentality of the Synagogue, required courage in the face of current prejudice. See further Act_18:6; Act_28:28.

47. See Isa_42:6; Isa_49:6; Luk_2:32.

48. As many as were ordained to eternal life believed] This expresses the Pauline and Apostolic doctrine of predestination, according to which God desires the salvation of all men (1Ti_2:4; 1Ti_4:10, etc.), but inasmuch as He foresees that some (in the exercise of their free will) will actually repent and believe, while others will refuse to do so, He ordains the former to eternal life, and the latter to eternal death (Rom_8:28-30,; etc.).

50. Devout and honourable women] i.e. proselytes to Judaism, and (probably) wives to the chief men of the city. Coasts] i.e. borders.

51. Shook off the dust] see Mat_10:14; Mar_6:11; Luk_9:5, and cp. Act_18:8. Iconium] a Phrygian city of considerable importance situated in a most beautiful and fertile plain 80 m. SE. of Antioch. It is now called Konia.

52. In spite of the (apparently) successful persecution, and the departure of the apostles, the new converts stood firm, and were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost: cp. Act_2:46; Act_4:31.

J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod - His foster brother, now freed from the temptations of a court.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Herod

See margin ref., (See Scofield "Mat 14:1").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 13:2-3

The Heroism of Foreign Missions.

I. The first element of heroism is the quality of ideality—the power, that is, of getting hold of the idea of any cause or occupation, or of life in general, so that the cause, the occupation, or life becomes a living thing to which a man may give himself with all his powers. That quality of ideality is the essential thing in heroism. Along with this primary quality of heroism there go two others, closely related to it. They are magnanimity and bravery. These qualities make the heroes. These are what glorify certain lives that stand through history as the lights and beacons of mankind.

II. If Christianity is heroic life, the missionary work is heroic Christianity. This arises not from any mere circumstances of personal privation which attach to the missionary life, but because the missionary life has most closely seized, and most tenaciously holds and lives by, the essential central life-idea of Christianity. What is that idea? That man is the child of God. The true Christian idealist is he whose conception of man as the redeemed child of God has taken all his life, and moulded it in new shapes, planted it in new places, so filled and inspired it, that, like the Spirit of God in Elijah, it has taken it up and carried it where it never would have chosen to go of its lower will.

III. The missionary life is heroic, not because of the pains it suffers, but because of the essential character it bears. Pain is the aureole, but not the sainthood. So they have marched of old, the missionaries of all the ages of the religion of the Incarnation and the Cross, idealists, believers, magnanimous and brave, the heroes of our faith. They have been heroes because of their faith, because their souls supremely believed in and their lives were supremely given to Christ.

Phillips Brooks, The Candle of the Lord, p. 163.

References: Act 13:2, Act 13:3.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. viii., p. 24. Act 13:4.—Ibid., vol. v., p. 308. Act 13:7.—J. M. Charlton, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xviii., p. 113; G. Brooks, Five Hundred Outlines, p. 429.

Act 13:9

The assumption of the name of Paul instead of the name of Saul stood in some relation to his missionary work, and was intended in some sense as a memorial of his first victory in the preaching of the gospel.

I. The new name expresses a new nature. The central heart of Christianity is the possession of a new life, communicated to us through faith in that Son of God who is the Lord of the spirit. Wheresoever there is a true faith, there is a new nature. A change which needs a new name must be a profound change. Has our Christianity revolutionised our nature in any such fashion?

II. We may take this change of name as being expressive of a life’s work. Paul is a Roman name. He strips himself of his Jewish connections and relationships. His fellow-countrymen who lived among the Gentiles were in the habit of doing the same thing; but they carried both their names—their Jewish for use amongst their own people, their Gentile one for use amongst Gentiles. Paul seems to have altogether disused his old name Saul. It was almost equivalent to seceding from Judaism. We may, from the change in the Apostle’s name, gather this lesson, never out of date, that the only way to help people is to go down to their level. If you want to bless men, you must identify yourself with them.

III. The change of name is a memorial of victory. The name is that of his first convert. He takes it, as I suppose, because it seemed to him such a blessed thing that at the very moment when he began to sow God helped him to reap. Paul names himself from the first victory that God gave him to win, and so, as it were, carries ever at his breast a memorial of the wonder that through him it had been given to preach, and that not without success, amongst the Gentiles the "unsearchable riches of Christ."

IV. This change of name is an index of the spirit of a life’s work. "Paul" means "little"; "Saul" means "desired." He abandons the name that prophesied of favour and honour, to adopt a name that bears upon its very front a profession of humility. His very name is the condensation into a word of his abiding conviction, "I am less than the least of all saints." So, for all hope, for all success in our work, for all growth in Christian grace and character, this disposition of lowly self-abasement. And, above all, learn this—that unless you have the new life, the life of God in your hearts, you have no life at all.

A. Maclaren, Christian Commonwealth, May 7th, 1885.

Reference: Act 13:12.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxx., No. 1781.

Act 13:13

I. Consider first the apostasy of John Mark. It was not a departure from Christ, but it was a departure from very plain duty. And if you will notice the point of time at which Mark threw up the work, you will see the reason for his doing so. The first place to which the bold evangelists went was Cyprus. Barnabas was a native of Cyprus; therefore, no doubt, partly, the selection of this place to begin their assault on heathenism. For the same reason, because it was the native place of his relative, it would be very easy work for John Mark as long as they stopped in Cyprus among his friends, with people that knew him, and with whom, no doubt, he was familiar. And, as soon as they crossed the strait that separated the island from the mainland, and set foot upon the soil of Asia Minor, so soon this man turns tail,—like some recruit that goes into battle full of fervour, but, as soon as the bullets begin to "ping," makes the best of his way to the rear. How like this story is to the experience of hundreds and thousands of young Christians! Let us all ponder the lesson, and see to it that no repetition of the apostasy of this man darken our Christian lives and sodden our Christian conscience.

II. Look next at Mark’s eclipse. Paul and Barnabas differed about how to treat the renegade. Which of them was right? Barnabas’ highest quality, as far as we know, was a certain kind of broad generosity and rejoicing to discern good in all men. He was a "son of consolation." The gentle kindness of his natural disposition, added to the ties of relationship, influenced him in his wish regarding his cousin Mark. He made a mistake. It would have been the cruellest thing that could have been done to his relative to have put him back again without acknowledgment, without repentance, without riding quarantine for a bit and holding his tongue for awhile. He would not then have known his fault as he ought to have known it, and so there would never have been the chance of his conquering it. Mark’s eclipse teaches us the lesson that the punishment for shirking work is to be denied work.

III. Consider the process of recovery. There is only one road, with well-marked stages, by which a backsliding or apostate Christian can return to his Master; and that road has three halting-places on it, through which our heart must pass if it have wandered from its early faith and falsified its first professions. The first of them is the consciousness of the fall, the second is the resort to the Master for forgiveness, the third is the deepened consecration to Him.

IV. Notice the reinstatement of the penitent renegade. Even early failures, recognised and repented of, may make a man better fitted for the tasks that he once fled from. The past is no specimen of what the future may be. The page that is yet to be written need have none of the blots of the page that we have turned over shining through it. God works with broken reeds, and through them breathes His sweetest music.

A. Maclaren, Christian Commonwealth, Dec. 23rd, 1886.

References: Act 13:16-21.—Homiletic Quarterly, vol. i., p. 490. Act 13:19, Act 13:20.—Expositor, 1st series, vol. vii., p. 198. Act 13:24.—Homiletic Magazine, vol. ix., p. 99. Act 13:26.—Spurgeon, My Sermon Notes: Gospels and Acts, p. 189. Act 13:32.—J. Aldis, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xvi., p. 353.

Act 13:36

Life the Service of a Generation.

I. "He served his generation." The expression is vague till we interpret it. To one of us it may seem a small thing to have the possibilities of life confined within the limits of a single generation. We may have formed a grander conception of the capabilities of a life—our own or another’s. We may have dreamed of far-reaching consequences to a church or a country, to literature or history, and thus to the world itself, from the fact that a certain person has lived and moved and had his being upon the face of the earth from which he was taken. But, speaking of average men, and of men above the average, it is true, painfully true, that they can at the best serve but one generation, and then must see corruption. Great ability, great knowledge, great sagacity, great personal influence, great oratory, great generalship, great statesmanship—all are of the generation.

II. Shall we count this a small thing? Is it not enough if it can be said with truth of any man? If there is here the reproof of human vanity, is there not also here the repose of human restlessness? The service of the generation is capable of every possible variety. It is to fill the post assigned with diligence, with seriousness, with unselfishness, with God in sight. No one touches his generation at more than a few points; most touch it but at one. That point of contact is the place of service.

III. "He served his generation." In doing so he served God’s counsel concerning himself. David, in his shepherd vigils in the hills around Bethlehem; David, exiled and outlawed by the king whom he loved through all; David, meditating his psalms, immortal in their use for churches and solitudes; David, at last anointed king, to reign seven years in Hebron and thirty and three in Jerusalem, was the subject, all through these vicissitudes, of a changeless will and counsel, which he persistently, though with frightful aberrations, served through all. So has it been with lesser lives and less illustrious fortunes. We, we ourselves, in our childhoods and manhoods, in our advancements and disappointments, in our little enterprises and less achievements, have been serving a counsel, and that of God. Oh, let us feel as we ought the mighty honour! These lives are trivial and uneventful, but they have been the subject of thought in heaven: let us live them well. Let us fulfil their high destiny. Enough, if of one of us this may be the record: "He served the counsel of God, and he fell asleep."

C. J. Vaughan, University Sermons, p. 511.

References: Act 13:36.—W. Arthur, Christian World Pulpit, vol. i., p. 97; W. Braden, Ibid., vol. v., p. 152; J. P. Chown, Ibid., vol. ix., p. 113; S. G. Matthews, Ibid., vol. x., p. 8.

Act 13:38

I. How little the word "forgiveness" is understood! There cannot be forgiveness until there has been the consent of two parties. We sometimes have said, in our ignorance, "Why does not God forgive all men and make an end of sin?" He cannot. You yourself cannot. It is a moral impossibility. There is an immoral nobleness. Do you care nothing for sin? Then you are immoral. Do you treat crime lightly? Then you are not to be trusted with the interests of society. Forgiveness is not a one-sided affair. There must be consent of parties. This is plainly declared in the revelation of Divine truth. Our hearts must be melted into contrition; there must be tears of penitence in our very hearts; there must be a sob of contrition, a sigh of self-accusation, an utter renunciation of self-help. Then will take place, in the name of Christ, and at the foot of the cross of Christ, the great transaction which liberates men from the captivity of sin.

II. When God forgives—what happens? When God forgives, God forgets. That is complete forgiveness. Where there is no forgetting there is no forgiving. What does God do with our sins when He has forgiven them? He casts them behind Him. "Behind God?" Yes. Where is that? These are figures—poor and lame, as all figures must be in such a case—which, however, are meant to indicate the utterness, the completeness, the grandeur of the great act of Divine pardon. We are saved by love. Love, when truly understood, will be found but another term for faith—faith completed, faith alive, faith at its sublimest point. It does appear to be infinitely impossible that sin can ever be rubbed out. But the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanseth from all sin; gets into the secret places of our heart, finds out our hidden iniquities and our concealed desires, and works its gracious ministry there, until we become without spot or wrinkle or any such thing—a glorious Church.

Parker, City Temple, vol. iii., p. 193.

References: Act 13:38, Act 13:39.—J. Natt, Posthumous Sermons, p. 141. Act 13:39.—Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 136. Act 13:42.—J. W. Lance, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xviii., p. 261. Act 13:43.—J. Kelly, Ibid., p. 324. Act 13:46.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. viii., p. 29; Homilist, 3rd series, vol. iv., p. 292. Act 13:48.—Legge, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxx., p. 291. Act 13:49.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. ii., No. 76. Act 13:52.—J. G. Rogers, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxix., p. 136. Act 14:2, Act 14:3.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. i., p. 220. Act 14:3.—G. Brooks, Five Hundred Outlines, p. 390. Act 14:8-20.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. i., p. 430. Act 14:9, Act 14:10.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. x., No. 559. Act 14:11.—A. P. Peabody, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxviii., p. 170. Act 14:13-15.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. v., p. 374. Act 14:17.—R. D. B. Rawnsley, Village Sermons, 1st series, p. 226; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. vii., p. 124; Homiletic Magazine, vol. ix., p. 28.

The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Observe here, That the city of Antioch being the first Gentile city which entertained the gospel, there were at that time several prophets and teachers in that city to instruct the people, and to lay the foundation of a Christian church amongst them: And amongst others, there was found one very eminent person named Manaen, who was of that high rank and quality, that he was brought up with Herod at court; and, as the learned Lightfoot thinks, was converted there by the preaching of St. John the Baptist: Yet this man, contemning with Moses the pleasures of the court, did think it no disparagement to him to be a teacher at Antioch.

Learn thence, That God is pleased to manifest the freeness of his grace, in effectually calling some of all sorts and ranks of men, to the knowledge and obedience of the gospel, and to a participation of the benefit offered in and by the Lord Jesus Christ: "Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch."

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

THE FIRST EVANGELISTIC TOUR OF BARNABAS AND SAUL

1. . . .“Simeon called Niger.” As this word means black, we have the clear assurance that this eminent prophet and teacher, associated in labor with the apostles, Was a regular black African negro, which is the literal translation of Niger. “And Lucius the Cyrenean.” Here is another African from the city of Cyrene, which was in Africa. “And Manaen, the foster-brother of Herod the tetrarch.” This is the same Herod above mentioned, the murderer of the apostles, eaten up by worms and precipitated into an awful hell. The royal Herodian family were staunch members of the Jewish church, walking in the footprints of the high priest, and leading ministers who killed Jesus and persecuted His followers. This Manaen, though a member of the Herodian family, an adopted son of the king, and thus brought up along with Herod Antipas, who killed James and tried to kill Peter and sank to his awful doom; yet we see that he espoused the cause of the despised Nazarenes, became a disciple of Jesus, got saved and sanctified, and was honored of God with a place among the “prophets and teachers” in the gospel church. Oh, what a contrast between him and his royal brother, killing the apostles, eaten up with worms and sent to hell! If the blood royal had flowed in his veins, doubtless he would have stayed with the devil, sharing the awful doom of his royal comrades. What a blessing to him that he was not born a king!

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

XIII: 1. We have already seen that Barnabas and Saul had labored one whole year together in the city of Antioch, and we now learn that at the close of this period there were other inspired teachers associated with them. (1) “ Now there were in the Church in Antioch certain prophets and teachers, Barnabas and Simeon called Niger, and Lucius the Cyrenian, and Manaen, foster-brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.” It will be observed that, in this catalogue of names, that of Barnabas stands first, and that of Saul last. As it was customary at that period to arrange names in the order of their notability at the time contemplated, we may infer that Barnabas still occupied a position of pre-eminence, while Saul was as yet comparatively undistinguished among the inspired teachers. Nothing more is known of Simeon, Lucius, and Manaen than is here stated; but this is enough to show that the future instruction of the congregation might be safely committed to their hands.

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Acts Chapter 13

We come now to the beginning of the direct history of the work, new in some important respects, that is, connected with Paul’s mission by the immediate intervention of the Holy Ghost. It is not now Christ upon earth, who by His personal authority sends forth the twelve, afterwards endowed with the power of the Holy Ghost from on high to announce His exaltation to heaven and His return, and to gather under the standard of the cross those who should believe in Him. Paul has seen Christ in glory, and therefore has united himself to the assembly already gathered. But here there is no Christ personally present to send him forth as the witness of His presence on earth, or of His rejection as One whom Paul had known in earth. The Holy Ghost Himself sends him, not from Jerusalem, but from a Greek city, in which in free and sovereign power He had converted and gathered together some Gentiles, doubtless some Jews likewise, but forming an assembly whose existence was first marked by the fact that the gospel had been preached to the Greeks.

In chapter 13 we find ourselves again in the assembly at Antioch, and in the midst of the independent [19] action of the Spirit of God. Certain prophets are there, Saul among them. They fasted and were occupied with the service of the Lord. The Holy Ghost commands them to separate unto Him Barnabas and Saul for the work to which He had called them Such was the source of the ministry of these two. Assuredly it bore testimony to Him in whom they had believed, and whom Saul, at least, had seen, and it was under His authority they acted; but the positive and obvious source of their mission was the Holy Ghost. It was the Holy Ghost who called them to the work. They were sent forth (Act 13:4) by Him-an all-important principle as to the Lord’s ways upon earth. We come out from Jerusalem, from Judaism, from the jurisdiction of the apostles nominated by the Lord while He was on earth. Christ is no longer known after the flesh, as Saul (when become Paul) expresses it. They have to strive against the Judaic spirit-to shew consideration for it as far as it is sincere; but the sources of their work are not now in connection with the system which that work no longer knows as a starting-point. A glorious Christ in heaven, who owns the disciples as members of His body as Himself on high-a mission from the Holy Ghost on earth which only knows His energy as the source of action and authority (bearing testimony of course to Christ)-this is the work which now opens, and which is committed to Barnabas and Saul. Barnabas, it is true, forms a link between the two. He was himself a Hellenist of Cyprus; it was he who presented Saul to the apostles after his conversion near Damascus. Barnabas had more largeness of heart-was more open to the testimonies of divine grace-than even the apostles and the others who had been nurtured in a strict Judaism; for God in His grace provides for everything. There is always a Barnabas, as well as a Nicodemus, a Joseph, and even a Gamaliel, whenever needed. The actings of God in this respect are remarkable in all this history. Would that we only trusted more entirely, while by the Spirit doing His will, to Him who disposes all things!

Nevertheless even this link is soon broken. It was still in connection with the “old cloth,” the “old bottles”; blessed as the man himself was, to whom the Holy Ghost rendered so fine a testimony, and in whom we see an exquisite character. He determined to take his kinsman also (see Col 4:10), Mark. Mark returns to Jerusalem almost from the beginning of the work of evangelisation in the Gentile regions; and Saul continues his work with such instruments as God formed under his hand, or a Silas who chose to remain at Antioch when (the particular service which had been committed to him at Jerusalem being ended) he might naturally have returned thither with Judas.

Sent forth thus by the Holy Ghost, Barnabas and Saul, with John Mark as their ministering servant, go away to Seleucia, then to Cyprus; and being at Salamis, a town in that island, they preach the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. Whatever therefore might be the energy of the Holy Ghost, He acts in connection with the counsels and the promises of God, and that with perfect patience. To the end of his life, notwithstanding the opposition of the Jews, vexatious and implacable as it might be, the apostle continues-as the ways and counsels of God in Christ had commanded-to the Jews first, and then to the Gentiles. Once brought in where truth and grace were fully revealed in God’s assembly, there was no difference between Jew and Gentile. God is one in His character and fully revealed, and the veil rent; sin is one in its character and is opposed to God; the foundation of truth changes not, and the oneness of the assembly is connected with the height of grace in God and comes down to the deep totality of sin, in respect of which that grace has displayed itself. But, with regard to the ways of God upon earth, the Jews had the first place, and the Spirit, who is above all, can therefore act in full liberty in recognising all the ways of God’s sovereignty; even as Christ, who made Himself a servant in grace, submitted to them all, and now, being exalted on high, unites all these various ways and dispensations in Himself as head and centre of a glory to which the Holy Ghost bears witness, in order to accomplish it here below, as far as may be, by grace.

This does not prevent his giving a distinct and positive judgment as to the condition of the Jews when the occasion requires it.

Even here, at the commencement of his ministry, the two things are presented together. We have already noticed that he begins with the Jews. Having traversed the island, he arrives at the seat of government. There the proconsul, a prudent and thoughtful man, asks to hear the gospel. Beset already by a false prophet (who took advantage of the felt need of a soul which, while ignorant, was earnestly desirous of something that could fill up the void it experienced in the nothingness of pagan ceremonies, and in its disgusting immorality), he sends for Barnabas and Saul. Elymas withstands them. This was natural. He would lose his influence with the governor if the latter received the truth that Paul preached Now Elymas was a Jew. Saul (who is henceforth named Paul) filled with the Holy Ghost, pronounces on him the sentence, on God’s part, of temporary blindness, executed at the moment by the mighty hand of God. The proconsul, struck with the power that accompanied his word, submits to the gospel of God.

I do not doubt that in this wretched Bar-jesus we see a picture of the Jews at the present time, smitten with blindness for a season, because jealous of the influence of the gospel. In order to fill up the measure of their iniquity, they withstood its being preached to the Gentiles. Their condition is judged: their history given in the mission of Paul. [20] Opposed to grace, and seeking to destroy its effect upon the Gentiles, they have been smitten with blindness-nevertheless only for a season.

Departing from Paphos, they go into Asia Minor; and now Paul definitively takes his place in the eyes of the historian of the Spirit. His whole company are only those who were with Paul, an expression in Greek which makes Paul everything (Paul’s company Lit. “those around Paul”). When they reached Perga, John Mark leaves them to return to Jerusalem-a milder and more moderate form of the Judaic influence, but shewing that, wherever it exercised itself, if it did not produce opposition, it at least took away the vigour needful for the work of God as it was now unfolding among the Gentiles. Barnabas however goes farther, and still continues with Paul in the work. The latter, when they were come to Antioch, [21] again begins first with the Jews. He goes on the sabbath day into the synagogue, and, on the invitation of the ruler, proclaims Jesus, rejected by the Jews at Jerusalem and crucified, but by the power of God raised up again, and through whom they might be justified from all things, from which they could not be justified by the law of Moses. Here the testimony of Paul is very like that of Peter, and is very particularly allied to the beginning of the Epistle to the Hebrews, with regard to the character of the testimony:Act 13:33 is quite Peter’s testimony in Act 3:1-26. InActs 13:31 he sets the twelve distinctly in the place of testimony to Israel, as those who had personally accompanied the Lord, and who had seen Him after His resurrection. “They are,” he says, “his witnesses unto the people.” But Paul’s testimony (which, as to the fulfilment of the promises by the coming of Christ, and the mercies of David made sure in His resurrection, returns into the order of Peter’s preaching) departs from it in an important point. He says nothing of God’s having made Jesus both Lord and Christ. He announces that the remission of sins is proclaimed in His name, exhorting his hearers not to neglect this great salvation.[22] Many follow Paul [23] and Barnabas in consequence of this announcement, and are exhorted by them to continue in the grace which had been proclaimed to them. The mass of the people come together the following sabbath to hear the word of God; the Gentiles having besought that this gospel of grace might be preached to them again. Their souls had found more truth in the doctrine of the one only God, acknowledged by the Jews, than in the senseless worship of the Pagans, which, to an awakened and unsatisfied mind, no longer presented any food that could appease it-a mind that was too active to allow the imagination to amuse itself with ceremonies which had no charms but for ignorance, which could be captivated by the pageantry of festivals, to which it was accustomed, and which gratified the religious element of the flesh. Still, the coldly acknowledged doctrine of one only true God, although it set the mind free from all that shocked it in the senseless and immoral mythology of Paganism, did not at all feed the soul as did the powerful testimony of a God acting in grace, borne by the Holy Ghost through the mouth of messengers whom He had sent-a testimony which, while faithful to the promises made to the Jews, yet addressed itself as a “word of salvation” (Act 13:26) to all those who feared God. But the Jews, jealous of the effect of the gospel which thus met the soul’s need in a way that their system could not, withstand Paul and blaspheme the doctrine of Christ. Paul therefore and Barnabas turn boldly to the Gentiles.

It was a decisive and important moment. These two messengers of the Holy Ghost quote the testimony of the Old Testament with regard to God’s purpose towards the Gentiles, of whom Christ was to be the light-a purpose which they accomplished according to the intelligence in it that the Spirit gave them, and by His power. The passage is in Isaiah (chap. 49), where the opposition of Israel, that made the testimony of Christ useless to themselves, gave God occasion to declare that this work was but a small thing, and that Christ should be a light to the Gentiles, and great even to the ends of the earth.

We shall do well to observe this last circumstance, the energy in action imparted by spiritual intelligence, and the way in which prophetic declarations turn into light and authority for action, when the Spirit of God gives the true practical meaning-the application. Another might not perhaps understand it; but the spiritual man has a full guarantee for his own conscience in the word which he has understood. He leaves the rest to God.

The Gentiles rejoice at the testimony, and the election believe. The word spreads through all the region. The Jews now shew themselves in their true character of enemies to the Lord and to His truth. With regard to them Paul and Barnabas shake off the dust of their feet against them. The disciples, whatever might be their difficulties, are no hindrance to this. The position here taken by the Jews-which, moreover, we find everywhere-makes us understand what a source of grief and pain they must have been to the apostles.

Footnotes for Acts Chapter 13

19: The acting of the Spirit is always independent; but here I mean to express that it was outside the authority of the apostles. This authority is not the source of that which is done; nor does that which is done refer itself to it.

20: I do not know if the change of name pointed out on this occasion-the meaning of which has excited the curiosity of etymologists-is not simply an alteration by which its Jewish form was lost, in order to assume a Roman or Gentile aspect.

21: In Pisidia.

22: Both, as we have seen, follow (in the main) the commission in Luk 24:1-53.

23: Here Paul is placed before Barnabas; in the former chapter, Barnabas has the first place.

John Nelson Darby — Synopsis of the Books of the Bible: the New Testament (c. 1857–1862) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1. There were in the church at Antioch. For description of Antioch and account of the founding of the church in that city see 11:19, notes. Also 11:26. This was the mother church of Gentile Christendom. It was at this period the most important city of Asia, and the third city of the world. For description, see notes on 11:22. Prophets and teachers. These offices were not identical (Eph. 4:11), though the first included the last. A prophet was an inspired teacher, not necessarily one who predicted the future, but one who spoke God's message by inspiration. Barnabas. One of the prophets. See notes on 11:22. Simeon called Niger. Nothing more is known of him. As Niger means “black,” some have fancied that he was an African, but Niger was as common a Roman surname as Black is now. Lucius of Cyrene. The men who planted the church at Antioch were “of Cyprus and Cyrene” (see note on 11:20). Lucius was probably one of these. The name occurs again in Rom. 16:21. And Manaen. His mother was probably the nurse of Herod when the latter was a babe. Herod Antipas, the husband of Herodias, the murderer of John the Baptist, is meant. He was now dethroned and an exile in Gaul. And Saul. The greatest of these men is named last. His greatness was not yet demonstrated.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Connecting Statement:

Luke begins to tell about the mission trips on which the church at Antioch send Barnabas and Saul.

General Information:

Verse 1 gives background information about the people in the church at Antioch. (See: Background Information)

General Information:

Here the first word "they" probably refers to these five leaders but may also include the other believers. The next words "they" and "their" probably refer to the other three leaders not including Barnabas and Saul but could include other believers.

Now in the church in Antioch

"At that time in the church at Antioch"

Simeon ... Niger ... Lucius ... Manaen

These are men's names. (See: How to Translate Names)

foster brother of Herod the tetrarch

Manaen was probably Herod's playmate or close friend growing up.

Set apart for me

"Appoint to serve me"

I have called them

The verb here means that God chose them to do this work.

laid their hands on these men

"laid their hands on these men whom God had set apart for his service." This act showed that the leaders agreed that the Holy Spirit had called Barnabas and Saul to do this work. (See: Symbolic Action)

sent them off

"sent those men off" or "sent those men off to do the work the Holy Spirit told them to do"

translationWords

Antioch

prophet

teacher

Barnabas

Cyrene

Herod Antipas

tetrarch

set apart

Paul

fast

pray

send

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Prophets. See on Luk 7:26.

Lucius of Cyrene. Attempts have been made to identify him with Luke the evangelist; but the name Lucas is an abbreviation of Lucanus, and not of Lucius. It is worth noting, however, that, according to Herodotus (iii., 131), the physicians of Cyrene had the reputation of being the second best in Greece, those of Crotona being the best; and that Galen the physician says that Lucius was before him a distinguished physician in Tarsus of Cilicia. From this it has been conjectured that Luke was born and instructed in medicine in Cyrene, and left that place for Tarsus, where he made Paul 's acquaintance, and was, perhaps, converted by him (Dr. Howard Crosby, "The New Testament, Old and New Version "). But, apart from the form of the name (see above), the mention of the evangelist 's name here is not in accord with his usual practice, since he nowhere mentions his own name, either in the Gospel or in the Acts; and if the present passage were an exception, we should have expected to find his name last in the list of the worthies of Antioch. Of the five here named, four are known to be Jews; and therefore, probably, Lucius was also a Jew from Cyrene, where Jews are known to have abounded. Luke the evangelist, on the contrary, was a Gentile. Nothing certain can be inferred from Rom 16:21, where Lucius is enumerated by Paul among his kinsmen. If suggeneiv, kinsmen, means here, as is claimed by some, countrymen, it would prove Lucius to be a Jew; but the word is commonly used of relatives in the New Testament. In Rom 9:3, Paul applies the term to his fellow - countrymen," my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites. "

Which had been brought up with [συντροφος] . Some render foster - brother, as Rev.; others, comrade. The word has both meanings.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.