Acts 15:40

15:40-41 Following his disagreement with Barnabas over John Mark, Paul chose Silas as his partner for a second missionary journey through Syria and Cilicia. The two men traveled overland to visit Derbe and Lystra, explaining the decision of the Jerusalem council and strengthening believers in their faith.

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

Act 15:40. Σίλαν, Silas) instead of Barnabas: and soon after Timothy instead of Mark.—παραδοθεὶς, being recommended) The best provision for the way; one which even an inferior can impart to a superior.

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

Act_15:40-41. Ἐπιλεξάμενος Σίλαν] after he had chosen Silas as his apostolic companion. It is accordingly to be assumed that Silas (Act_15:27), after he had returned to Jerusalem (Act_15:33), and had along with Judas given an account of the result of their mission, had in the meantime returned to Antioch. But the interpolation, Act_15:34 (see the critical remarks), is incorrect, as the return of Silas to Jerusalem was a necessary exigency of the commission which he had received. ἐπιλέγεσθαι, in the sense sibi eligere, only here in the N.T.; often in Greek writers, the LXX., and Apocr.

παραδοθ. τῇ χάρ. τ. Κυρίου] committed to the grace of Christ (see the critical remarks). Comp. Act_15:11. Not different in substance from Act_14:26, but here expressed according to a more specifically Christian form. Moreover, the notice, compared with Act_15:39, leads us to infer, with great probability, that the church of Antioch in the dispute before us was on the side of Paul.

τὴν Συρ. κ. Κιλικ.] as Barnabas (Act_15:39), so Paul also betook himself to his native country; from their native countries the two began their new, and henceforth for ever separated, missionary labours. Barnabas is unjustly reproached (by Baumgarten) with repairing to his own country, instead of to the wide fields of heathenism; in point of fact, we know not the further course which he adopted for his labours.

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 15:40 . Π . δὲ ἐπιλεξ . Σ .: not in the place of Mark, but in the place of Barnabas, Ramsay, St. Paul , p. 171; having chosen, i.e. , for himself: sibi eligere ; only in N.T. in this sense, but in classical Greek and in LXX, 1Sa 2:28 A, 2Sa 10:9 R, Sir 6:18 , Est 9:16Est 9:16 , 1Ma 1:63 R, Act 5:17 , etc.; “elegit ut socium, non ut ministrum” (Blass). If Silas had not returned to Jerusalem, but had remained in Antioch (see above on Act 15:35 ), he had doubtless recommended himself to Paul by some special proof of fitness for dealing sympathetically with the relations of the Jewish Christians and the Gentile converts. This sympathy on the part of Silas would be the more marked and significant as he was himself almost certainly a Hebrew; otherwise we cannot account for his high position in the Jerusalem Church, Act 15:22 , although his Roman citizenship is implied in Act 16:37 ; perhaps this latter fact may account for his freedom from narrow Jewish prejudices. If we may identify, as we reasonably may, the Silas of Acts with the Silas (Silvanus) of the Epistles, 2Co 1:19 , 1Th 1:1 , 2Th 1:1 , 1Pe 5:12 , the last mention of him by St. Peter becomes very suggestive. For St. Peter’s First Epistle contains the names of the two men, Mark and Silvanus, who had originally been members of the Jerusalem Church, Act 12:12 ; Act 15:22 , and moreover the two oldest of St. Paul’s associates, whose brotherly Christian concord had been broken for the time (when Paul chose the latter in the place of Barnabas, and rejected Mark’s services altogether), but who are now both found at St. Peter’s side in Rome (assuming that Babylon is Rome), evidently at one with him and with each other; the one the bearer of a letter, the other the sender of greetings, to Pauline Churches. If St. Paul had passed to his rest, and the leader had thus changed, the teaching was the same, as the names of Silvanus and Mark assure us, and St. Peter takes up and carries on the work of the Apostle of the Gentiles, see Dr. Swete, u. s. , pp. 87, 88. ἐξῆλθε , cf. Luk 9:6 , Luk 9:3 John, Act 15:7 , where the word is used of going forth for missionary work. παραδοθεὶς , cf. Act 14:26 . Possibly we may infer that the Church took Paul’s view of the point at issue between himself and Barnabas, but on the other hand we cannot prove this, because the writer’s thoughts are so specially fixed upon Paul as the great and chief worker in the organisation and unification of the Church.

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

and departed, being recommended . . . to the grace of God--(No doubt by some solemn service; see Act 13:3), as in Act 14:26. It does not follow from the historian's silence that Barnabas was not so recommended, too; for this is the last mention of Barnabas in the history, whose sole object now is to relate the proceedings of Paul. Nor does it seem quite fair (with DE WETTE, MEYER, HOWSON, ALFORD, HACKET, WEBSTER and WILKINSON, &c.) to conclude from this that the Church at Antioch took that marked way of showing their sympathy with Paul in opposition to Barnabas.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 40. Being recommended - unto the grace of God.] Much stress has been laid upon this, to show that Barnabas was in the wrong, and Paul in the right, because "the brethren recommended Paul and Silas to the grace of God; but they did not recommend Barnabas and John Mark: this proves that the Church condemned the conduct of Barnabas, but approved that of Paul." Now, there is no proof that the Church did not recommend Barnabas to the grace of God, as well as Paul; but, as St. Luke had for the present dropped the story of Barnabas, and was now going on with that of Paul and Silas, he begins it at this point, viz. his being recommended by the brethren to the grace of God; and then goes on to tell of his progress in Syria, Derbe, Lystra, c., &c. See the next chapter. And with this verse should the following chapter begin and this is the division followed by the most correct copies of the Greek text.

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

(40) Paul chose Silas.—It is clear from this, even if we reject Act_15:34 as an interpolation, that Silas had remained when the other delegates from the Church of Jerusalem went back. This in itself was a proof of his interest in the mission-work among the Gentiles, and no one, perhaps, could be found so well fitted to fill the place of Barnabas. He too had the gift of prophetic utterance, and, as we have seen (Note on Act_15:22), was probably able to speak as one who had followed the Lord Jesus, and could bear witness of the Resurrection.

Being recommended by the brethren.—See Note on Act_14:26. This obviously implied a full gathering of the Church and a special service of prayer on the departure of the two Apostles. Silas, as thus sent forth by the Church, might now claim that title no less than Barnabas.

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

40. being recommended] The more usual word in this sense in modern English is commended. (R. V.)

unto the grace of God] The best MSS. have “grace of the Lord.”

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.

And he went through Syria and Cilicia,.... Antioch was the metropolis of the former, and Tarsus, the apostle's native place, was in the latter; and in both these countries he had been before, and had been the instrument of converting many souls, and of planting churches, which he now visited, as he proposed to Barnabas to do: for it follows,

confirming the churches; in the Gospel, and the truths and ordinances of it, he had before instructed them in: of the church at Antioch; see Gill on Act 11:26. And that there were also churches in Cilicia, is very manifest; and particularly there was one at Tarsus, the chief city in it. Herodian, of whom we read in Rom 16:11 and Jason, in Act 17:5 who are reckoned among the seventy disciples, are said to be bishops or pastors of this church; See Gill on Luk 10:1. In the "second" century there was a church in that city, to which Ignatius wrote an epistle, still extant (o), in which he makes mention of Philo their deacon: in the "third" century Helenus presided over this church, and was present at a synod at Antioch, when Paulus Samosatenus was condemned for heresy (p): in the "fourth" century mention is made of several churches in Cilicia, and the bishops of them; there was a church at Apsis in Cilicia, Amphion was bishop of Epiphania, Theodorus of Mopsuestia, Cyriacus of Adanan, and Sylvanus of Tarsus, the metropolis; in which last place, in the beginning of this century, several martyrs suffered under Dioclesian, particularly Tharatus, Probus, and Andronicus: here the orthodox, in the times of Valens, would have convened a synod against the Arians, but were hindered by him; and in this century Diodorus, bishop of Tarsus, had the care of all the churches in Cilicia committed to him; in this age also we read of Antoninus, a presbyter of this church, afterwards made bishop of it: in the "fifth" century mention is made of the bishops of several churches in Cilicia, as of Mopsuesta, Irenopolis, Epiphania, Tarsus, Anazarbus, Sebaste, and others who were present at several councils held at different places in this century; in the "sixth" century, out of the cities of Cilicia, Jotapa, Pisidia, Pompeiopolis, Tarsus, Coricus, Anemurius, bishops are said to come to the synod at Rome and Constantinople: in the seventh century, Tarsus was the metropolitan church of Cilicia; and mention is made of the bishops of that and of other cities in this country, who assisted at the sixth council at Constantinople: in the "eighth" century, notice is taken of a Church at Sida in Cilicia (q); so long the Christian name was in those parts. Beza's ancient copy adds, "delivering the commandments of the elders"; and the Vulgate Latin version, "bidding" them to keep the commandments of the apostles and elders; see Act 16:4, namely; the decrees of the assembly at Jerusalem; which seems very agreeable, since the letters were directed and sent to the brethren of the Gentiles in Syria and Cilicia, as well as in Antioch; see Act 15:23.

(o) Ignat. Epist. p. 73, 81. (p) Euseb. Eccl. Hist. l. 7. c. 28. (q) Madgeburg. Hist. Eccl. cent. 4. c. 2. p. 2, 3. c. 3. p. 18. 22. 74. c. 7. p. 289. c. 9. p. 405, 481, c. 10. p. 570. cent. 5. c. 2. p. 3. c. 10. p. 585, 586. cent. 6. c. 2. p. 3. cent. 7. c. 2. p. 3. c. 7. p. 112. cent. 8. c. 2. p. 4.

Next: Acts Chapter 16

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

40 And Paul chose Silas, and departed, being recommended by the brethren unto the grace of God.

Ver. 40. Being recommended by the brethren] Whereby it appeareth that the Church took Paul’s part, and God blessed his labours wherever he came; whereas Barnabas lies buried, as it were, and little more is henceforth recorded of him, unless it be that his temporizing with Peter, Gal 2:9. So Lot is no more heard of after his incest, Gen 19:36. If we commit such things we deserve but a short story. (Babington in locum.)

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.

Being recommended - Being commended by prayer to God. See notes on Act 14:26.

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

The favour of God, as Act 14:26, which the wisest and holiest men stand in need of in all their undertakings; as also his gracious conduct and assistance.

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

40. Chose Silas—Deliberately remained; made a most wise choice; received the benediction of the illustrious Church of Antioch, and started forth on his second and greater mission, the most important Christian missionary enterprise ever undertaken and accomplished.

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

But for and, A.V.; went forth or departed, A.V.; commended for recommended, A.V.; to for unto, A.V.; the Lord for God, A.V. and T.R. Chose Silas. If ver. 34 of the T.R. is a true reading, it accounts for the presence of Silas at Antioch. Otherwise there is no difficulty in supposing that Silas, attracted by the holy zeal of St. Paul and by desire to work among the Gentiles, had come back to Antioch after giving account to the apostles at Jerusalem of the success of his mission with Judas to the Churches at Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia.

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

But Paul departed - Held on his intended course: being recommended by the brethren to the grace of God - We do not find that Barnabas stayed for this. O how mighty is the grace of God! which in the midst of the world, in the midst of sin, among so many snares of Satan, and in spite of the incredible weakness and depravity of nature, yet overcomes all opposition, sanctifies, sustains, and preserves us to the end! It appears not only that Paul and Barnabas were afterward thoroughly reconciled, 1 Cor. ix, 6; Gal. ii, 9; but also that John was again admitted by St. Paul as a companion in his labours, Colossians iv, 10; Phil. i, 24; 2 Tim. iv, 11.

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

See notes on verse 36

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.

40. κυρίου for θεοῦ with אABD. Vulg. ‘Dei.’

40. παραδοθείς, being commended. See above on Act 14:26.

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.

40. Σίλαν] He may perhaps have come down again to Antioch (see ver. 33) in Peter’s company. We find (see above on ver. 22) a Silvanus in 1Pe 5:12, the bearer of that epistle to the congregations of Asia Minor.

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

Recommended. Which was not the case with Barnabas, leading to the inference that the church at Antioch took Paul 's side in the dispute.

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