Acts 11:25

Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul: THEN DEPARTED BARNABAS (OR, 'DEPARTED HE,' ACCORDING TO THE BETTER READING), TO TARSUS - a short run by sea from Seleucia, which he would probably prefer to the more tedious land-route, which would have obliged him to thread the defiles of the Amanus range of mountains as one rounds the northeast head of the Mediterranean, at the Gulf of Issus. FOR TO SEEK SAUL - entrusting the church at Antioch meantime, beyond all doubt, to the honoured brethren to whose instrumentality it had owed its existence. Barnabas had been the first at Jerusalem to recognize the genuineness of Saul's conversion, and, on the first visit of the great convert to Jerusalem after the change, to convince the brethren there that in the dread persecutor they had not an enemy in disguise, but a true brother, and already a mighty preacher of the Faith which once he...

25.Barnabas’ simplicity is commended to us now the second time, that whereas he might have borne the chiefest swing at Antioch, yet went he into Cilicia that he might fet [fetch] Paul thence, who he knew should be preferred before him. Therefore we see how, forgetting himself, he respecteth nothing but that Christ may be chief; how he setteth before his eyes the edifying of the Church alone; how he is content with the prosperous success of the gospel. Therefore, Barnabas is no whit afraid lest Paul do any whit debase him by his coming, so he glorify Christ....

25-30 Hitherto the followers of Christ were called disciples, that is, learners, scholars; but from that time they were called Christians. The proper meaning of this name is, a follower of Christ; it denotes one who, from serious thought, embraces the religion of Christ, believes his promises, and makes it his chief care to shape his life by Christ's precepts and example. Hence it is plain that multitudes take the name of Christian to whom it does not rightly belong. But the name without the reality will only add to our guilt. While the bare profession will bestow neither profit nor delight, the possession of it will give both the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. Grant, Lord, that Christians may forget other names and distinctions, and love one another as the followers of Christ ought to do. True Christians will feel for their brethren under afflictions. Th...

Verse Acts 11:25. _TO TARSUS, FOR TO SEEK SAUL_] The persecution raised against him obliged him to take refuge in his own city, where, as a Roman citizen, his person was in safety. See Acts 9:29....

THEN DEPARTED ... - Why Barnabas sought Saul is not known. It is probable, however, that it was owing to the remarkable success which he had in Antioch. There was a great revival of religion, and there was need of additional labor. In such times the ministers of the gospel need additional help, as men in harvest-time need the aid of others. Saul was in this vicinity Acts 9:30, and he was eminently suited to assist in this work. With him Barnabas was well acquainted Acts 9:27, and probably there was no other one in that vicinity whose help he could obtain. TO TARSUS - See the notes on Acts 9:11....

EXPOSITION ACTS 11:1 _Now_ for _and_, A.V.; _the_ _brethren _for brethren, A.V.; _also had_ for _had also_, A.V, We can imagine how rapidly the news of the great revolution would travel to the metropolis of Jewish Christianity, and what a stir it would maim in that community. It does not appear what view James and the other apostles took. ACTS 11:2 THEY THAT WERE OF THE CIRCUMCISION. At first sight this phrase, which was natural enough in Acts 10:45, seems an unnatural one in the then condition of the Church, when all the members of it were "of the circumcision," and there were no Gentile converts

THEN DEPARTED BARNABAS TO TARSUS,.... "In Cilicia" to seek Saul; who had been sent thither by the brethren that he might escape the rage of the Grecians, who sought to slay him, Acts 9:29....

ACTS 11:25-26 Codex Bezae, supported in part by other Western witnesses, reads avkou,saj de. o[ti Sau/lo,j evstin eivj Qarso.n evxh/lqen avnazhtw/n auvto,n( kai. w`j suntucw.n pareka,lesen evlqei/n eivj VAntio,ceian) oi[tinej parageno,menoi evniauto.n o[lon sunecu,qhsan o;clon i`kano,n( kai. to,te prw/ton evcrhma,tisan evn VAntiocei,a| oi` maqhtai. Creistianoi, (“And _having heard that Saul was at Tarsus,_ he went out to seek him; and _when he had met him, he entreated him to come_ to Antioch. _When they had come,_ for a whole year a large company of people _were stirred up,_ and _then_ for the first time the disciples in Antioch were called Christians”). Ropes was inclined to think that the verb sunecu,qhsan, so unexpected...

CHAPTER 11 _ 1. Peter's Defense in Jerusalem (Acts 11:1)._ 2. The Beginning of the Church in Antioch (Acts 11:19). 3. Barnabas sent to Antioch (Acts 11:22). 4. The Prophecy of Agabus (Acts 11:27). Peter silenced the objections of his brethren in Jerusalem by a rehearsal of his experience. Acts 11:19 connects with Acts 8:4. Antioch comes now into prominence as the great Gentile center of Christianity. A great number believed and turned unto the Lord. Then B

ANOTHER ACCOUNT OF THE EARLY GENTILE MISSION. ANTIOCH. This connects with Acts 8:2. It was the Hellenists at Jerusalem, whose mouthpiece Stephen was, who were driven away at his death. There, they were scattered over Judæ a and Samaria; here, they go further, to Cyprus and Antioch, but preach to Jews only. Some of them, however, men of Cyprus, as Barnabas was, and of Cyrene in N. Africa (_cf._ Lucius of Cyrene, Acts 13:1) took the further step, when they came to Antioch, of addressing the Greeks, not the Hellenists as in AV (Græ cians, _cf._ RVm Grecian Jews), which would mean the Greek-speaking Jews, but the Greeks who were not Jews (p. 768). To them they preached the Lord Jesus. The title Lord is used here with accuracy. It is not much used in Ac. where the history is on Jewish ground; other titles were there th