Acts 13:1

In the church at Antioch. See notes on Antioch in Acts 11:19-26, This was the "parent congregation" of the Gentile Christians. Antioch was the third most important city in the world at that time. Chrysostom writes that in his day (fourth century) Antioch had a population of 200,000, over half of whom were Christians, and that they supported 3,000 helpless poor people out of the church treasury, Prophets and teachers. Prophets had supernormal knowledge from the Holy Spirit. Teachers did not. See Ephesians 4:11 and note. Barnabas. See Acts 4:36. Simon. Some identify him with Simon from Cyrene (Matthew 27:32), but nothing is known of him. Lucius. Not the writer of Acts, but possibly one of the men in Acts 11:20 who planted the church here, perhaps the Lucius of Romans 16:21. Manaen. The Latin Vulgate calls him "foster-brother" to Herod [Antipas]. And Saul. Paul, the apostle.