Acts 4:36

Ἰωσῆς δὲ : δέ introduces the special case of Barnabas after the general statement in Acts 4:34. ὁ ἐπικ., cf. Acts 1:23. On what occasion this surname was conferred by the Apostles nothing certain is known (ἀπό as often for ὑπό, Acts 2:22), although the fact that it was conferred by them may indicate that he owed his conversion to them. Possibly it may not have been bestowed until later, and reference may here be made to it simply to identify him (Nösgen). βαρνάβας : most commonly derived from בַּר נְבוּאָה (“quod neque ad sensum neque ad litteras prorsus convenit,” Blass) = properly υἱὸς προφητείας. But St. Luke, it is argued, renders this υἱὸς παρακλήσεως, because under the threefold uses of prophecy, 1 Corinthians 14:3, the special gift of παράκλησις distinguished Barnabas, cf. Acts 11:23. So Harnack (whose full article “Barnabas” should be consulted, Real-Encyclopädie für prot. Theol. und Kirche,” xv., 410) explains it as indicating a prophet in the sense in which the word was used in the early Church, Acts 15:32 (Acts 11:23), παράκλησις = edifying exhortation. But not only is בַּר an Aramaic word, whilst נבואה is Hebrew, but the above solution of St. Luke's translation is by no means satisfactory (see Zöckler, in loco). In 1 Corinthians 14:3 παράκ. might equally mean consolation, cf. 2 Corinthians 1:3-7, and it is translated “comfort” (not “exhortation”) in the R.V. In St. Luke's Gospel the word is used twice, Luke 2:25; Luke 6:24, and in both passages it means comfort, consolation, cf. the cognate verb in Acts 16:25. Another derivation has been suggested by Klostermann, Probleme im Aposteltexte, pp. 8 14. He maintains that both parts of the word are Aramaic, בר and נְוָחָא, solatium, and that therefore St. Luke's translation is quite justified. Blass however points out that as in the former derivation so here there is a difficulty in the connection between βαρνάβας and the somewhat obscure Aramaic word. In the conversion of Barnabas, the first man whose heart was so touched as to join him, in spite of his Levitical status and culture, to ignorant and unlettered men, the Apostles might well see a source of hope and comfort (cf. Genesis 5:29), Klostermann, p. 13. It is also worthy of note that the LXX frequently uses παράκλησις as a translation of the common Hebrew words for comfort or consolation; cf. Job 21:2, Ps. 93:19, Isaiah 57:8; Jeremiah 16:17, etc., and cf. Psalms of Solomon 13, title, παράκλησις τῶν δικαίων. On the whole question, Deissmann, Bibelstudien, p. 175 ff., should be consulted. Deissmann, referring to an inscription recently discovered in Northern Syria, in the old Nicopolis, probably of the third or fourth century A.D., explains the word as follows: The inscription contains the name βαρνεβοῦν, which. considers rightly = Son of Nebo; cf., e.g., Symmachus, Isaiah 46:1, who renders נְבוֹ, Nebo (transcribed by the LXX, Aquila and Theodotion, Ναβώ), by Νεβοῦς. The view of the connection or identity of βαρνάβας with βαρνεβοῦς is facilitated by the fact that in other words the ε sound in Nebo is replaced by [167]; cf. Ne buchadnezar = LXX Ναβουχοδονοσορ, so Ne buzaradan = LXX Ναβουζαρδαν. Very probably therefore βαρναβοῦς will occur instead of βαρνεβοῦς and the Jews themselves might easily have converted βαρναβοῦς into βαρναβᾶς ας being the constant termination of Greek names. In his Neue Bibelstudien, p. 16, Deissmann is able to refer to an Aramaic inscription from Palmyra, dating 114 A.D., with the word Barnebo, and cf. also Enc. Bibl., i., 484. Λευεΐτης : although the Levites were not allowed to hold possessions in land, since God Himself was their portion (Numbers 18:20; Deuteronomy 10:9), yet they could do so by purchase or inheritance, cf. Jeremiah 32:7-12, or it is possible that the field of Barnabas may not have been in Palestine at all (see Bengel, but, on the other hand, Wendt, in loco), and that the same Messianic regulations may not have applied to the Levites in other countries (Wetstein). It would also seem that after the Captivity the distribution of land, according to the Mosaic Law, was no longer strictly observed (Overbeck, Hackett (Hastings' B.D.), “Barnabas,” e.g., Josephus, a Levite and Priest, has lands in the vicinity of Jerusalem, and gains others in exchange for them from Vespasian, Vita, 76. Κύπριος τῷ γένει : soon after the time of Alexander, and possibly before it, Jews had settled in Cyprus, and 1Ma 15:23 indicates that they were there in good numbers. This is the first mention of it in the N.T.; see also Acts 11:19-20; Acts 13:4-13; Acts 15:39; Acts 20:16, and the geographical notices in Acts 21:3; Acts 27:4. From the neighbouring island, Cyprus, Barnabas might well have been sent to the famous University of Tarsus, and so have made the acquaintance of Saul. In this way the previous acquaintance between the two men goes far to explain succeeding events, Acts 9:27 : see “Cyprus,” B.D. (Hastings), Hamburger, Real-Encyclopädie des Judentums, i. 2, 216. γένει, “a man of Cyprus by race,” R.V. not “of the country of Cyprus”: γένει refers to his parentage and descent, cf. Acts 18:2; Acts 18:24.

[167] A(ntiochena), in Blass, a fair rough copy of St. Luke.