Barnabas' story appears in the Acts of the Apostles, and Paul mentions him in some of hisepistles.Tertullian named him as the author of theEpistle to the Hebrews,[3] but this and other attributions are conjecture. TheEpistle of Barnabas was ascribed to him byClement of Alexandria and others in the early church[4] and the epistle is included under his name inCodex Sinaiticus, the earliest extant manuscript of the complete New Testament.[5] A minority of modern scholars concur with this traditional attribution[6][7]
Christian tradition holds that Barnabas wasmartyred atSalamis, Cyprus, but this is historically unverifiable. He is traditionally identified as the founder of theCypriot Orthodox Church. Thefeast day of Barnabas is celebrated on 11 June.
HisHellenicJewish parents called him Joseph (although theByzantine text-type calls himἸωσῆς,Iōsēs, 'Joses', aGreek variant of 'Joseph'),[1] but when recounting the story of how he sold his land and gave the money to the apostles inJerusalem, theBook of Acts says the apostles called him Barnabas. (The "s" at the end is the Greek nominative case ending, and it is not present in the Aramaic form.) The Greek text ofActs 4:36 explains the name asυἱὸς παρακλήσεως,hyios paraklēseōs, meaning "son of encouragement" or "son of comforter". One theory is that this is from theAramaicבר נחמה,bar neḥmā, meaning 'son (of) consolation'. Another theory derives the name fromAramaicבר נביא,bar neviyā, meaning "son of the prophet".[9][10] In theSyriac Bible, the explanation of Barnabas's name in Acts 4:36 is translatedܒܪܐ ܕܒܘܝܐܐbara dbuya'a "son of consolation."[11] In any case, the author of Acts embraces this etymology of Barnabas's name by creating a wordplay (afigura etymologica) on it in Acts 11:22–24, where he records that Barnabas “son of encouragement” (υἱὸς παρακλήσεωςhyios paraklēseōs) was sent to Antioch, where he “encouraged” (παρεκάλειparekalei) everyone to remain in the Lord with steadfastness of heart.[12]
Barnabas appears mainly inActs, a history of the earlyChristian church. He also appears in several ofPaul'sepistles.Barnabas, a native ofCyprus and aLevite, is first mentioned in theActs of the Apostles as a member of the early Christian community inJerusalem, who sold the land that he owned andgave the proceeds to the community.[1] When the future Paul the Apostle returned to Jerusalem after his conversion, Barnabas introduced him to the apostles.Easton, in hisBible Dictionary, supposes that they had been fellow students in the school ofGamaliel.[13]
The successful preaching of Christianity at Antioch to non-Jews led the church at Jerusalem to send Barnabas there to oversee the movement. He found the work so extensive and weighty that he went toTarsus in search of Paul (still referred to as Saul), "an admirable colleague", to assist him. Paul returned with him to Antioch and labored with him for a whole year. At the end of this period, the two were sent up to Jerusalem (44 AD) with contributions from the church at Antioch for the relief of the poorer Christians in Judea.[14]
They returned to Antioch takingJohn Mark with them, the cousin or nephew of Barnabas. Later, they went to Cyprus and some of the principal cities ofPamphylia,Pisidia, andLycaonia. After recounting what the governor of CyprusSergius Paulus believed, Acts 13:9[15] speaks of Barnabas's spiritual brother no longer as Saul, but as Paul, hisRoman name. From that point forward, when Acts refers to the two as a pair, it generally no longer uses "Barnabas and Saul", but "Paul and Barnabas". Only in Acts 14:14[2] and Acts 15:12,25[16] does Barnabas again occupy the first place; in Acts 14:14 with reference to Barnabas being mentioned first two verses earlier in Acts 14:12,[17] and in Acts 15:12,25, because Barnabas stood in closer relation to the Jerusalem church than Paul. Paul appears as the more eloquent missionary, whence theLystrans regarded him asHermes and Barnabas asZeus.[14]
Acts 14:14[2] is also the only biblical verse where Barnabas is referred to using theGreek word forApostle.[18]
Returning from this first missionary journey to Antioch, they were again sent up to Jerusalem to consult with the church there regarding the relation of Gentiles to the church.[14] According to Galatians 2:9–10, Barnabas was included with Paul in the agreement made between them, on the one hand, andJames,Peter, andJohn, on the other, that the two former should in the future preach to the pagans, not forgetting the poor at Jerusalem. This matter having been settled, they returned again to Antioch, bringing the agreement of thecouncil thatGentiles were to be admitted into the church without having to adopt Jewish practices.
After Paul and Barnabas returned from the Jerusalem council to Antioch, Peter also came to Antioch. Peter associated freely with the Gentiles there, including eating with them, until he was criticized for this by some disciples of James, as doing so was contrary to Mosaic law. Peter then refused to eat any longer with the Gentiles, apparently through fear of displeasing these disciples, and Barnabas followed his example. Paul then stated that Peter and Barnabas "walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel" (Galatians 2:14) and upbraided them before the whole church.[19] In Galatians 2:11–13,[20] Paul says, "And whenKephas [Peter] came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he clearly was wrong. For, until some people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to draw back and separated himself, because he was afraid of the circumcised. And the rest of the Jews (also) acted hypocritically along with him, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy."
Paul then asked Barnabas to accompany him on another journey. Barnabas wished to take John Mark along, but Paul did not, as John Mark had left them on the earlier journey. The dispute ended by Paul and Barnabas taking separate routes. Paul tookSilas as his companion, and journeyed throughSyria andCilicia; while Barnabas took John Mark to visit Cyprus.[19]
Little is known of the subsequent career of Barnabas. He was still living and labouring as an Apostle in 56 or 57 AD, when Paul wrote1 Corinthians (1 Corinthians 9:5–6), in which it is stated that he, too, like Paul, earned his own living. The reference indicates also that the friendship between the two was unimpaired. A few years later, when Paul was a prisoner in Rome (61–63 AD), John Mark was attached to him as a disciple, which is regarded as an indication that Barnabas was no longer living (Colossians 4:10).[19]
Antioch, the third-most important city of the Roman Empire after Rome and Alexandria,[21] then the capital city ofSyria province, todayAntakya, Turkey, was where Christians were first called thus.[22]
Some of those who had been scattered by the persecution that arose because of Stephen went to Antioch, which became the site of an early Christian community.[23] A considerable minority of the Antioch church of Barnabas's time belonged to the merchant class, and they provided support to the poorer Jerusalem church.[24]
Church tradition developed outside of the canon of the New Testament describes the martyrdom of many saints, including the legend of the martyrdom of Barnabas.[25] It relates that certain Jews coming to Syria and Salamis, where Barnabas was then preaching the gospel, being highly exasperated at his extraordinary success, fell upon him as he was disputing in the synagogue, dragged him out, and stoned him to death. His kinsman, John Mark, privately interred his body.[26]
Although it is believed he wasmartyred by being stoned, theapocryphalActs of Barnabas states that he was bound with a rope by the neck, and then being dragged only to the site where he would be burned to death.[citation needed]
According to theHistory of the Cyprus Church,[27] in 478 Barnabas appeared in a dream to the ArchbishopAnthemios of Cyprus and revealed to him the place of his sepulchre beneath acarob-tree. The following day Anthemios found the tomb and inside it the remains of Barnabas with a manuscript of Matthew's Gospel on his breast. Anthemios presented the Gospel to EmperorZeno atConstantinople and received from him the privileges of theGreek Orthodox Church of Cyprus, that is, the purple cloak which theGreek Archbishop of Cyprus wears at festivals of the church, the imperial sceptre and the red ink with which he affixes his signature.[28]
Anthemios then placed the venerable remains of Barnabas in a church which he founded near the tomb. Excavations near the site of a present-day church and monastery, have revealed an early church with two empty tombs, believed to be that of St. Barnabas and Anthemios.[29]
St. Barnabas is venerated as thepatron saint ofCyprus. He is also considered a patron saint in many other places in the world, includingMilan inItaly. On the island ofTenerife (Spain), St. Barnabas was invoked in historical times as patron saint and protector of the island's fields against drought, together withSt. Benedict of Nursia.[30]
Although many assume that the biblicalMark the cousin of Barnabas[32] is the same as John Mark[33] andMark the Evangelist, the traditionally believed author of theGospel of Mark, they are listed as three distinct people inPseudo-Hippolytus'On the Seventy Apostles of Christ, which includes Barnabas himself as one of theSeventy-Two Disciples.[34] There are two people named Barnabas among Hippolytus' list of Seventy Disciples, One (#13) became the bishop of Milan, the other (#25) the bishop of Heraclea. Most likely one of these two is the biblical Barnabas; the first one is more likely, because the numbering by Hippolytus seems to indicate a level of significance, and Barnabas is traditionally credited with founding theSee of Milan.Clement of Alexandria[35] also makes Barnabas one of theSeventy Disciples that are mentioned in theGospel of Luke.[36]
Other sources bring Barnabas toRome andAlexandria. In the"Clementine Recognitions" (i, 7) he is depicted as preaching in Rome even during Christ's lifetime.
Cypriots developed the tradition of his later activity and martyrdom no earlier than the 3rd century. The question whether Barnabas was an apostle was often discussed during the Middle Ages.[37]
Tertullian and other Western writers regard Barnabas as the author of theLetter to the Hebrews. This may have been the Roman tradition—which Tertullian usually follows—and it may have been in Rome that the epistle had its first readers. Modern biblical scholarship considers its authorship unknown, though Barnabas is one of those who has been proposed as a possible author.[38]
"Photius of the ninth century, refers to some in his day who were uncertain whether the Acts was written by Clement of Rome, Barnabas, or Luke. Yet Photius is certain that the work must be ascribed to Luke."[39]
He is also traditionally associated with theEpistle of Barnabas, although some modern scholars think it more likely that the epistle was written in Alexandria in the 130s.
The 5th centuryDecretum Gelasianum includes aGospel of Barnabas amongst works condemned asapocryphal; but no certain text or quotation from this work has been identified.
Another book using that same title, theGospel of Barnabas, survives in two post-medieval manuscripts in Italian from the 16th century and Spanish from the 17th century.[40] Contrary to the canonical ChristianGospels, and in accordance with theIslamic view of Jesus, this later Gospel of Barnabas states thatJesus was not God or theson of God, but aprophet and messenger and that he was not killed or crucified but thatJudas Iscariot by God’s miracle was transformed to look like Jesus and was crucified in his place as a divine punishment from God for his betrayal of Jesus and describesPaul as a false prophet who was deceived and deceived others into making others believe that the law was abrogated, permitting every unclean meat, abrogating circumcision laws and deifying Jesus. It also states that Jesus explicitly gave the good news of Prophet Muhammad to come after him by name.
In 1538, the Catholic religious order officially known as "Clerics Regular of St. Paul" (Clerici Regulares Sancti Pauli), acquired as their main seat the monastery of Saint Barnabas by the city wall ofMilan. The Order was thenceforth known by the popular name ofBarnabites.[41]
^Origen (Contra Celsum, 1.63;De Principii, 3.2.4), Serapion of Thmuis (Concerning Father and Son), Didymus the Blind (Commentary on Zechariah), Jerome (Lives of Illustrious Men, 6), et al.
^GA 01 (א), London:Sinaiticus, library BL, folio 334. Dated to c. 340 AD.[1]
^J.B. Burger, "L'Enigme de Barnabas," 180-193; andSimon Tugwell [Wikidata],The Apostolic Fathers, 44; cf. Lardner, Wake, Pearson, Gieseler, et al.
^abc One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Fenlon, John Francis (1907). "St. Barnabas". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
^CompareC. J. Hefele,Das Sendschreiben des Apostels Barnabas, Tübingen, 1840;Otto Braunsberger, "Der Apostel Barnabas," Mainz, 1876.
^Mitchell, Alan C.Hebrews (Liturgical Press, 2007) p. 6.
^Commentary on the ActsArchived 2014-06-18 at theWayback Machine Edwin Wilbur Rice, 1900, p.7. Adolf Harnack mistakenly wrote that Photius believed Barnabas was the author in the 1908 Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Volume 1, p. 487
^CompareT. Zahn,Geschichte des neutestamentlichen Kanons, ii, 292, Leipsig, 1890.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Fenlon, John Francis (1907). "St. Barnabas". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
Die Apostolischen Väter. Griechisch-deutsche Parallelausgabe. J.C.B. Mohr Tübingen 1992.ISBN3-16-145887-7
Der Barnabasbrief. Übersetzt und erklärt von Ferdinand R. Prostmeier. Series: Kommentar zu den Apostolischen Vätern (KAV, Vol. 8). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht: Göttingen 1999.ISBN3-525-51683-5
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