Editing Barnabas (section)

== Biblical narrative ==
[[File:St-barnabé-veronese-rouen.jpg|thumb|''Barnabas curing the sick'' by [[Paolo Veronese]], [[Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen]], {{c.|1566}}]]
Barnabas appears mainly in [[Acts]], a history of the early [[Christian church]]. He also appears in several of [[Paul the Apostle|Paul's]] [[Paul's epistles|epistles]].

Barnabas, a native of [[Cyprus]] and a [[Levite]], is first mentioned in the [[Acts of the Apostles]] as a member of the early Christian community in [[Jerusalem]], who sold the land that he owned and gave the proceeds to the community.<ref name=toy/> When the future Paul the Apostle returned to Jerusalem after his conversion, Barnabas introduced him to the apostles. [[Matthew George Easton|Easton]], in his [[Easton's Bible Dictionary|Bible Dictionary]], supposes that they had been fellow students in the school of [[Gamaliel]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://eastonsbibledictionary.org/453-Barnabas.php|title=Barnabas|website=eastonsbibledictionary.org|access-date=2018-03-21|archive-date=2016-03-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316145025/http://eastonsbibledictionary.org/453-Barnabas.php|url-status=live}}</ref>

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 to [[Tarsus (city)|Tarsus]] 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.<ref name=fransmed>{{Cite web |url=https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-barnabas |title="Saint Barnabas", Saint of the Day, Franciscan Media |access-date=2021-09-27 |archive-date=2021-09-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927163759/https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-barnabas |url-status=live }}</ref>

They returned to Antioch taking [[John Mark]] with them, the cousin or nephew of Barnabas. Later, they went to Cyprus and some of the principal cities of [[Pamphylia]], [[Pisidia]], and [[Lycaonia]]. After recounting what the governor of Cyprus [[Sergius Paulus]] believed, Acts 13:9<ref>{{bibleverse|Acts|13:9}}</ref> speaks of Barnabas's spiritual brother no longer as Saul, but as Paul, his [[Roman naming conventions|Roman 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<ref name="bibleverse|Acts|14:14">{{bibleverse|Acts|14:14}}</ref> and Acts 15:12,25<ref>{{bibleverse|Acts|15:12–25}}</ref> 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,<ref>{{bibleverse|Acts|14:12}}</ref> 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 the [[Lystra]]ns regarded him as [[Hermes]] and Barnabas as [[Zeus]].<ref name=fransmed/>

Acts 14:14<ref name="bibleverse|Acts|14:14"/> is also the only biblical verse where Barnabas is referred to using the [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] word for [[Apostle (word)|Apostle]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://biblehub.com/interlinear/acts/14.htm|title=Acts 14 with the Greek-English intelrinear text|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709185734/https://biblehub.com/interlinear/acts/14.htm|archive-date=July 9, 2021|url-status=live|access-date=July 8, 2021}}</ref>

[[File:Breenbergh, Bartholomeus, Saints Paul and Barnabas at Lystra (Sacrifice at Lystra), 1637.jpg|thumb|left|''Saints Paul and Barnabas at Lystra (Sacrifice at Lystra)'' by [[Bartholomeus Breenberg]], 1637, [[Princeton University Art Museum]]]]

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.<ref name=fransmed/> According to Galatians 2:9–10, Barnabas was included with Paul in the agreement made between them, on the one hand, and [[James, brother of Jesus|James]], [[Saint Peter|Peter]], and [[John the Apostle|John]], 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 the [[Council of Jerusalem|council]] that [[Gentiles]] 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.<ref name=Fenlon>{{CE1913 |inline=1 |last=Fenlon |first=John Francis |wstitle=St. Barnabas |volume=2}}</ref> In Galatians 2:11–13,<ref>{{bibleverse|Galatians|2:11–13}}</ref> Paul says, "And when [[Kephas]] [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 took [[Silas]] as his companion, and journeyed through [[Syria]] and [[Cilicia]]; while Barnabas took John Mark to visit Cyprus.<ref name=Fenlon/>

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 wrote [[1 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).<ref name=Fenlon/>