NLT Illustrated Study Bible - Book of Acts - Flipbook - Page 39
A cts 1 3 : 6
1995
13:1
Acts 11:27
Rom 16:21
13:2
Acts 9:15
Gal 1:1516
13:3
Acts 6:6
13:5
Acts 9:20; 12:12
13:6
Matt 7:15
Acts 8:9
4. THE CHRISTIAN MESSAGE GOES
TO THE GENTILES (13:1–21:17)
Paul and Barnabas’s First Missionary
Journey from Antioch (13:1–14:28)
Barnabas and Saul Are Commissioned
Among the prophets and teachers of
the church at Antioch of Syria were
Barnabas, Simeo n (called “the black man”*),
Lucius (from Cyrene), Manaen (the child
hood companion of King Herod Antipas*),
and Saul. 2 One day as these men were wor
shiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit
said, “Appoint Barnabas and Saul for the
special work to which I have called them.”
3 So after more fasting and prayer, the men
13
laid their hands on them and sent them on
their way.
Barnabas and Saul in Cyprus
4 So Barnabas and Saul were sent out by the
Holy Spirit. They went down to the seaport
of Seleucia and then sailed for the island of
Cyprus. 5 There, in the town of Salamis, they
went to the Jewish synagogues and preached
the word of God. John Mark went with them
as their assistant.
6 Afterward they traveled from town to
town across the entire island until finally
they reached Paphos, where they met a Jew
ish sorcerer, a false prophet named Bar-Jesus.
13:1a Greek who was called Niger. 13:1b Greek Herod the tetrarch.
13:13 The prophets and teachers of
the church at Antioch spent significant
time in worship and prayer, earnestly
seeking the Lord’s will as they fasted
and opened themselves to divine direc
tion. As they prayed, the Holy Spirit
spoke to them, and they set apart
Barnabas and Saul in clear recogni
tion of God’s call for them to carry
out a special work in his name. The
believers’ inward journey in prayer and
listening to God is matched by their
outward journey in service, evange
lism, and mighty works of healing and
salvation.
13:1 prophets and teachers: See “The
Gift of Prophecy,” 21:911; see also
1 Cor 12:2829; Eph 4:11. • The name
Simeon suggests a Jewish background
(see Gen 29:33; Luke 2:25; 3:30); he is
also called “the black man”—he was
probably of African descent. • Lucius
is a Latin name; he came from Cyrene,
the capital of Libya in North Africa.
He was probably one of the preach
ers from Cyrene who had brought the
Christian message to Antioch (Acts
11:20). • Manaen had been brought
up with King Herod Antipas; he was
probably Luke’s source for insight into
Antipas’s thoughts and actions (see
Luke 9:79). • Barnabas and Saul are
prominently featured in the subse
quent narrative.
13:3 the men laid their hands on them:
This solemn act was only done after
more fasting and prayer; the Pastoral
Epistles warn against laying hands on
a person to appoint that person as a
Christian leader without due care and
diligence (1 Tim 5:22). At this point,
Barnabas and Saul were sent . . . on
their way as missionaries of the church
at Antioch.
13:4 Barnabas and Saul’s first mission
ary journey was undertaken with a
strong consciousness of the Holy Spirit
as their guide. • Seleucia was Antioch’s
ancient seaport, located about twelve
miles (20 km) west of the city at the
PROPHETS OF ISRAEL
ANTIOCH OF SYRIA (Acts 13:14)
Antioch was built about 300 bc by the Syrian emperor Seleucus I in honor of
his father Antiochus (see “Hellenistic Kingdoms,” Dan 11:439). Antioch was a
busy, cosmopolitan center of trade, religious ferment, and high levels of intel
lectual and political life. The city played an important role in the book of Acts.
Nicholas from Antioch became one of the first deacons in the early church
(Acts 6:5). Jewish Christians fled to Antioch from fierce persecution in Jeru
salem (11:19). Antioch became an important center for early combined Jewish
and Gentile Christianity, and the church there helped support the church
in Jerusalem through a famine (11:2730). Barnabas and Paul were active
as leaders in the Antioch church, and were sent as missionaries from there
(13:13; see “Journeys of Paul and Barnabas,” Acts 13:1–14:28; 15:36–21:17;
27:1–28:16). Antioch continued as an important center for the development
of Christian theology until about the ad 700s.
mouth of the Orontes River. • Their jour
ney took them westward by sea to the
island of Cyprus, which was Barnabas’s
homeland (4:36).
13:5 Landing in the town of Salamis on
the eastern end of Cyprus, they went to
the Jewish synagogues (see note on 9:2),
where the Jews could hear and respond
to the Christian message. They would
also meet converts to Judaism (see note
on 13:43) and spiritually hungry Gentiles
who are sometimes described as “God-
fearers” (see note on 10:2).
GOSPELS & ACTS
13:612 At Paphos there was a power
struggle with a false prophet, with the
result that the power of God was mani
fested and the Roman governor became
a believer.
13:6 Paphos was located on the south
west coast of Cyprus. As the leading city
of Cyprus, it was of strategic importance.
• a Jewish sorcerer . . . named Bar-Jesus:
Such eastern magicians often exercised
a tremendous influence in the Greco-
Roman world.
L E T T E R S O F PAU L
OTHER LET TERS
