Barnabas
Barnabas (“son of encouragement”) was the nickname that the apostles gave to Joseph, a prominent member of the early church (Acts 4:36). Barnabas was a companion of the apostle Paul in the early years of his ministry.
Barnabas was from the tribe of Levi, and was born on the island of Cyprus. He was also a man of some means, since he “owned a tract of land” (Acts 4:37 NASB)—but he was generous, for he sold his land and gave the money to the apostles.
When Barnabas saw God working among the Gentiles in Antioch, the third largest city in the Roman Empire (Kollmann, Barnabas, 19), he remained there to minister. Luke reports that Barnabas “was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith,” and adds that “considerable numbers were brought to the Lord” via his ministry
This accords with Luke’s report that Paul and Barnabas separated over a dispute about John Mark (Acts 15:37–39). Luke does not mention Barnabas’ withdrawal from the Gentiles, which was likely temporary.
Luke translates Barnabas into Greek as υἱὸς παρακλήσεως (huios paraklēseōs), which could be translated as “son of encouragement,” “son of comfort,” or “son of exhortation.”
Barnabas is represented in Acts as an outstanding evangelist”
Eusebius claims he was one of the Seventy (HE 1.12).
At Lystra Paul was called Hermes (because he was the real speaker) and Barnabas Zeus (14:12).
Barnabas (bar’-na-bas) = Son of exhortation; son of prophecy; son of consolation.
a Levite from Cyprus whose cognomen was Joseph and who became a member of the early Christian community in Jerusalem. He was surnamed “Barnabas” by the apostles. A Jew from the Dispersion who had moved to Jerusalem, Barnabas was a cousin of John Mark (Col. 4:10) and soon became a leader in the church
Acts speaks of Barnabas as “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith”
The fact that the second-century Epistle of Barnabas was attributed to him further speaks to the high regard in which he was held
And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.
There are ancient texts and inscriptions which speak of Zeus and Hermes arriving on earth and being entertained by an ordinary pair of mortals; there is some evidence to suggest that this old story belongs in the part of Turkey where Paul and Barnabas now found themselves. It may be that the townsfolk were, so to speak, always on the lookout in case it really happened one day
Paul and Barnabas are not only faced with the full show of pagan worship, but they are themselves identified with the very gods they have come to debunk! It is remarkable what can happen to a message when the hearers insist on inserting it firmly into their own worldview.
At this point, Luke tells us, some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, still righteously indignant at the message which flew in the face of their traditions—just at the point when Paul and Barnabas have been explaining that the message flies in the face of the pagan traditions as well
In the story, it is said that Jupiter (Zeus to the Greeks) and Atlas’s grandson (Mercury to the Romans; Hermes to the Greeks) visited a Phrygian village, but only one old couple welcomed respectfully and fed them extremely well, later survived the waters of a flood, then became priests, and were lastly transformed into trees together at the same moment.
Who we are (14:15b)
What we do (14:15c)
Who God is (14:15d–16)
What God does (14:17)
contrasts with that of Zeus and Hermes in the legend. The feared characters in the legend said, “We are gods”
The second assumption is based on a foolproof but untouched presumption. Being regarded as Hermes, Paul could have been stoned solely because he was considered as the lower deity than Zeus. They might have wanted to avoid stoning Barnabas, for the time being, as he was supposed as Zeus, “the greatest of the Olympian gods.”
what Barnabas saw was not just a large and motley crowd of unlikely-looking people crowding into someone’s house, praising God, and being taught about Jesus and the scriptures. What he saw was God’s grace at work. It took humility and faith to see that; Barnabas had both in spades, thanks to the work of the holy spirit in him.