Acts 4:36

And Joses The same name as Joseph, which form the oldest MSS. give.

who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas He was the companion of St Paul in his first missionary journey (Acts 13:2), and is often mentioned by St Luke. He was invited by St Paul to join him on his second journey, but as they disagreed about taking John Mark with them, they did not labour again, as far as we know, in the same field, and the writer leaves Barnabas (Acts 15:39) with the mention that "he took Mark and sailed to Cyprus."

which is, being interpreted The explanation is added for the sake of Theophilus, who may have had no knowledge of the Hebrew (see Acts 1:19).

son of consolation More probably, son of exhortation. The Greek may be thus rendered, and the Hebrew noun nebuahis from the same root as the common word for prophet. The title may have been given to Barnabas from his ability as a preacher (Acts 11:23), though in this he seems (Acts 14:12) to have been less prominent than St Paul, as most men must have been. In describing the work of Barnabas in Acts 11:23 the verb used, "he exhorted," is that from which the noun in this verse is derived, and is akin to the word "Paraclete," which is so often translated "Comforter" when applied to the Holy Ghost, but rendered "advocate" in 1 John 2:1 when used of the intercession of Jesus.

a Levite The Levites in the Holy Land had no inheritance given to them, but were scattered through all the tribes; the same regulation may not, however, have applied to the Levites in other countries; and we are not informed where the field was situated which Barnabas sold. He may also have been a married man, and have held lands from his marriage.

of the country of Cyprus The island still so called in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea. We find Jews settled there in the Maccabean times (1Ma 15:23). It was one of the places to which Paul and Barnabas went in their missionary journey, and it had been previously visited by some of the Christian teachers who were driven from Jerusalem by the persecution which succeeded the death of Stephen (Acts 11:19).