Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 15:35
Paul also and Barnabas continued in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.
35. teaching and preaching the word of the Lord ] In such a community there was need not only of setting forth Jesus as the Saviour, but of much instruction concerning the ways in which God had shewn that the Gentiles were now to be made partakers of the new covenant. So that the two verbs should not be taken one as an explanation of the other.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Paul also, and Barnabas, continued in Antioch – How long a time is unknown. It is probable that at this time the unhappy incident occurred between Paul and Peter which is recorded in Gal 2:11-14.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Judas only returned to Jerusalem, to acquaint the apostles with the reception their letter had met with, and what obedience was readily given to their decrees; so that when these went away the church at Antioch was not left destitute of faithful pastors. When God gives the word, great is the multitude of preachers, Psa 68:11.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
35. Paul . . . and Barnabascontinued in Antioch, teachingto the disciples.
and preachingto thosewithout.
the word of the Lord, withmany othersother laborers.
alsoHow rich mustAntioch at this time have been in the ministrations of the Gospel!(For a painful scene on this occasion between Paul and Peter,see Ga 2:11-14).
Ac15:36-46. DISSENSION BETWEENPAUL AND BARNABASTHEYPART COMPANYTO PROSECUTESEPARATE MISSIONARYTOURS.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Paul also and Barnabas continued in Antioch,…. As well as Silas: teaching and preaching the word of the Lord; the Gospel of Christ; not the word of men, but the word of the Lord, of which he is both the author and subject: this they preached in season, and out of season, with power, purity, plainness, and faithfulness.
And many others also; who either came along with them from Jerusalem, when they brought the letter from thence, or were here before; who came hither upon the persecution raised at the death of Stephen, Ac 11:19 or they were the prophets which afterwards came from Jerusalem thither, Ac 11:27 such as Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, Ac 13:1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Tarried (). Imperfect active of , old verb to pass time, seen already in Acts 12:19; Acts 14:3; Acts 14:28.
With many others also ( ). A time of general revival and naturally so after the victory at Jerusalem. It is at this point that it is probable that the sad incident took place told by Paul in Ga 2:11-21. Peter came up to see how things were going in Antioch after Paul’s victory in Jerusalem. At first Peter mingled freely with the Greek Christians without the compunctions shown at Caesarea and for which he had to answer in Jerusalem (Ac 11:1-18). Rumours of Peter’s conduct reached Jerusalem and the Judaizers saw a chance to reopen the controversy on the line of social customs, a matter not passed on at the Jerusalem Conference. These Judaizers threaten Peter with a new trial and he surrenders and is followed by Barnabas and all the Jewish brethren in Antioch to the dismay of Paul who boldly rebuked Peter and Barnabas and won them back to his view. It was a crisis. Some would even date the Epistle to the Galatians at this time also, an unlikely hypothesis.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “Paul also and Barnabas continued in Antioch,” (Paulos de kai Barnabas dietribon en Antiocheia) “Then Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch,” where they had begun their associate teaching ministry, some ten years earlier, Act 11:25-26.
2) “Teaching and preaching the word of the Lord,” (didaskontes kai euangelizomenoi ton logon tou kuriou) “Continually or repeatedly teaching and preaching the Word of the Lord,” to both the saved and unsaved, as they had opportunity.
3) “With many others also.” (meta kai heteron pollon) “With many others (other teachers and preachers) as well.” This Antioch church was a Bible Study church, a Bible teaching church that supported Christian Education, Benevolence, and Missions as evidenced.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(35) Preaching the word of the Lord.Here, as often elsewhere, preaching the glad tidings of the word.
With many others.Among these we may fairly reckon the prophets of Act. 13:1. Looking to the later history of the Church of Antioch, it is not improbable that we may think also of the martyr Ignatius, and Euodius, afterwards Bishop of Antioch, as among those who were thus active, though they were not prominent enough, when St. Luke wrote, to be specially named. Ignatius was said to have been, together with Polycarp, a disciple of St. John (Mart. Ignat. c. 3), while another tradition represents him as a follower of Peter. It is possible that the dispute between St. Peter and St. Paul, referred to in Gal. 2:11-13, occurred during this period, but the evidence on the whole tends to connect it with St. Pauls visit to Antioch in Act. 18:22, where see Note.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
35. Teaching Unfolding the system of Christian truths.
Preaching Awakening the Christian emotions by impressive appeals.
Many others Successful preaching and revivals generally make new preachers.
PAUL’S SECOND MISSION from Antioch, through Syria and Asia Minor, into Europe; namely, in Northern Greece, Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea; in Southern Greece, Athens, and Corinth; thence back by sea, touching Ephesus, Cesarea, and Jerusalem, to Antioch, Act 15:36 to Act 18:23.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘But Paul and Barnabas tarried in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.’
Everything now having settled down, and the crisis being over, Paul and Barnabas now returned to the situation as it had been in Act 14:28. It was as though the crisis had never been. All was as it was before the interruption, with the added blessing that the issue had been resolved once and for all as far as they were concerned. They continued with their teaching and preaching of ‘the word of the Lord’ in Antioch, along with many others who did the same. And the result of the wise decision that had been reached was that the word which had come from God, the word about ‘the Lord’, continued to spread and be multiplied.
Note.
We see here that the spreading of the word continues to be the central theme and all else is built into it. It is that which is central to Acts and what appear to be the ‘major themes’ such as Stephen’s martyrdom, the conversion of Saul, the gathering of the Apostles and elders at Jerusalem in order to examine Peter, the persecution of Herod Agrippa, and the necessity for this further gathering of the Apostles and elders in order to reach this important decision, are all seen as simply a part of that ongoing movement of the word and a means to that end. Again and again it is to the fact of the spreading of the word that we are brought back. The purpose of these ‘decrees’ was in order that the churches might be made strong in the faith and continue to increase in number daily (Act 16:5, compare Act 2:47) as the word spread. For they too were to aid in the spreading of the word.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
35 Paul also and Barnabas continued in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.
Ver. 35. Teaching and preaching ] i.e. Being instant and earnest, non frigidi docent, sed instant et urgent, saith Calvin here; they lay their bones to the Lord’s work, they set their sides and their shoulders to it, as those that would do the deed.
With many others also ] In the primitive times, saith Mr Baxter (Pref. to Saint’s Everlasting Rest), every church had many ministers, wherefore the ablest speakers did preach most in public; and the rest did the more of the less public work. But now sacrilege and covetousness will scarcely leave maintenance for one in a church, &c.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
35. ] , to those who had received it, , to those who had not.
36 CH. Act 18:22 . ] PAUL’S SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY (unaccompanied by Barnabas, on account of a difference between them) THROUGH ASIA MINOR TO MACEDONIA AND GREECE, AND THENCE BY SEA, TOUCHING AT EPHESUS, TO JERUSALEM AND BACK TO ANTIOCH.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Act 15:35 . , cf. Act 12:19 , and see also on Act 16:12 . In LXX cf. Lev 14:8 , Jer 42 (35):7, Jdt 10:2 , 2Ma 14:23 . So also in classics with or without . . .: possibly the first may refer to work inside the Church, and the second to work outside, but the distinction can scarcely be pressed. Within this time, according to Wendt, falls the incident between Paul and Peter, Gal 2:11 . On the other hand, see Weiss, Apostelgeschichte , p. 194, who thinks that the excludes, Gal 2 , etc., but the phrase is very indefinite, and may have included months as well as days, cf. Act 16:12 , and Act 9:23 . On the incident referred to see additional note at end of chapter.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Paul also = But Paul.
continued. Greek. diatribo. See note on Act 12:19.
preaching. Greek. euangelizo. App-121.
others. Greek. heteros. App-124.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
35.] , to those who had received it,-, to those who had not.
36-CH. Act 18:22.] PAULS SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY (unaccompanied by Barnabas, on account of a difference between them) THROUGH ASIA MINOR TO MACEDONIA AND GREECE, AND THENCE BY SEA, TOUCHING AT EPHESUS, TO JERUSALEM AND BACK TO ANTIOCH.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
continued: Act 13:1, Act 14:28
teaching: Act 28:31, Mat 28:19, Mat 28:20, Col 1:28, 1Ti 2:7, 2Ti 4:2
Reciprocal: Act 9:27 – Barnabas Act 11:19 – Antioch Act 11:22 – and they Act 15:25 – Barnabas Act 18:22 – he went 1Co 14:36 – came
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
5
Act 15:35. Paul and Barnabas remained at Antioch for the time, since that was their regular headquarters. They employed their time teaching and preaching the word. The italicized words are used interchangeably all through the New Testament because the distinction is slight. The second has special reference to the first announcement of the Gospel, and the first meaning to give further instruction concerning the things preached.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Act 15:35. Paul also and Barnabas continued in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord. During this residence of Paul in the Syrian metropolis the dispute took place between Paul and Peter related in the Galatian letter, Gal 2:11-16. This is not told here. The writer of the Acts did not omit this episode because he wished to pass over in silence this grave difference of opinion between the two great Christian leaders; the purpose of this early church history was not to record the principal events in the lives of either Peter or Paul, but simply to tell the story of the foundation of the Christian Church, and how in the first thirty years the doctrines of Jesus were carried by the first missionary preachers from Jerusalem to Antioch, and from Antioch to Rome. The dispute in question was followed by no important consequences. The sorrowful incident is thus graphically related (in the Life of Paul, Conybeare and Howson, chap. 7): At this time certain Jewish brethren came from James, who presided over the Church at Jerusalem. Whether they were really sent on some mission by the Apostle James, or we are merely to understand that they came from Jerusalem, they brought with them their old Hebrew repugnance against social intercourse with the uncircumcised; and Peter in their society began to vacillate. In weak compliance with their prejudices, he withdrew and separated himself from those whom he had lately treated as brethren and equals in Christ. Just as in an earlier part of his life he had first asserted his readiness to follow his Master to death, and then denied Him through fear of a maid-servant; so now, after publicly protesting against the notion of making any difference between the Jew and the Gentile, and against laying on the neck of the latter a yoke which the former had never been able to bear, we find him contradicting his own principles, and, through fear of those who were of the circumcision, giving all the sanction of his example to the introduction of caste into the Church of Christ. . . . Other Jewish Christians, as was naturally to be expected, were led away by his example; and even Barnabas, the chosen companion of the Apostle of the Gentiles, who had been a witness and an actor in all the great transactions in Cyprus, in Pisidia, and Lycaonia,even Barnabas the missionary was carried away with the dissimulation of the rest. When St. Paul was a spectator of such inconsistency, and perceived both the motive in which it originated and the results to which it was leading, he would have been a traitor to his Masters cause if he had hesitated (to use his own emphatic words) to rebuke Peter before all, and to withstand him to the face.
How long the division between Peter and Paul continued we know not, but it is very pleasant to turn to a passage at the conclusion of one of St. Peters letters, where, in speaking of the long- suffering of our Lord, and of the prospect of sinless happiness in the world to come, he alludes in touching words to the epistles of our beloved brother Paul. We see how entirely past differences are forgotten, how all earthly misunderstandings are absorbed and lost in the contemplation of Christ and the eternal life. Respecting St. Peters visit to and connection with Antioch, there is an ancient and well-known tradition which represents St. Peter as having held the see of Antioch for seven years before that of Rome. The tradition, however, cannot be said to be supported by what we know of the history of the apostle.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
35. The city of Antioch still continued to be a profitable field for apostolic labor, and the scene of interesting events. (35) “Paul and Barnabas also continued in Antioch, with many others, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord.” It is during this period that the most judicious commentators locate the visit of Peter to Antioch, and the rebuke administered to him by Paul, as recorded in the second chapter of Galatians; “When Peter came to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. For before the coming of certain persons from James, he did eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their dissimulation.”
It has been erroneously supposed that Peter, in this affair, acted in direct conflict with the epistle which he had just united in addressing to the Gentile brethren. The harshness of this supposition has led some writers to hastily conclude that his improper conduct must have occurred at a period antecedent to the issuing of that epistle. It is also urged in favor of an earlier date of the incident, that, if it had occurred subsequent to the publication of that epistle, Paul would naturally have appealed to it in the controversy with Peter, which he seems not to have done. Both of these suppositions spring from a mistake as to the exact fault of which Peter was guilty. He did not insist that the Gentiles should be circumcised, or that they should keep the law; which were the points discussed in the apostolic epistle. But, still admitting the right of the uncircumcised to membership and its privileges, his fault was in refusing to eat with them in their private circles, although he had himself been the first to do so in the family of Cornelius, and had done so, for a time, even since he came to Antioch. In opposing such conduct, it would not have answered Paul’s purpose to appeal to the epistle from Jerusalem; for it merely asserted the freedom of the Gentiles from the yoke of the law, without prescribing the intercourse that should exist between the circumcised and uncircumcised brethren. The course of argument which he did pursue was the only one available. He convicted Peter of inconsistency, saying, “If you, being a Jew, live like a Gentile, and not like a Jew, why do you require the Gentiles to live like Jews?” He had lived like a Gentile while eating with them; but now, by withdrawing from them, he was virtually saying to them, You must live like the Jews. This was inconsistent, and made it appear that either he was now a transgressor, while building up the Jewish prejudices, or had formerly been, while seeking to break them down. “For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.”
But the proof of inconsistency in an opponent never settles a question of truth or duty. After you have proved your opponent inconsistent, you have still to prove that his present course differs from what truth requires, as well as from his former course. Moral inconsistency convicts a man as a transgressor, but whether a transgressor now, or formerly, is still an open question. Paul, therefore, proceeded to prove Peter’s present conduct improper, by stating as an undisputed fact, “I, through the law, am dead to the law, that I might live to God;” that is, by the limitation which the law prescribes to itself, it has ceased to bind me, and I have ceased to live under it. This fact was decisive, because all the distinction assumed to exist between the circumcised and uncircumcised was based upon the supposition that the former, at least, were still under the law.
This is the last passage in Acts connected with the Apostle Peter. Before leaving it, we must notice one fact in connection with this unhappy incident in his life which far outweighs the dissimulation rebuked by Paul. It is the manner in which he received this rebuke. There is not the least evidence of any resentment on his part, either for the rebuke itself, or for the subsequent publication of it to the Churches in Galatia. Most men become offended when thus rebuked by their equals, and would regard it as an unpardonable offense to give unnecessary publicity to a fault of this kind. But Paul knew so well the goodness of Peter’s heart, that he did not hesitate to speak of it to the world and to future generations. That he did not overestimate the meekness of Peter, is evident from the fact that the latter subsequently spoke most affectionately of Paul, with direct allusion to his epistles, and with a publicity equal to that which his own sin had received. This excellence of Peter’s character was known to other brethren besides Paul, as is evident from the freedom with which all the four evangelists speak of his denial of the Lord. They might have omitted this incident from their narratives, if they had been influenced by that pride and sensitiveness which prompt men to hide the faults of their leaders, or if they had thought that the publication of it would give serious offense to Peter. But they knew Peter, and, we must presume, they knew that he was willing for any fault of his, however discreditable, to be published to the world, if it would do any good. This is the spirit of self-sacrifice with which every servant of God should offer himself to the cause of Christ.
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
DISRUPTION AND FINAL SEPARATION OF BARNABAS AND PAUL
35-39. The Greek word for contention is paroxysm, which now means an earthquake shock, which, you see, has a superlative signification. Paul and Barnabas were both sanctified wholly, and filled with the Holy Ghost. Perfect love is the bravest thing in the world; full salvation makes you positive enough to die in your tracks, when you know you are right. Paul and Barnabas were both right in this matter, and yet diametrically opposite. Consequently, there was no chance but to separate. Mark was merely incidental to the paroxysm. Paul was right in refusing to take him, because he had retreated from the field during the former campaign. Barnabas was right in sympathizing with his young, cowardly nephew (Col 4:10), and giving him another chance, which proved a success, so that Mark made an efficient preacher, and actually wrote the gospel of our Lord, and finally sealed his faith with his blood in Alexandria, Egypt. Paul appreciated him, and afterward called him to his work. The simple solution of the matter is, God was in the transaction. Paul had started out the junior preacher, with Barnabas, and actually revolutionized the ticket, and come to the front. Barnabas was an able leader, and Paul now more so. Hence it was a waste of ammunition for them longer to go together. It is now high time for each one to lead an evangelistic party the balance of his life. Here the curtain falls over Barnabas, that great and good man, and we never hear of him afterward. Doubtless, like his apostolical comrades, he lived a hero and died a martyr. The simple reason why we hear no more of him is because Luke, the historian, no longer accompanied him to write up his history, but went with Paul, though he is too modest even to tell us so, simply specifying that Mark went with Barnabas, and Silas with Paul.
41,42. Henceforth this inspired history all focalizes around Paul, who now, with Silas and Luke, travels through Syria and Cilicia (his native land) establishing the churches. In former years they had organized many churches, i. e., little holiness bands, in those great heathen countries. On this tour there is no mention of a single convert, the time, everywhere, being devoted to the establishment of the saints, i. e., getting them sanctified and teaching them the Word of the Lord. We find in this inspired history that Paul took great tours, traveling through vast regions, devoting all of his time to the work of sanctifying and edifying the churches.