Acts 15:35-39

15:35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, ¹  teaching and proclaiming (along with many others) ²  the word of the Lord. ³ 

Paul and Barnabas Part Company

15:36 After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s return ⁴  and visit the brothers in every town where we proclaimed the word of the Lord ⁵  to see how they are doing.” ⁶  15:37 Barnabas wanted to bring John called Mark along with them too, 15:38 but Paul insisted ⁷  that they should not take along this one who had left them in Pamphylia ⁸  and had not accompanied them in the work. 15:39 They had ⁹  a sharp disagreement, ¹⁰  so that they parted company. Barnabas took along ¹¹  Mark and sailed away to Cyprus, ¹² 

[15:35]  ¹ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia).

[15:35]  ² sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[15:35]  ³ sn The word of the Lord is a technical expression in OT literature, often referring to a divine prophetic utterance (e.g., Gen 15:1, Isa 1:10, Jonah 1:1). In the NT it occurs 15 times: 3 times as ῥῆμα τοῦ κυρίου (rJhma tou kuriou; Luke 22:61, Acts 11:16, 1 Pet 1:25) and 12 times as λόγος τοῦ κυρίου (logo" tou kuriou; here and in v. 36; Acts 8:25; 13:44, 48, 49; 16:32; 19:10, 20; 1 Thess 1:8, 4:15; 2 Thess 3:1). As in the OT, this phrase focuses on the prophetic nature and divine origin of what has been said.

[15:36]  ⁴ tn Grk “Returning let us visit.” The participle ἐπιστρέψαντες (epistreyante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[15:36]  ⁵ tn See the note on the phrase “word of the Lord” in v. 35.

[15:36]  ⁶ tn BDAG 422 s.v. ἔχω 10.b has “how they are” for this phrase.

[15:38]  ⁷ tn BDAG 94 s.v. ἀξιόω 2.a has “he insisted (impf.) that they should not take him along” for this phrase.

[15:38]  ⁸ sn Pamphylia was a province in the southern part of Asia Minor. See Acts 13:13, where it was mentioned previously.

[15:39]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “There happened a sharp disagreement.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[15:39]  ¹¹ tn BDAG 780 s.v. παροξυσμός 2 has “sharp disagreement” here; L&N 33.451 has “sharp argument, sharp difference of opinion.”

[15:39]  ¹² tn Grk “taking along Mark sailed.” The participle παραλαβόντα (paralabonta) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[15:39]  ¹³ sn Cyprus is a large island in the Mediterranean off the south coast of Asia Minor.