BARNABAS. – An outstanding collaborator of the Apostles, especially linked to St Paul. His original name was Joseph, but the Apostles gave him the surname Barnabas, meaning “son of prophecy” or “of preaching” (Aramaic bar nebhû’âh), thereby signifying his effective gifts as an “exhorter” in the nascent Church.
A Levite by tribe, he was a Cypriot by birth and a cousin of Mark the Evangelist (Col 4:10). He moved to Jerusalem, where he owned a house which he sold, handing over the proceeds to the Apostles (Acts 4:36-37). He introduced the newly converted Paul to the Apostles, endorsing him with his authority (Acts 9:26-27). Because of the great esteem in which he was held (“a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith”: Acts 11:24), he was sent to Antioch to guide the Christian community that had arisen there. From there “he went to Tarsus to seek Saul, and when he had found him he brought him to Antioch” (Acts 11:25-26), where they worked together for a whole year with great success. He then went with Paul to Jerusalem to bring relief during the famine in the time of Claudius (Acts 11:29-30). On returning to Antioch, he was consecrated together with Paul for the evangelisation of the Gentiles (Acts 13:2).
They set out on a mission to Cyprus, thence proceeding to Perga, Antioch of Pisidia, Iconium and Lystra. At Lystra the enthusiastic crowd, struck by their miraculous preaching, took them for gods: the eloquent Paul was acclaimed as Mercury, while Barnabas, perhaps on account of his imposing stature, was hailed as Jupiter (Acts 14:11-12).
On returning to Antioch, they were both sent again to Jerusalem, where they consulted the Apostles about the obligation of circumcision (Acts 15:1-2). They then planned to return to Asia Minor to visit the communities founded during their previous mission. But Paul refused to take Mark, Barnabas’s cousin, who had abandoned them during the earlier journey. They therefore separated: Barnabas chose to go with Mark to Cyprus, while Paul retraced his steps overland along the route of the first mission (Acts 15:36-41). The harmony among the three remained undiminished, as is evident from the favourable mentions of Barnabas in Paul’s letters.
No further details about Barnabas are supplied by the New Testament. Other sources provide information of little authority. His tomb is said to have been discovered in the time of the Emperor Zeno (474-491), together with the Gospel of St Matthew written in Barnabas’s own hand. The name of Barnabas appears in the Roman Canon (Sacramentarium Gelasianum), and in Rome there once stood an ancient church in his honour. In the liturgy he is almost ranked with the Apostles. In the East and in the West his feast is celebrated on 11 June.