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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Acts 4:36 - 4:37
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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Act_4:36-37
36Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement), 37and who owned a tract of land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.
Act_4:36 "Joseph, a Levite" The Old Testament forbade priests to own land, but the Roman authorities had changed many things in Palestine.
▣ "called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement)" This is the popular meaning of "Barnabas." In Aramaic it could have meant "son of prophecy" or in Hebrew possibly "son of Nebo" (AB, vol. 1). He was an early leader in the Jerusalem church and Paul's friend and missionary companion. Eusebius, an early church historian, says that he was one of the seventy in Luke 10.
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Act_4:37 "who owned a tract of land" He was a man of means (like Nicodemus and Joseph of Aramathea). Acts 5 shows the potential for abuse in this method of financing ministry (e.g., jealousy, lying, and death).
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