Acts 13:13 - Exposition

Vow for now when, A.V.; set sail for loosed, A.V.; and came for they came, A.V.; departed.., and returned for departing … returned, A.V. A very marked change may here be observed in the relations of Barnabas and Paul. Hitherto Barnabas has always occupied the first rank. It has been "Barnabas and Saul" ( Acts 11:30 ; Acts 12:25 ; Acts 12:2 , Acts 12:7 ). But now the whole mission, including Barnabas, is described as οἱ περὶ τὸν παῦλον , Paul and his company , and ever after it is usually "Paul and Barnabas" ( Acts 13:43 , Acts 13:46 , Acts 13:50 ; Acts 15:2 , Acts 15:22 , Acts 15:35 ); though in Acts 14:14 and Acts 15:12 , Acts 15:25 , the old order is retained. Renan dwells much on the beauty of Barnabas's character as seen in his cheerful acquiescence in this change of relative position, and his single-minded devotion to the success of the work. Came to Perga , the capital of Pamphylia, in that part of the coast of Asia Minor which looks due south. Perga was about seven and a half miles inland, on the river Cestrus, which is navigable. There was a constant intercourse between Paphos the capital of Cyprus, and Perga the capital of Pamphylia, fostered probably by the two famous temples of Venus and Diana. The word for set sail ( ἀναχθέντες ) is a nautical term, meaning sailing from the shore or harbor into the open sea (see Acts 16:11 ; Acts 21:1 ; Acts 27:12 ; Luke 8:22 ). At Perga John Mark left them. Perhaps his position as Barnabas's cousin was less pleasant now that Paul took the first place; perhaps his courage failed him now that they were fairly launched out into the heathen world, where, unlike Cyprus, his Jewish kinsmen were a small minority, and the dangers and fatigues were great. Pamphylia was now governed by a propraetor, being an imperial province. Its name denotes that it was inhabited by a mixed race—men of all tribes, aborigines, Cilicians, Greeks, etc.