Acts 15:37 - Exposition

Was minded for determined, A.V. and T.R.; John also for John, A.V. and T.R.; who was called for whose surname was, A.V. Was minded . It is doubtful which is the true reading, ἐβουλεύσατο or ἐβούλετο . The difference of meaning is small. The first means "took council with himself," i . e. planned, thought, to take Barnabas; the second, "wished," i . e. his deliberate will was to take Barnabas. Singularly enough, Alford, who rejects ἐβούλετο , which is the reading of R.T., translates ἐβουλεύετο by "was minded," which is the translation of ἐβούλετο in the R.V. We see in this choice of Mark by Barnabas the natural partiality of a near relation. We may also see the same flexibility of disposition which made him yield to the influence of the emissaries of James ( Galatians 2:13 ). Who was called . It might seem odd that this description of John should be repeated here after having been given in Acts 12:25 . But perhaps it was usual so to designate him (see Luke 8:2 ; Luke 22:3 ; Matthew 10:3 ; Acts 1:23 ; Acts 10:6 ).