Marcus · noun — accusative singular masculine, a proper name
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Acts 12:12 And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered toge…
Acts 12:25 And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their ministry, and took with them John, whose surname was Mark.
Acts 13:5 And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to their minister.
Colossians 4:10 Aristarchus my fellowprisoner saluteth you, and Marcus, sister’s son to Barnabas, (touching whom ye received commandments: if he come unto y…
2 Timothy 4:11 Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry.
Philemon 1:24 Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellowlabourers.
Acts 13:13 Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Acts 15:36–end
We have seen one unhappy difference among the brethren, which was of a public nature, brought to a good issue; but here we have a private quarrel between two ministers, no less men than Paul and Barnabas, not compromised indeed, yet ending well.
I. Here is a good proposal Paul made to Barnabas to go and review their work among the Gentiles and renew it, to take a circuit among the churches they had planted, and see what progress the gospel made among them. Antioch was now a safe and quiet harbour for them: they had there no adversary nor evil occurrent; but Paul remembered that they only put in there to refit and refresh themselves, and therefore begins now to think of putting to sea again;…
Barnabas determined to take with them John . . . Mark--his nephew (Col 4:10).
Adam Clarke on Acts 15:37
Barnabas determined to take with them John - John Mark was his sister's son; and natural affection might have led him to the partiality here mentioned.
John Gill on Acts 15:37
And Barnabas determined,.... Or consulted, and contrived in his own mind, and purposed within himself; the Alexandrian copy, and two of Beza's, the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions read, "he would", or was willing; he had a mind, a very great desire,
to take with them John, whose surname was Mark; of whom see Acts 12:12 he being his sister's son, Colossians 4:10 him they brought with them to Antioch, when they returned from Jerusalem thither, where they had been sent by the church at Antioch, with money for the relief of the poor saints; see Acts 11:29 and who seems to have come with them from Jerusalem again; for thither he went, when he parted from them at Pamphylia, Acts 13:1…
John, called Mark, was accompanying them on the evangelic journey, from Palestine as far as Pamphylia. Then, finding the apostles' route too strenuous, and his spirit unbending toward those engaged in struggles, Mark, being a man given to exhaustion and not suited to so laborious a road and to the challenges and dangers that arise in each city, withdrawing from the apostles' route, returned to Palestine, not denying Christ, but renouncing the long and heavy road. Paul and Barnabas, full of the fruits of devotion, and preaching to the church in Jerusalem, in no way resolved to forbid hardships. When, then, all the nations were praising Paul and Barnabas for their accomplishments, Mark, being distressed, suffered a blow to his spirit, and perhaps thought within himself, saying, If I were a sharer in the sufferings, I would now be a sharer also in the praises; and he determined to accompany the apostles in their preaching. Barnabas therefore received him after his repentance, but Paul insisted and said, One who did not accompany us in the Lord's work should not be taken along. The contention, then, was one of righteousness, not of passion. For Paul sought what was just, and Barnabas what was compassionate. Mark accordingly followed Barnabas, striving and running, while Paul in the churches commanded that Mark be not accepted, not so that he might grieve him, but that he might make him more earnest. But when Paul saw that Mark had anticipated the urgency and had made his defense through others, he began to praise him and said, "Mark, Barnabas's nephew, sends his greetings; concerning whom you received instructions, if he comes, welcome him." (Col. 4:10) [CHRYSOSTOM]
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Barnabas — Son of consolation, the surname of Joses, a Levite (Acts 4:36). His name stands first on the list of prophets and teachers of the church at Antioch (13:1). Luke speaks of him as a “good man” (11:24).…
Council — Spoken of counsellors who sat in public trials with the governor of a province (Acts 25:12). The Jewish councils were the Sanhedrim, or supreme council of the nation, which had subordinate to it…
Galatians, Epistle to — The genuineness of this epistle is not called in question. Its Pauline origin is universally acknowledged. Occasion of. The churches of Galatia were founded by Paul himself (Acts 16:6; Gal. 1:8;…
John — (1.) One who, with Annas and Caiaphas, sat in judgment on the apostles Peter and John (Acts 4:6). He was of the kindred of the high priest; otherwise unknown. (2.) The Hebrew name of Mark (q.v.). He…
Mark — The evangelist; “John whose surname was Mark” (Acts 12:12, 25). Mark (Marcus, Col. 4:10, etc.) was his Roman name, which gradually came to supersede his Jewish name John. He is called John in Acts…
Paul — =Saul (q.v.) was born about the same time as our Lord. His circumcision-name was Saul, and probably the name Paul was also given to him in infancy “for use in the Gentile world,” as “Saul” would be…
Titus — Honourable, was with Paul and Barnabas at Antioch, and accompanied them to the council at Jerusalem (Gal. 2:1-3; Acts 15:2), although his name nowhere occurs in the Acts of the Apostles. He appears…
Barnabas · D — D
Mark · Paul and Barnabas contend concerning — Paul and Barnabas contend concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
on Acts 15:36–end
Acts 15:36-41
36. And after a few days Paul said to Barnabas, Returning, let us now visit our brethren throughout all cities wherein we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they do. 37. And Barnabas counseled to take John, whose surname was Mark 38. But Paul besought him, that he which slid back from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work, might not be taken to their company. 39. And the contention waxed so hot between them, that they parted company; and Barnabas having taken to him Mark, sailed to Cyprus. 40. But Paul having chosen Silas, journeyed, being committed to the grace of God by the brethren. 41. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, establishing the…
The discordant separation of Paul and Barnabas is indicated by a very strong word in Greek (their disagreement was so sharp). It was an honest disagreement between two godly men about whether John Mark (Barnabas’s cousin, Col 4:10) should be given a second chance to accompany them on a mission journey after he had deserted them in Pamphylia (see Acts 13:13). The rift between Paul and John Mark was eventually healed (2 Tim 4:11).
