Acts 15:38

But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
But	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
Paul	Παῦλος Paulos	G3972	(little · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name
thought	ἠξίου ēxiou	G515	to deem entitled or fit · verb — imperfect active indicative, 3rd person singular
not	μὴ mē	G3361	(adverb) not · particle — negative
good	ἀξιόω axióō	G515	to deem entitled or fit
him	συμπαραλαμβάνειν sumparalambanein	G4838	to take along in company · verb — present active infinitive
them	τοῦτον toûton	G5126	this (person
who	τὸν ton	G3588	the (sometimes to be supplied · article — accusative singular masculine
departed	ἀποστάντα apostanta	G868	to remove · verb — second aorist active participle, accusative singular masculine
from	ἀπ᾽ ap᾽	G575	"off · preposition
them	αὐτῶν autōn	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive plural masculine
from	ἀπὸ apo	G575	"off · preposition
Pamphylia	Παμφυλίας Pamphulias	G3828	every-tribal · noun — genitive singular feminine, a place
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
went	συνελθόντα sunelthonta	G4905	to convene · verb — second aorist active participle, accusative singular masculine
not	μὴ mē	G3361	(adverb) not · particle — negative
them	αὐτοῖς autois	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative plural masculine
to	εἰς eis	G1519	to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
work	ἔργον ergon	G2041	toil (as an effort or occupation) · noun — accusative singular neuter

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 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.
Psalms 78:9 The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.
Proverbs 25:19 Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint.
Luke 14:27-34 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
James 1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
Luke 9:61 And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.

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;…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 15:38

But Paul thought not good to take him with them who departed from them--that is, who had departed; but the word is stronger than this--"who stood aloof" or "turned away" from them. from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work--the work yet before them. The allusion is to what is recorded in Act 13:13 (see on Act 13:13).

Adam Clarke on Acts 15:38

But Paul thought not good to take him with them - On this subject, see the note on Act 13:13.

John Gill on Acts 15:38

But Paul thought not good to take him with them,.... He did not think him worthy, or a fit and proper person to go with them, as the word used seems to signify, and therefore he refused to take him: the Syriac version renders it, "but Paul would not take him with them"; and, the Ethiopic version is very expressive, though it renders it in softer language, "Paul prayed, or entreated Barnabas that he would leave Mark"; that is, behind them at Antioch: his reasons were as follow: who departed from them from Pamphylia; see Gill on Acts 13:13; either through the fatigue of the journey, or fear of danger, or weariness in his work, or affection to his mother; or be it what it will, it seems in the…

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The Church Fathers

But Paul insisted that he should not be received. Because, standing on the very forefront of the line, he had stood too tepidly, and rightly, Paul rejected him, lest others be corrupted by his influence as though it were contagion.
— Bede, Commentary on Acts

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;…
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
Instability · .Mark — .Mark
Mark · Paul and Barnabas contend concerning — Paul and Barnabas contend concerning
Pamphylia · General references — General references

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).

Acts 15:38

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Acts 15:36–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 15:38

Adam Clarke on Acts 15:38

John Gill on Acts 15:38

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Acts 15:38

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Acts 15:36–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 15:38

Adam Clarke on Acts 15:38

John Gill on Acts 15:38

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Acts 15:36–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Acts 15:36-41