Circumcision was an outward ordinance inherited by the Jews from their forefathers, beginning from Abraham (Gen. 17:9-14). It made them distinct and separate from the Gentiles. It became a dead, traditional formality, a mere mark on the flesh without any spiritual significance, and became a great obstacle to the spread of God's gospel according to His New Testament economy (Acts 15:1; Gal. 2:3-4; 6:12-13; Phil. 3:2 see note Acts 10:14^1a).

Or, making no distinction.

The six brothers were present while Peter was speaking, as witnesses to his word.

See note Acts 16:31¹.

Gk. zoe, referring to the life of God (Eph. 4:18), the eternal life (1 John 1:2), the uncreated, indestructible life (Heb. 7:16), which is Christ Himself (John 14:6; 11:25; Col. 3:4) as the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45), of which life the Spirit is (Rom. 8:2). This life is received by the believers through their believing into Christ (John 3:15-16) after repentance, and issues in their full salvation (Rom. 5:10). The gospel preached by Peter comprises the divine blessings not only of forgiveness (Acts 5:31; 10:43) and salvation (Acts 2:21; 4:12) but also of the Spirit (Acts 2:38) and life. Forgiveness deals with people's sins, and life, with people's death (John 5:24; 1 John 3:14; 2 Cor. 5:4).

See note Acts 8:4^1a.

This indicates how strong the Jewish believers were in keeping their traditions. They would not come near the Gentiles (Acts 10:28). This condition continued even after Peter's preaching to Cornelius, an Italian. It surely restricted the Lord's move in spreading His gospel according to God's New Testament economy.

They must have been from among the Jewish believers in dispersion (cf. 1 Pet. 1:1).

This was a further step of the Lord's move in spreading His gospel to the Gentiles after what happened in the house of Cornelius (ch. 10) and before Paul's ministry to the Gentiles, which began in ch. 13.

The Greek word denotes being sent out (on a mission) as an authoritative representative. Barnabas was sent out from Jerusalem to visit the believers in other places; he was sent with authority from the apostles, not from the church, because the apostles were there in Jerusalem.

Saul was saved by the Lord directly without any preaching channel (Acts 9:3-6) and was brought into identification with the Body of Christ through Ananias, a member of the Body of Christ (Acts 9:10-19). However, he was introduced to practical fellowship with the disciples in Jerusalem through Barnabas (Acts 9:26-28). Now Barnabas was sent from Jerusalem to go as far as Antioch to encourage the believers, and he went to Tarsus to bring Saul to Antioch (vv. 25-26). This was a great step. It initiated Saul into the Lord's move in spreading the gospel of His kingdom to the Gentile world (Acts 13:1-3 see note Acts 12:25¹).

See note John 1:14^6d and note 1 Cor. 15:10^1a. The grace that was seen by Barnabas must have been the Triune God received and enjoyed by the believers and expressed in their salvation, change in life, holy living, and the gifts they exercised in their meetings, all of which could be seen by others.

I.e., be persistently faithful to the Lord, cleave to Him, and live in close fellowship with Him.

See note Acts 6:3¹.

Or, crowd (also in v. 26).

See note 1 Pet. 4:16^1a. That the disciples in Antioch were given such a nickname, a term of reproach, indicates that they must have borne a strong testimony for the Lord, a testimony that made them distinct and peculiar in the eyes of the unbelievers.

See note 1 Cor. 12:28^3d.

A Caesar of the Roman Empire. In the fourth year of his reign, about A.D. 44, there was a famine in Judea and the neighboring countries.

This verse shows that the believers' having all things in common (Acts 2:44-45; 4:32), which was practiced at the time of Pentecost, had become a thing of the past at the time the matter here was mentioned, no more than ten years after Pentecost, long before Paul began his ministry to the Gentiles (Acts 13:2-4). This word indicates further that there was no uniformly prescribed way in the early days of the church concerning the believers' giving of material things; rather, it was left to each believer to give out of his own will and his own initiation.

The Greek word here means to progress favorably, or to go on smoothly; hence, it denotes to thrive smoothly, to prosper, in an enterprise, an occupation, or other activities. Prosperity is given by God, and it issues in surplus and abundance.

Lit., for a service. Derived from the same Greek word as the word for ministered in Matt. 4:11.

This indicates that in the early days the finances of the church were under the management of the elders (see note 1 Tim. 3:3⁵).

Now Saul, through Barnabas, was brought into the service among the churches.