Acts 13 Footnotes
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13:13 John (12:12,25), the nephew of Barnabas who was also known as John Mark or simply Mark, left Paul and Barnabas—probably under unfortunate circumstances; thus, Paul refused to take him on the next missionary journey (15:37-38). However, Barnabas gave John Mark another chance (15:39), and he matured so much that Paul later greatly valued his help in ministry (2Tm 4:11).
13:14 Pisidian Antioch actually refers to Antioch near Pisidia. Pisidia then was a region of the Roman province of Galatia; Antioch was actually located in the adjoining region of Phrygia. The Greek phrasing in the best manuscripts makes this clear.
13:15 Despite the debate regarding OT canon formation, “the Law and the Prophets”—with the third part, “the Psalms” (Lk 24:44)—were likely fixed. Josephus (Against Apion 1) mentions “twenty-two books,” and 4 Ezra 14 (ca AD 100) mentions “twenty-four books”—perhaps referring to the same body of Scripture. Today these same books are categorized in such a way that there are thirty-nine. In the listing of twenty-two books, the twelve Minor Prophets were counted as one book. The following pairs of books were counted as one book each: Judges and Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah, Jeremiah and Lamentations.
13:16-41 Paul’s first public speech recorded in Acts took place in a Jewish synagogue. This speech was probably representative of Paul’s evangelistic style: Jesus’s coming fulfilled God’s promises as revealed in the OT (v. 23), and his resurrection confirmed his identity (v. 33).
13:46-47 There is no anti-Semitism here. The Gospel writers emphasized that Jesus proclaimed the gospel to the Jews first. Luke reinforced this in Acts. Paul and Barnabas recognized their duty to bring the good news to Jews first. When the Jews rejected the gospel, however, Paul and Barnabas took the message to the Gentiles (anticipated by Is 49:6). Gentile believers received the good news with great joy. Rejection of the gospel by Paul’s kinsmen deeply grieved him (Rm 9-11).