Barnabas was a native of the island of Cyprus. His birthplace makes him
             a Jew of the Diaspora, the dispersion of Jews outside Palestine or modern Israel.
             He was originally named Joseph but the apostles called him Barnabas, he probably
             acquired this name because of his ability as a preacher. The name Barnabas was
             understood by Luke to mean "Son of Encouragement" (Acts 4:36). Barnabas was an
             apostle of the secondary group, companion of Paul on his mission to Cyprus and
             Barnabas first appears in Luke's account of communal living in the
             Jerusalem church, as a man of some means who gave to the church the proceeds
             from the sale of a piece land, "Barnabas sold a field he owned and brought the
             money and put it at the apostles' feet" (Acts 4:36-37).
             After the stoning of Stephen in Acts 7:54-8:1, the church was persecuted
             and scattered, "On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at
             Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and
             Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to
             destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and
             put them in prison" Acts 8:1-3. In Acts 9:26-27, "Saul tries to join the
             disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a
             disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them
             how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him,
             and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus." Barnabas
             thus belongs to the company of first converts in Jerusalem who were won by the
             apostolic preaching, if not by Jesus himself.
             Though not a native, Barnabas had the confidence of the apostles. Later
             he was sent to join the company of workers at Antioch, to preach to Jews,
             Hellenists, and Greeks (Acts 11:19-22). As the work of the Antioch church
             expanded and more workers were needed, Bar...