Five-minute study · Day 234 · Acts 13
Acts 13:1
A word worth stopping on: prophets προφήτης prophetes
'Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.' The word 'prophets' is prophetes. It means one who speaks on behalf of another, a spokesperson for God. Look at the names. Barnabas was a Levite from Cyprus. Simeon was called Niger, a Latin word meaning black, indicating African descent. Lucius came from Cyrene in North Africa. Manaen was a syntrophos (foster brother) of Herod Antipas, raised in the royal household. Saul was a Pharisee from Tarsus. Three continents, three social worlds, and five completely different biographies converged in one room. This leadership team directed the first organized Gentile mission in church history.
Word study: prophets
- Greek
- προφήτης
- Pronounced
- prophetes
- Strong's
- G4396
- Definition
- A prophet, one who speaks on behalf of God, a spokesperson. In the New Testament, the term covers both Old Testament prophets and the early church office of prophet, a person who received and communicated divine revelation to the community.
Prophetes appears 144 times in the New Testament. BDAG defines it as 'one who proclaims inspired utterances on behalf of God, prophet' and notes the term's background in Greek religion, where a prophetes was the spokesperson at an oracle (such as the prophetes at Delphi who interpreted the Pythia's utterances). In the Septuagint, prophetes translates the Hebrew navi, the standard term for a prophet in the Old Testament.
The listing in Acts 13:1 is one of the most sociologically revealing verses in the New Testament. Bruce's commentary on Acts notes that the five names represent an extraordinary cross-section of the Mediterranean world. Barnabas (Joseph) was a Hellenistic Jew from Cyprus, a Levite by tribe (Acts 4:36), who sold property and gave the proceeds to the apostles. Simeon called Niger bore a Latin cognomen meaning 'black' or 'dark.' The nickname almost certainly indicates African origin or dark complexion. Some scholars have identified him with Simon of Cyrene who carried Jesus' cross (Mark 15:21), though this is speculative. Lucius of Cyrene was from the capital of the Roman province of Cyrenaica in modern Libya. Cyrene had a large Jewish population, and Jews from Cyrene are mentioned among those present at Pentecost (Acts 2:10) and among the founders of the Antioch church itself (Acts 11:20).
Manaen is the Greek form of the Hebrew Menahem. The text calls him syntrophos of Herod the tetrarch (Herod Antipas). Syntrophos means 'brought up together with,' indicating that Manaen was raised alongside Herod in the royal household, possibly as a foster brother or companion. Keener's commentary on Acts observes that Manaen would have received the same elite education as Herod: tutors, Greek rhetoric, Roman political education, and access to the highest social circles in Palestine. His presence in the Antioch church represents the aristocratic class.
Saul (Paul) was a Pharisee trained under Gamaliel in Jerusalem (Acts 22:3), a Roman citizen from Tarsus (Acts 21:39), and a former persecutor of the church. The five leaders thus represent: a Cypriot Levite, an African, a North African, a Herodian aristocrat, and a Pharisee from Asia Minor. The church at Antioch was led by a team that no one in the ancient world would have assembled on purpose. The prophetes function in Acts 13:1 is communal, exercised within this diverse body. The Holy Spirit speaks to this group collectively (13:2), and from this group the first missionary journey is launched.
Historical context · Approximately AD 46-47, the church at Antioch before the first missionary journey
Antioch: The City Where Three Continents Met
Antioch on the Orontes (modern Antakya, Turkey) was the third-largest city in the Roman Empire after Rome and Alexandria. Founded around 300 BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, the city sat at the intersection of major east-west and north-south trade routes. By the first century AD, its population was estimated at 250,000 to 500,000. The city was famously cosmopolitan. Josephus describes a large Jewish community in Antioch with full civic rights (Jewish War 7.43-45). Greek, Syrian, Jewish, Roman, and various Eastern populations mixed in its streets, markets, and public spaces.
The Antioch church was founded by unnamed believers who fled Jerusalem after the persecution following Stephen's death (Acts 11:19-20). Some of these refugees, 'men of Cyprus and Cyrene,' began preaching to Gentiles as well as Jews. This was a turning point. The Jerusalem church had been entirely Jewish. The Antioch church was the first community where Jewish and Gentile believers worshipped together as a single congregation. It was at Antioch that followers of Jesus were first called Christians (Acts 11:26), a term that may have been coined by outsiders to describe this unprecedented mixed community.
The diversity of the leadership team in Acts 13:1 was not accidental. It reflected the city itself. Antioch was a place where an African, a North African, a Cypriot, an aristocrat raised in Herod's palace, and a Pharisee from Cilicia could find themselves in the same room, worshipping the same Lord, and receiving the same Spirit. Keener notes that this diversity may have been precisely what equipped the Antioch church to conceive of a mission to the Gentile world. A homogeneous community might never have imagined it. A community already living across ethnic and social boundaries could see the possibility.
The instruction of the Holy Spirit in Acts 13:2 ('Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them') came during worship and fasting. The two sent out were not self-appointed. They were commissioned by the community through prayer and the laying on of hands (13:3). The first organized Gentile mission was born from communal worship in a multiethnic church. The prophetes office in Acts 13 was corporate, relational, and liturgical. Prophecy happened in the context of a gathered community that already embodied the diversity the mission would proclaim.
For reflection
Five leaders. One was Cypriot. One was African. One was North African. One grew up in a palace. One was a former religious extremist. They were worshipping together when the Spirit said go. Look at the community around you, your church, your small group, your circle of believers. Who is there? Who is missing? The Antioch church did not recruit diversity as a strategy. Diversity showed up because the gospel crossed every boundary the ancient world tried to maintain. Where is one boundary in your world that the gospel still needs to cross?
Prophetes: one who speaks on behalf of God. In Antioch, God spoke through a leadership team drawn from three continents and five completely different lives.
Sources: BDAG; Bruce, 'The Book of Acts' (NICNT); Keener, 'Acts: An Exegetical Commentary'