Acts 13:13 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem,

NIV: From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem.

NASB: Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia; but John left them and returned to Jerusalem.

CSB: Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia, but John left them and went back to Jerusalem.

NLT: Paul and his companions then left Paphos by ship for Pamphylia, landing at the port town of Perga. There John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem.

KJV: Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem.

NKJV: Now when Paul and his party set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia; and John, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem.

After Barnabas and Saul were commissioned by the Holy Spirit and the leaders of the church in Syrian Antioch, they sailed west to Barnabas' homeland of Cyprus (Acts 13:1–4). There, they preached in Jewish synagogues and brought a Roman proconsul to a saving faith in Jesus—much to the dismay of a Jewish false prophet who had apparently been using him (Acts 13:5–12). During that time, Saul took on the Roman name Paul and became the dominant teacher. The group becomes "Paul and his companions" or "Paul and Barnabas" (Acts 13:46) and only reverts when they are mistaken for Greek gods (Acts 14:14) or are among the leaders of the church in Jerusalem (Acts 15:12, 25).

Paphos is the port town on the southwest coast of Cyprus. The book of Acts does not record Paul returning to Cyprus, although Barnabas and John Mark do (Acts 15:39). Pamphylia and Pisidia (see Acts 13:14) are two small districts with unstable borders. Sometimes they are independent while at other times larger, stronger districts annex them.

John Mark is Barnabas' relative (Colossians 4:10), not the apostle John (Mark 1:19–20) or John the Baptist. He is the author of the gospel of Mark, the son of Mary who owns a house in Jerusalem (Acts 12:12), and possibly the young man who escaped the guards who arrested Jesus (Mark 14:51–52).

We are not told why John Mark leaves Paul and Barnabas, but it causes the two problems in the future. When Paul and Barnabas prepare to leave on their second missionary trip, Paul will refuse to allow John Mark to join them. Paul and Barnabas cannot come to an agreement, so Barnabas takes John Mark back to Cyprus and Paul takes Silas (Acts 15:36–41). Later, Paul and John Mark will reconcile; Paul will call him a "fellow worker" and tell Timothy that he is "useful" for ministry (Philemon 1:24; 2 Timothy 4:11).

Acts 13:13–15 describes how Paul, Barnabas, and John Mark leave Paphos on the southwest coast of Cyprus. They sail northwest to Perga, on the south-central coast of modern-day Asia Minor. In Perga, John Mark abandons them and returns to Jerusalem. Paul and Barnabas travel north to Pisidian Antioch and, as is their custom, attend the local synagogue and wait to be invited to speak.

Acts 13 transitions Luke's account (Acts 1:1) fully into a record of Paul's ministry to spread the news about Jesus. The Holy Spirit calls Paul and Barnabas for their first missionary journey. They teach about Jesus' offer of forgiveness of sins on the island of Cyprus and in the district of Pisidia in modern-day south-central Asia Minor. Along the way, they face opposition, desertion, and persecution: themes that will follow Paul throughout his life. But they also experience the joy of watching the people they'd least expect come to a saving faith in Jesus.

The first chapters of Acts, save for a quick account of Paul's conversion (Acts 9:1–31), cover the ministry of the apostles, particularly Peter. Those passages also detail the spread of the news about Jesus from His followers. That message goes to the Jews of Jerusalem (Acts 2—7) and Judea (Acts 8:26–40; 9:32–43), the Samaritans (Acts 8:4–25), and God-fearing Gentiles (Acts 10—11). Now, Paul's contribution to the ''end of the earth'' portion of Jesus' commission in Acts 1:8 begins, as he and Barnabas start their first missionary journey. Luke will record two more of Paul's journeys (Acts 15:36—18:22 and 18:23—20:38) before settling in on his return to Jerusalem, arrest, and sea voyage to Rome (Acts 21—28).

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.