noun · masculine
barnabos
Strong’sG921
Barnabas
stem barnab-28 times in the New Testamentin 4 of 27 books4 of 10 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
Barnabas is a personal name, that of a companion of the apostles in the New Testament 24. The name is of Aramaic origin, formed from a word meaning "son" prefixed to another element 123. In the New Testament itself it is interpreted as meaning "son of encouragement" (or consolation) 13; Strong's likewise glosses it as "son of prophecy," taking the second element as a word for prophecy rather than encouragement 2. Some scholars have proposed instead that the name is a disguised form of a name meaning "son of Nebo," found in a Syrian inscription, altered so as to hide its original reference 13.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
Βαρ-ναβᾶς, -α, ὁ
(Aram. בַּר, son, as prefix to another word interpreted in Ac 4:36, τῆς παρακλήσεως, perh. נְבוּאָה, wh., however, should be rendered by προφητεία as in II Es 6:14, LXX. Deiss., BS, 309 f., thinks Β. may be a variant of the name Βαρνεβοῦς, son of Nebo, found in a Syrian Inscr., altered with a view to disguising its origin; v. also Milligan, NTD, iii; Dalman, Gr., 142),
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G921 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidbar-nab'-as
son of Nabas (i.e. prophecy); Barnabas, an Israelite
Fromof Chaldee origin ( and );
King JamesBarnabas.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
Barnabas:
(From Abbott-Smith. LSJ has no entry)
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
Every form this word takes in Biblang, with the Greek it corresponds to and how often the New Testament uses it.
| Job in the sentence case | one singular | more than one plural |
|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | barnabos10×Βαρναβᾶς | barnabois |
| object accusative | barnabon8×Βαρναβᾶν | barnaboin |
| direct address vocative | barnabor | barnaboir |
| of, belonging to genitive | barnabou4×Βαρναβᾶ | barnaboiu |
| to, for dative | barnabo6×Βαρναβᾷ | barnaboi |
Tinted cells are forms the New Testament never uses, so there is no Greek to show against them — but they are still correct Biblang, built from the slots below like any other.
Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them
barnabo is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
28 occurrences, every one of them listed
barnabos“Barnabas”subjectnominative singular10×
Acts 4:36Iōsēf de tos epikalirantos Barnabos apo toiu apostoloiu, hem atō methermēneuorōntem …… from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (vvv meaning Son of Encouragement),
Acts 9:27Barnabos de epilaberantos auton agata pros toin …Then Barnabas brought him to the apostles and …
Acts 12:25Barnabos de kai Saulos hupostrefala, eis Ierousalēm …When Barnabas and Saul had fulfilled their mission …
Acts 13:1… ekklēsan profētois kai didaskalois tos tē Barnabos kai Sumeōn tos kalorōntos Nigeros, kai …… Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene …
Acts 13:46parrēsiazerantois tē tos Paulos kai tos Barnabos legala; Vi ate anankaiem prōtem lalira …Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “It was necessary …
Acts 14:14akouarantois de tois apostolois Barnabos kai Paulos, diarrēgarantois teim himatieim autoiu …But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul found out about this …
Acts 15:35Paulos de kai Barnabos diatribale en Antiocheia didaskarōntois kai euangelizorōntois …But Paul and Barnabas remained at Antioch, along with many …
Acts 15:37Barnabos de boulote sumparalabara kai ton Iōannon …Barnabas wanted to take John, also called …
1 Corinthians 9:6ē monos mis kai Barnabos ouk echanō exousian mē ergazorō?Or are Barnabas and I the only apostles who …
Galatians 2:13… kai tois loipois Ioudaiois, hōste kai Barnabos sunapagita autoiu ta hupokrisia.… so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.
barnabon“Barnabas”objectaccusative singular8×
Acts 11:22… en Ierousalēm peri autoiu, kai exapostelala Barnabon heōs Antiocheiau;… the church in Jerusalem, they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
Acts 13:2… tem hagiem; Aforizavar dē mi ton Barnabon kai Saulon eis tem ergem hem …… Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to …
Acts 13:7… Sergio Paulo, andro suneto. houtos proskalerantos Barnabon kai Saulon epizētata akouara ton logon …… proconsul, a man of intelligence, summoned Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to …
Acts 13:50… epegerala diōgmon epi ton Paulon kai Barnabon, kai ekbalala autoin apo teiu horeiu …… stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their …
Acts 14:12kalale tē ton Barnabon Zevon, ton de Paulon Hermon, epeidē …Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they …
Acts 15:2“Barnabas”… pros autoin tassala anabainarō Paulon kai Barnabon kai tinoin allosoin ek autoiu pros …… Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the …
Acts 15:36Meta de tinain hēmerain legata pros Barnabon Paulos; Epistrefarantois dē episkepteneia toin adelfoin …Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit …
Acts 15:39… apochōrizira autoin apo allēloiu, ton tē Barnabon paralabaranton ton Markon ekplara eis Kupran,… so sharp that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus,
barnabou“Barnabas”of, belonging togenitive singular4×
Acts 11:30… apostelarantois pros toin presbuteroin dia cheirau Barnabou kai Saulou.… their gifts to the elders with Barnabas and Saul.
Acts 15:12… de pantem tem plēthem, kai akouale Barnabou kai Paulou exēgorōntoiu hoseim poiata tos …… fell silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul describing the signs and …
Galatians 2:1… eteiu palin anabainama eis Hierosolumeim meta Barnabou sumparalabarantos kai Titon;… up again to Jerusalem, accompanied by Barnabas. I took Titus along also.
Colossians 4:10… sunaichmalōtos mu, kai Markos tos anepsios Barnabou peri hou labava entolain, ean erchateia …… as does Mark the cousin of Barnabas. You have already received instructions about …
barnabo“Barnabas”to, fordative singular6×
Acts 13:43… seborōntoiu prosēlutoiu to Paulo kai to Barnabo, hotinois proslalarōntois autoi peithale; autoin prosmenarō …… converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and urged …
Acts 14:20… kai ta epaurion exerchata sun to Barnabo eis Derban.… the next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.
Acts 15:2… ouk oligau to Paulo kai to Barnabo pros autoin tassala anabainarō Paulon kai …… men in sharp debate, Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other …
Acts 15:22… eis Antiocheian sun to Paulo kai Barnabo, Ioudon ton kalorōnton Barsabbon kai Silon, …… send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas called Barsabbas and …
Acts 15:25… pros vin sun toi agapētoi nu Barnabo kai Paulo,… to you along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
Galatians 2:9… stulois arō, dexain dōala mi kai Barnabo koinōniau, hina nis eis teim ethneim, …… to be pillars — gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so …