Bible Strands
Acts 15:39
Their disagreement was so sharp that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator describes a rupture between Paul and Barnabas as they finalize plans for a second missionary journey. The event immediately follows Paul’s rejection of John Mark for abandoning them in Pamphylia.
The words — παροξυσμὸς (paroxusmos) translates literally as a sharp disagreement or irritation. ὥστε (hōste) functions as a result marker, showing the dispute directly caused the two men to separate.
The thread — The text records the split in Acts 15:39 and later notes Mark’s restored ministry in Colossians 4:10. Barnabas’s departure to Cyprus aligns with his established Cypriot background in Acts 4:36.
Why it lands — The passage reports a factual division of labor without assigning blame or prescribing a model for conflict resolution. It asks the reader to accept that shared calling does not guarantee permanent partnership, and that ministry continues through separate avenues.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto Cyprus;
Cross-references
- Colossians 4:10 My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you greetings, as does Mark the cousin of Barnabas. You have already received instructions about him: If he comes to you, welcome him.
- Ecclesiastes 7:20 Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.
- Acts 4:36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (meaning Son of Encouragement),
- James 3:2 We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to control his whole body.
- Romans 7:18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh; for I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
- Acts 6:1 In those days when the disciples were increasing in number, the Grecian Jews among them began to grumble against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.
- Acts 11:20 But some of them, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks as well, proclaiming the good news about the Lord Jesus.
- Acts 13:4 So Barnabas and Saul, sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.
- Acts 15:2 And after engaging these men in sharp debate, Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.
- Acts 27:4 After putting out from there, we sailed to the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us.