Eerliaps from bis tall and venerable appearance, e was identified with Jupiter, while Paul, as the chief speaker, passed for Mercury (Ac 14'-). The journey ended, as it had begun, at Antioch, and fioni this city B. once more accompanied Paul and certain other brethren to Jerus. to consult with the apostles and elders regarding the necessity of circumcision for Gentile converts (Ac lo'"-)- It is remarkable that in this narrative B. is mentioned oefore Paul (v.'-), contrary to the usual order of the names since Ac IS*" (cf. however Ac H"). He may perhaps have spoken first as the better- known of the two, and also as the one to whom the judaizing section of the assembly would take less exception. After the conference the two apostles returned to their old task of teaching and preach- ing in Antioch (Ac 15^'), and in A.D. 49 planned a second missionary journey to revisit the scenes of their former labours (Ac 15^*). But they were unable to agree upon taking with them John Mark, who had formerly deserted them, and the contention was so sharp ' that they parted asunder one from the other.' B. took Mark, who was his cousin, and sailed to Cyprus ; while Paul chose Silas, and journeyed through Syria and Cilicia. From the fact of Paul's being specially ' com- mended by the brethren to the grace of God,' it would seem as if the general feeling of the Church were on his side rather than on the side of Bar- nabas. B. is not again mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles ; but from the respect and sympathy with which St. Paul subsequently refers to him in his Epp. (1 Co 9», Gal 2'" 'even Barnabas,' Col 4'»), we are entitled to infer that though they did not again actually work together, the old friendship was not forgotten. There is no hist, ground for identifying B., as some are inclined to do, with ' the brother ' whom St. Paul sent on a mission to the Corinthians (2 Co 8'") ; but from 1 Co 9* we learn that B., like Paul, earned his livelihood by the work of his hands, while Col 4'" has been taken as proving that by this time (about A.D. 63) B. must have been dead, else Mark would not have rejoined Paul (cf. 2 Ti 4", 1 P 5'"). For an account of B.'s further labours and death we are dependent upon untrustworthy tradition.
It is interesting, however, to notice that the authorshii) of the Ep. to the Hebrews is attributed to B. by Tertullian (see Heukkw.s, Epistle to), while there is still extant an Epistle of B. which, ace. to external evidence, is the work of this B., but on internal grounds this conclusion is now generally dis|iuted. (See the arguments briefly stated in Hefele, Patrum A postolicorum Opera, p. ix tf., and more fully in the same writer's Das Sendschreiben des Apostds Barnabas aiifs neue untersucht, iibersetzt, und erklart. Tub. 1840. Cf. also Lightfoot, 2'Ae Apostolic Fathers.)
G. MiLLIOAN. BARODIS (Bci/)u5fl5), 1 Es 5«.— There is no cor- responding name in the lists of Ezra and Nehemiah.
BARRENNESS As parental authority was the
eerm and mould of patriarchal social life, it fol- lowed that to be without ofFspring was to exist in name onlj'. To have had children and to have lost them was the strongest possible claim upon .sym- pathy. With Jacob it was the cro^vn of sorrow (Gn 42" 43"). It was this desolation in its most distressing form which the Lord Jesus met in the funeral procession at Nain (Lk 7'^).
But to be a \vife without motherhood has always been regarded in the East not merely as a matter
of regret, but as a reproAch, a humiliation that might easily lead to divorce. It is a constant source of embarrassment, as the welfare of the children is a never-omitted subject of inquiry in Oriental salutation. Courtesy sometimes give.' the dignity of fatherhood, tlie name Al>uAl>dullah (father-of-Abdullah) to a man advancing in years' without children to bear his name. Sarah'.s sad laughter of despair (Gn 18'-), Hannah's silent pleading (1 S 1'™-), Kaehel's passionate alternative of children or death (Gn 30'), — all this and suchlike wretchedness of spirit may be found familiarly repeated in the homes of modem Syria (see Chil DKEN). The fruitfulness or sterility of land are, much in the same way, regarded as bringing satis faction or disap]iointment to man, and as iniph-- ing the blessing or curse of God (Dt 7", Ps 107"''-).
G. M. Mackie. BARSA6BAS. — See Joseph Barsabbas and Judas Barsabbas.
BARTACUS (Bd/waico!, Jos. 'Pa,9efd)t7;s, Vulg. Bezaces, O.L. Bwznces, Bezzachus). — The father of Apame, the concubine of Darius (1 Es 4^). The epithet attaching to him, 'the illustrious' (6 flau/iaoTis), was probably an official title. The name Bartacus (which appears as pniK in the Syriac) recalls that of Artachteas ('ApraxaiTjs), mentioned by Herod, (vii. 22. 117) asa person of high position in .the Persian army of Xerxes.
H. St. J. Thackeray.
BARTHOLOMEW (BapffoXo/wiro!).— One of the apostles, according to the lists of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Acts (1'^). Both by the early Church and in modern times Bartholomew has been gener- ally identified with Nathanael of the Fourth Gospel, although important authorities can be cited in opposition to this view. The strongest arguments in favour of the identification are — (1) that Bartholomew is never mentioned by St. John, nor Nathanael by the Synoptists ; (2) that in the lists of the Synoptists, Bartholomew is coupled with Philip, which tallies with St. John's statement that it was Philip that brought Nathanael to Jesus. It is easy to understand how St. John, witli his fondness for symbolism, should have preferred the name Nathanael ( = God has given it) to the mere patronymic Bartholomew ( = son of Tahnai). Sujiposing the identity established, we know nothing of Nathanael Bar-Talmai further than is recorded in Jn l'"" 21" (see Nathanael). The traditions as to his preaching the gospel in India and his martyrdom are entitled to no credit.