The church that was at Antioch - See the notes on Acts 11:20.
Certain prophets - See the notes on Acts 11:27.
And teachers - Teachers are several times mentioned in the New Testament as an order of ministers, 1 Corinthians 12:28-29; Ephesians 4:11; 2 Peter 2:1. Their precise rank and duty are not known. It is probable that those mentioned here as prophets were the same persons as the teachers. They might discharge both offices, predicting future events, and instructing the people.
As Barnabas - Barnabas was a preacher Acts 4:35-36; Acts 9:27; Acts 11:22, Acts 11:26; and it is not improbable that the names “prophets and teachers” here simply designate the preachers of the gospel.
Simeon that was called Niger - “Niger” is a Latin name meaning “black.” Why the name was given is not known. Nothing more is known of him than is mentioned here.
Lucius of Cyrene - Cyrene was in Africa. See the notes on Matthew 27:32. Lucius is afterward mentioned as with the apostle Paul when he wrote the Epistle to the Romans, Revelation 16:21.
And Manaen - He is not mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament.
Which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch - Herod Antipas, not Herod Agrippa. Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, Luke 3:1. The word translated here as “which had been brought up,” σύντροφος suntrophos, denotes “one who is educated or nourished at the same time with another.” It is not used elsewhere in the New Testament. He might have been connected with the royal family, and, being nearly of the same age, was educated by the father of Herod Antipas with him. He was, therefore, a man of rank and education, and his conversion shows that the gospel was not confined entirely in its influence to the poor.
And Saul - Saul was an apostle; and yet he is mentioned here among the “prophets and teachers,” showing that these words denote “ministers of the gospel” in general, without reference to any particular order or rank.