For he was a good man. — Words of praise of this kind are comparatively rare in this history, and we may, perhaps, think of them here as expressing St. Luke’s personal estimate of the character of the preacher, which he was all the more anxious to place on record because he had to narrate before long the sad contention which separated him from his friend and fellow-worker (Acts 15:39). The word “good” is probably to be taken as presenting the more winning and persuasive form of holiness, as contrasted with the severer forms of simple justice. (Comp. Romans 5:7.)
Full of the Holy Ghost. — This was implied in his very name as “the Son of Prophecy” (see Note on Acts 4:31); but it is interesting to note that the words are identical with those in which the historian had previously described Stephen (Acts 6:5). Barnabas appeared to him to reproduce the mind and character of the martyr.
Much people. — Literally, a great multitude, implying a large increase upon the work related in Acts 11:21.