Acts 13:13 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

Now when Paul and his company— It is observable, that from this period St. Luke generally mentions Paul before Barnabas, whereas he had hitherto always mentioned him last: nay, in reckoning up the five, who were prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch, he put Barnabas the first, and Saul last; because very probably Barnabas was one of the oldest, andSaul the youngest convert among them: but now, when he became so eminent an apostle, as not to come a whit behind the chief of the apostles, he is mentioned the first, as the principal person of the history, and the most honoured of them all. Loosing with the rest of his company from Paphos, they sailed, most probably, up the river Cestrus, to Perga, a town of Pamphylia, not far from the coast of Asia Minor, near to which was a temple dedicated to Diana. There seems to have been neither a Jewish synagogue, nor proseucha in that town; for we read nothing of their attempting to preach the gospel there at this time. But there it was that John Mark left them, and went back to Jerusalem; as supposing perhaps that St. Peter, in whose company he seems to have delighted most, might be returned thither; especially as king Herod was dead, who had made such an attempt upon the life of that apostle. Whether Mark made any scruple of receiving the idolatrous Gentiles into the Christian church, or was discouraged by the dangers and difficulties of such an attempt; or was prevailed upon to return merely out of his extraordinary regard and affection for St. Peter, cannot now be determined with any certainty.