As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.
As they ministered to the Lord, х leitourgountoon (G3008)]. This word, though in classical Greek signifying to perform any public duties, is used in the Septuagint to denote the exercise of the priestly functions (compare Hebrews 10:11, Gr.), and in the New Testament expresses the corresponding functions in the Christian Church.
And fasted, the Holy Spirit said - said how? speaking, no doubt, through one of the "prophets" named in Acts 13:1.
Separate me, х aforisate (G873) moi (G3427)]. It is worthy of notice that the apostle himself uses the same word to express two divine acts (the one of providence, the other of grace) toward himself, designed to prepare him for the great work to which he was called-the one at his birth, the other at his conversion to Christ: "When it pleased God (says he), who separated me х aforisas (G873)] from my mother's womb, and called me by His grace, to reveal His Son in me," etc. (Galatians 1:15-16); and again, "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated х aforismenos (G873)] unto the Gospel of God," etc. (Romans 1:1). Those who deny the Personality of the Holy Spirit must find it hard to make any tolerable sense of the command which He is here said to have issued; while His supreme and proper divinity is evident on the face of it; because who could suppose a mere creature saying, "Separate unto Me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have summoned them?" The authenticity of this history may be called in question; but if that be admitted, it speaks for itself as to the faith of the early Church regarding the Holy Spirit.
Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them, х proskekleemai (G4341), here used in a middle sense] - rather 'summoned them;' probably by some explicit communication made through one of the "prophets" named in Acts 13:1. This is the more probable, as it will be observed that the express purpose of this summons is not at all mentioned in the terms of it; and yet the whole church at Antioch, as if quite understanding that the purpose of it was to carry the Gospel to the pagan, immediately proceeded to set them apart to that work. And since fasting was an exercise observed on occasions of unusual solemnity, is it not altogether probable that the church at Antioch had assembled on this occasion for special prayer with fasting, on the subject of its duty toward the great pagan world, in the hope that some definite intimation of the divine will in this matter might be vouchsafed to them? Certain it is that the conversion of the Gentiles had been laid upon Saul as his special vocation from the very time of his conversion (Acts 26:16-18; Acts 9:15); nor would his capacious spirit deem any field that had yet opened to him sufficiently wide to meet such a destination; and since frequent communications on this subject could hardly fail to pass between him and Barnabas, in the course of their work at Antioch, we may be very sure that Barnabas, whom the Lord himself had destined to be his companion, would cordially enter into the desire for some wider field, and offer to accompany his young coadjutor as soon as the mind of their common Lord should be made known to them.
Probably, as the Lord's time for sending them forth drew near, the subject would be borne in upon the minds of both with increasing force, and, spreading from them to the other "prophets and teachers" at Antioch, would go from them to the brethren at large, to whose Gentile nationality and enterprising spirit the proposal to go on a mission to the pagan would present lively attractions. Such, or something very like this, we may well suppose, would be the object of that meeting which we are now considering, at which the Lord, by one of those prophets, said, "Separate unto me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have summoned them." Nor was the church at Antioch "disobedient unto the heavenly vision;" for, adds the historian,