Epistle of Barnabas

## What Is the Epistle of Barnabas?

The Epistle of Barnabas is an early Christian letter written sometime between AD 70 and 132. Chapter 16 refers to the destruction of the Jerusalem temple, which happened in AD 70. The letter shows no knowledge of the Bar Kokhba revolt that began in 132.

Clement of Alexandria and Origen credited it to Barnabas, Paul’s companion in Acts. Most scholars today doubt that. The letter never names its author, and its style points to a Christian teacher in Alexandria, Egypt.

## Major Work: The Epistle of Barnabas

The letter has 21 chapters. The first 17 explain how Christians should read the Old Testament. Chapters 18 through 21 present the Two Ways, the way of light and the way of darkness, which closely matches the opening of the Didache.

The church valued the letter highly. Codex Sinaiticus, a fourth‑century Bible, includes it right after Revelation. Eusebius, writing around 325, listed it among the disputed books that were not part of the New Testament.

## Interpretation of the Old Testament

Barnabas reads the Law as a set of spiritual lessons. He says the ban on eating pork means you should not associate with people who act like swine, remembering God only when they want something. He reads Abraham’s 318 servants in Genesis 14:14 as a coded reference to Jesus and the cross.

This allegorical method influenced later teachers in Alexandria. It also carries a serious weakness. Barnabas argues that the Jews never truly held the covenant because they took the Law literally. Many Christian readers today reject that claim and read the letter with care.

## Barnabas and the Book of Enoch

Barnabas quotes Enoch by name in chapter 4 and treats the book as Scripture. Chapter 16 draws on imagery found in the Animal Apocalypse of 1 Enoch. That makes the letter an early witness to how widely the book of Enoch was read by Christians in the first two centuries.

## Christian Living

The Two Ways section gives plain commands. Love your neighbor more than your own life. Do not be double‑minded. Do not kill a child by abortion. Share everything with your neighbor and do not call anything your own. Guard your tongue.

It ends with the reminder that the day is near when everything will perish together with the evil one.

## Author Uncertain

No one knows who wrote this letter. The early church’s view that Barnabas wrote it did not win out. Read it as the work of an early teacher who wanted Christians to see Christ in every part of the Old Testament.

## How to Read the Epistle of Barnabas Today

Read the whole letter in about 45 minutes.

Keep your Old Testament open and check each passage he cites.

Use Michael Holmes, The Apostolic Fathers, or the free Ante‑Nicene Fathers, volume 1.

Compare chapters 18 through 21 with Didache chapters 1 through 5.

## About the Author

CK Quarterman is a USAF veteran, independent author, and publisher at CKQbooks. He writes the Malaterrestrials nonfiction series, which examines evil earthbound non‑human intelligences through Scripture and history, along with the Watchers’ Universe and Sons of the Flood fiction series. Find his books at ckqbooks.com.

Truth · History · Scripture