---
title: Acts 15:39
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/acts-15-39/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/acts-15-39.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: Acts 15:39
testament: NT
section: Acts
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# Acts 15:39

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> Their disagreement was so sharp that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus,

## NWT Wording of the Key Phrase

- NWT (2013 revision): "At this there was a sharp burst of anger, so that they separated from each other; and Barnabas took Mark along and sailed away to Cyprus."

## JW Usage

Usually treated as an example of imperfect men serving God — a candid admission that even apostles had personality clashes, which Jehovah overruled for good. The Watchtower is comfortable with the honesty of the account and applies it to congregational relationships.

## Protestant Usage

The honesty is the point, and it is worth saying so warmly before drawing anything from it. Luke does not tidy this up. Two apostolic leaders had a sharp burst of anger and separated over a disagreement about a young man's reliability. What makes it useful is the ending. Colossians 4:10 has Paul telling a church to welcome Mark. 2 Timothy 4:11, written near Paul's execution, says: bring Mark along, for he is helpful to me in the ministry. So the apostolic record contains a real split and a real restoration, and Scripture preserves both. That is the fruit Jesus described in Matthew 7 and Paul listed in Galatians 5:22-23 — love, patience, kindness — working itself out over years. Used gently, this becomes a question rather than an accusation: when the founding generation of a movement disagrees, does the record show restoration or removal? Ask it of the apostles first, and let the Witness apply it wherever they think it applies. Compare Acts 15:36, 2 Timothy 4:11, Galatians 5:23.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [Paul Restored Mark — What Did Russell Restore?](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/founder-character-contrast.md) — Apostolic reconciliation vs Bethel schism — the fruit test applied to founders [Authority]